On January 1, 2023, I joined the 100 Crunches-A-Day Fitness challenge, organized by St. Jude's Cancer Research Hospital. It's a Facebook fundraiser that is also a fitness challenge and I found it to be irresistible because:
- It's a fitness challenge
- I really needed to get back into routine and find motivation
- it's a fitness for a good cause: cancer research for children
I've donated to the campaign within the first week with a goal to capture $250 for the research hospital. It takes 10 minutes a day for me to do these crunches and less than 10 seconds to donate! https://www.facebook.com/donate/1280294862530873/
This challenge is to benefit children who are severely ill and fighting daily to maintain their health. Between the reps and the sets and the lifting and the pulling and the exhaustion---time is broken up into tiny increments and passes very fast. Considering how much you can get done in only 10 minutes, it really shows how much time is wasted. What someone who is ill would give for a fraction of our wasted time is something I think about. While I'm fighting through 100 crunches, I think about life, time, and the gift of being physically able.
To do 100 crunches, I’ve just been using a simple padded exercise mat, a waist trainer and some water for hydration. I’ve also been using intensity as you can see in these videos. Intensity is very important. It is an energy that's hard to sustain, but you need intensity when it's time to change something or solidify what is already working---intensity is the thrust you need to get off the ground and overcome being stagnant.
I haven't seen any results physically from doing these crunches and I did take before and after and progress photos, but after the second or third day of doing them my core was stronger and it took me a lot less time to get through the hundred. Also, mentally I'm a lot stronger. Of course, like anybody else, the first week I struggled to do this but something about being held accountable with the donation and just being able to carve out 10 minutes of time to do it in an environment that's calm has been very beneficial. mentally strength is one of the benefits that I like most about exercise.
And speaking of results, I want something to show for all this work at the end of the month, so I have been doing certain things for healthy results:
I kind of look forward to doing these crunches now. I've been typically doing them in the evening at the end of the day for 10 minutes before bed. That’s the time I've had to carve out and that's the time that I've committed to doing it. As such, I've been looking forward to it. My body is ready to do them. For some people working out first thing in the morning and that's how they're able to “put themselves first”. For me, my day doesn’t feel complete until I’ve worked out, so like Vanessa Williams, I am “saving The Best (me) for last.”