Since I am getting this post out a little late, I have decided to combine day 26 and 27 (yesterday and today). This works out well since I added a swim to my exercise routine for the last two days. Though technically I was snorkeling, and the water was too cold to stay in more than about 10-15 minutes, I tried to get as much exercise out of it as possible. It also helped me to realize another reason to break up your exercise routine through out the day. Something unexpected may come into your schedule that stops you from completing that day.

Being that it’s February, it had been a while since I had been out under the direct sun swimming. Putting my body under a bright sun for a little over an hour zapped all of my energy. I didn’t notice it at first, but a couple hours after I returned home I became very tired and wasnt motivated at all to do my exercise routine. My whole body felt heavier and sluggish. I would have been perfectly happy to fall asleep in front of the TV.

I actually did go on and push myself to complete the rest of my routine and even went for a short run. I felt much better afterwords and my energy seemed to be restored. It also helped that I knew I would be writing about it later and that the results wouldn’t be as accurate if I missed a day.

However, I had already done a parts of my routine in the morning and combined with the swim that would have been an adequate workout for the day. It wouldn’t have been a big deal to let my body rest for the night.  If I had a set workout schedule, skipping the routine without effecting my results wouldn’t have been possible. Knowing that part of the workout was already finished also made it easier to start again when I was tired.

Tomorrow is technically the last day of the challenge so please be sure to tune in for the final results. Technically the challenge was 30 days, but the following 2 days would be rest days and so won’t count.

Exercises of the Day

Bicycle Crunches- Laying with your back on the floor and your legs bent and elevated of the floor, slowly crunch your right elbow to your left knee (then do the same with your left elbow and right knee). Using your stomach muscles lift your upper body as much as possible off the ground when doing the crunch. I also hold each one for a second or two. This exercise is still one of the most difficult for me.

Pull-ups- The reason I am such a big fan off pull-ups is because of the number of upper body muscles it requires. Not to mention that using only a bar, you can do several types of pull-ups, working different muscle groups. Seeing my upper body strength increase by the ease I can do  pull-ups has been very motivating.

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