Happy New Year!
You know the drill, new month new challenge. This month I plan to tackle the 30 day squat challenge. I have started this challenge previously in the past but only made it half way through week two.
My intentions of taking on this challenge is to not obtain a huge ass but simply to work towards a goal and keep active. Do I think I'll lose weight doing this? I strongly believe I will, it all depends if you put your all into it or if you do it half-assed.
I will be using the chart I found online from somastruct.com
Below I will document my progress of each day. I'm a little worried my entries might be somewhat redundant, "I did squats, my ass hurts." But lets see where this goes...
Starting weight: 154.2
Day 1
50 Squats today - I did all 50 without stopping and did them in from of a mirror to keep my posture in check. I did not feel any strain in my ass I felt all the strain in my quads. Day 1 feels easy but I do not want to get too confident. From looking at the chart it looks like it's going to be an uphill battle.
Day 2
First off, day 1 was deceptively easy, that is until I woke up this morning. When I woke up this morning the first thing I noticed was that my thighs were on fire! Who would have guessed that 50 simple squats would have such an impact the next day. Day 2 is 55 squats, starting was mentally difficult because I was sore. Once I got to number 30 I was starting to feel it but I pushed through to get all 55 done in one go.
Day 3
60 squats today - when I was doing my squats my lower half was cracking, not in a bad way but as if it was using muscles that haven't been used in a long while. In Lord of the Rings when Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard in the forest and that cracking sound Treebeard made when he moved, that is what the lower half of my body was sounding like when I was doing my squats! My body was screaming, "why are you doing this!" I've also been walking around like a penguin carrying an egg these past couple of days. It's pretty sad that after 3 days my body feels this sore. Guess what tomorrow is, REST DAY!
Day 4
Rest Day
Day 5
Feeling rested and ambitious. Today was 70 squats and I did them all on the Bosu ball. I felt it all in my quads and my calf muscle from trying to balance on the Bosu. Is it bad that I checked the chart to see when my next rest day is?
Day 6
75 squats today - Whats great about squats, you can pretty much do them anytime anywhere. It was my lunch time and out of the blue I decided it was squats time! I did all 75 of my squats wearing jeans. Not the most ideal pants to be wearing doing squats but I was not deterred. My legs were not at all sore from yesterday, does this mean my muscles are getting stronger?
Day 7
80 squats today - I glanced at the chart and thought the chart said 85 but it actually said 80. I did 5 more than I needed to. Feeling like an over achiever right now. Did my squats while wearing pink house slippers and waiting for my dinner to cook.
Day 8
Rest Day
Day 9
100 squats today - I procrastinated all day and didn't do my squats until after dinner. It's a lot harder and probably a little counter productive to do squats on a full stomach, but I did it! I had to take mini breaks in between my counts. I'm convinced my legs are getting stronger because in some ways it feels like doing squats is easier than it used to be.
Day 10
It was a long day at work. Once it was over all I wanted to do was curl in a blanket and lay in bed. What I want and what happened are two different things. After work I ended up cleaning and cooking dinner, scrubbed paint from my kids latest art project off the floor. Right when I was getting my blankets and pillows fluffed I did my squats, all 105!
Day 11
I was hoping today was a rest day but it wasn't. I did my 110 squats today before we started Saturday movie night and cuddled next to a bowl of popcorn.
Day 12
Rest Day
Day 13
130 squats today - seeing the number of squats I had to do today seemed a little intimidating. Although, once I got started it went by pretty quickly. I was able to do 70 squats without having to pause.
Day 14
It's been 14 days! I have not missed a day yet and I feel proud of myself. 135 squats today and it goes by pretty quickly while watching TV.
Day 15
140 squats today! Unfortunately at the end of the night I got into a horrible mood. I still did my squats but it felt like it took forever. It's funny how being in a bad mood can make the simplest things seem so difficult.
Day 16
Rest Day
Day 17
150 squats today - these squat sessions are getting tougher. I can feel the burn in my legs and my heart rate starts to pick up. A good sign is that even though I am doing more squats and it burns at the time but the next day I feel pretty good and not too sore. I remember on day 1 after 50 squats I was waddling.
Day 18
I almost forgot to do my squats today but I remembered just as I was heading to bed, 155 squats today! I was in a good mood and was not feeling overly tired so my squat session went by pretty quickly.
Day 19
160 squats today! I got my squats out of the way early this morning so I can spend the rest of the day being a lazy slug. It was 160 squats and I felt it! My muscles must have been tired because I had to stop and take many frequent mini breaks.
Day 20
Rest Day
Day 21
180 squats after a rest day is torture! I put in a 12 hour work day today and afterwords I just wanted to be lazy and watch my TV shows. I didn't cave, I did all 180 squats. I felt the burn and I feel relieved and accomplished that I'm done with squats for the day.
Day 22
185 squats today! By this point I know the number is increasing so I try not to think about it. my technique is to just randomly start the days squats and once I start just plow right through. I have yet to feel any muscle strain in my glutes, it's still all focused on my quad/thigh muscles.
Day 23
190 squats today and I'm so thankful for a rest day tomorrow. The first 100 is more-or-less easy, it's that last 90 where you feel the burn after every 10 squats. The end of the 30 days is approaching quickly and now I have to research which challenge I'll take on next after this one.
Day 24
Rest Day
Day 25
220 squats today! Ouch... my legs are sore! It is a little mentally difficult after doing the first 120 realizing that you still have 100 left to go. I completed my squats successfully today but I won't lie, it was tough. I also had a horrible day binging on carbs! Not only did I eat lots of bread, I had top ramen which is sooooo bad for you. I feel like I gained 20 lbs today with how bad I ate.
Day 26
220 squats today and I am sweating! These were one of the days I was a little skeptical that I would make it all the way through. I feel glad that I didn't give up and I still have not missed a day of the challenge. Feeling proud of myself and giving myself a pat on the back.
Day 27
230 squats today. It didn't feel as difficult as yesterday but it wasn't exactly fun to do. I was taking a break in between squats to catch my breath and my kid said "Mommy, keep exercising!" I'm very skeptical that I lost any weight, if anything I may have gained back a few pounds. I have been on a total carb binge. Even though I know its bad for me, I keep eating more and more carbs. I have been feeling low energy the last couple of days and I'm thinking my diet may be the culprit. It seems I need to go back on my healthy eating challenge, that's how bad I feel I'm doing as far as food (carbs).
Day 28
Rest Day
Day 29
Only one day left in the 30 day squat challenge!!! Today was 240 squats and it wasn't as painful as I anticipated. Does anyone else do their workouts in front of the TV? I seriously think it helps take your mind off the pain.
Day 30
Day 30 has arrived, last day 250 squats! I'm very excited to have successfully completed another challenge. The days of the challenge past by quickly and my greatest accomplishment is not having missed a day. I never felt my ass muscles getting a workout and honestly think you would need to squat using weights if your goal is to get a bigger or firmer ass. My legs without a doubt have gotten stronger. I do not feel I lost any weight and most likely gained some but that was mostly due to inability to restrict my carbs this month. At one point in the month my weight dropped down to 152 but I got lazy on my carbs and gained it back. Ill post my weight tomorrow morning. Everyone who completed the challenge, give yourself a well deserved pat on the back!
What challenge should I tackle next?
Update (Day 31):
Ending Weight - as suspected I gained weight. But I'm extremely happy that it was only 1 lb (right on the dot!)which can be reversed with a good week of healthy eating.
Day 2
First off, day 1 was deceptively easy, that is until I woke up this morning. When I woke up this morning the first thing I noticed was that my thighs were on fire! Who would have guessed that 50 simple squats would have such an impact the next day. Day 2 is 55 squats, starting was mentally difficult because I was sore. Once I got to number 30 I was starting to feel it but I pushed through to get all 55 done in one go.
Day 3
60 squats today - when I was doing my squats my lower half was cracking, not in a bad way but as if it was using muscles that haven't been used in a long while. In Lord of the Rings when Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard in the forest and that cracking sound Treebeard made when he moved, that is what the lower half of my body was sounding like when I was doing my squats! My body was screaming, "why are you doing this!" I've also been walking around like a penguin carrying an egg these past couple of days. It's pretty sad that after 3 days my body feels this sore. Guess what tomorrow is, REST DAY!
Day 4
Rest Day
Day 5
Feeling rested and ambitious. Today was 70 squats and I did them all on the Bosu ball. I felt it all in my quads and my calf muscle from trying to balance on the Bosu. Is it bad that I checked the chart to see when my next rest day is?
Day 6
75 squats today - Whats great about squats, you can pretty much do them anytime anywhere. It was my lunch time and out of the blue I decided it was squats time! I did all 75 of my squats wearing jeans. Not the most ideal pants to be wearing doing squats but I was not deterred. My legs were not at all sore from yesterday, does this mean my muscles are getting stronger?
Day 7
80 squats today - I glanced at the chart and thought the chart said 85 but it actually said 80. I did 5 more than I needed to. Feeling like an over achiever right now. Did my squats while wearing pink house slippers and waiting for my dinner to cook.
Day 8
Rest Day
Day 9
100 squats today - I procrastinated all day and didn't do my squats until after dinner. It's a lot harder and probably a little counter productive to do squats on a full stomach, but I did it! I had to take mini breaks in between my counts. I'm convinced my legs are getting stronger because in some ways it feels like doing squats is easier than it used to be.
Day 10
It was a long day at work. Once it was over all I wanted to do was curl in a blanket and lay in bed. What I want and what happened are two different things. After work I ended up cleaning and cooking dinner, scrubbed paint from my kids latest art project off the floor. Right when I was getting my blankets and pillows fluffed I did my squats, all 105!
Day 11
I was hoping today was a rest day but it wasn't. I did my 110 squats today before we started Saturday movie night and cuddled next to a bowl of popcorn.
Day 12
Rest Day
Day 13
130 squats today - seeing the number of squats I had to do today seemed a little intimidating. Although, once I got started it went by pretty quickly. I was able to do 70 squats without having to pause.
Day 14
It's been 14 days! I have not missed a day yet and I feel proud of myself. 135 squats today and it goes by pretty quickly while watching TV.
Day 15
140 squats today! Unfortunately at the end of the night I got into a horrible mood. I still did my squats but it felt like it took forever. It's funny how being in a bad mood can make the simplest things seem so difficult.
Day 16
Rest Day
Day 17
150 squats today - these squat sessions are getting tougher. I can feel the burn in my legs and my heart rate starts to pick up. A good sign is that even though I am doing more squats and it burns at the time but the next day I feel pretty good and not too sore. I remember on day 1 after 50 squats I was waddling.
Day 18
I almost forgot to do my squats today but I remembered just as I was heading to bed, 155 squats today! I was in a good mood and was not feeling overly tired so my squat session went by pretty quickly.
Day 19
160 squats today! I got my squats out of the way early this morning so I can spend the rest of the day being a lazy slug. It was 160 squats and I felt it! My muscles must have been tired because I had to stop and take many frequent mini breaks.
Day 20
Rest Day
Day 21
180 squats after a rest day is torture! I put in a 12 hour work day today and afterwords I just wanted to be lazy and watch my TV shows. I didn't cave, I did all 180 squats. I felt the burn and I feel relieved and accomplished that I'm done with squats for the day.
Day 22
185 squats today! By this point I know the number is increasing so I try not to think about it. my technique is to just randomly start the days squats and once I start just plow right through. I have yet to feel any muscle strain in my glutes, it's still all focused on my quad/thigh muscles.
Day 23
190 squats today and I'm so thankful for a rest day tomorrow. The first 100 is more-or-less easy, it's that last 90 where you feel the burn after every 10 squats. The end of the 30 days is approaching quickly and now I have to research which challenge I'll take on next after this one.
Day 24
Rest Day
Day 25
220 squats today! Ouch... my legs are sore! It is a little mentally difficult after doing the first 120 realizing that you still have 100 left to go. I completed my squats successfully today but I won't lie, it was tough. I also had a horrible day binging on carbs! Not only did I eat lots of bread, I had top ramen which is sooooo bad for you. I feel like I gained 20 lbs today with how bad I ate.
Day 26
220 squats today and I am sweating! These were one of the days I was a little skeptical that I would make it all the way through. I feel glad that I didn't give up and I still have not missed a day of the challenge. Feeling proud of myself and giving myself a pat on the back.
Day 27
230 squats today. It didn't feel as difficult as yesterday but it wasn't exactly fun to do. I was taking a break in between squats to catch my breath and my kid said "Mommy, keep exercising!" I'm very skeptical that I lost any weight, if anything I may have gained back a few pounds. I have been on a total carb binge. Even though I know its bad for me, I keep eating more and more carbs. I have been feeling low energy the last couple of days and I'm thinking my diet may be the culprit. It seems I need to go back on my healthy eating challenge, that's how bad I feel I'm doing as far as food (carbs).
Day 28
Rest Day
Day 29
Only one day left in the 30 day squat challenge!!! Today was 240 squats and it wasn't as painful as I anticipated. Does anyone else do their workouts in front of the TV? I seriously think it helps take your mind off the pain.
Day 30
Day 30 has arrived, last day 250 squats! I'm very excited to have successfully completed another challenge. The days of the challenge past by quickly and my greatest accomplishment is not having missed a day. I never felt my ass muscles getting a workout and honestly think you would need to squat using weights if your goal is to get a bigger or firmer ass. My legs without a doubt have gotten stronger. I do not feel I lost any weight and most likely gained some but that was mostly due to inability to restrict my carbs this month. At one point in the month my weight dropped down to 152 but I got lazy on my carbs and gained it back. Ill post my weight tomorrow morning. Everyone who completed the challenge, give yourself a well deserved pat on the back!
What challenge should I tackle next?
Update (Day 31):
Ending Weight - as suspected I gained weight. But I'm extremely happy that it was only 1 lb (right on the dot!)which can be reversed with a good week of healthy eating.
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