Theme: Exercise and Movement
Challenge: Move It Mondays!

Last week’s procrastination challenge could be summed up by “just get started” and those three words are just as applicable to our challenge this week. This week, our challenge is to start off the week by exercising on Monday. What’s the big deal about Monday? Well, studies suggest that people who exercise on Monday are more likely to exercise the rest of the week than people who skip their Monday workout. Monday is like a mini New Year’s Day every week. It’s a fresh start and a clean slate. If you start out the week with healthy habits such as exercising, you’ve got momentum and often the motivation to keep going the rest of the week.

The Move It Monday organization is focused on encouraging people to start their week with exercise. I’ve followed their Facebook page and Twitter feeds for several years now, and their posts, articles, and inspiring stories are really helpful in staying on track.

This week’s challenge is different from the challenges we’ve had in the past. Our other challenges have run horizontally across the week. This challenge runs vertically through this Monday and the other four Mondays in February. The challenge is very simple: just spend at least 20 minutes each Monday exercising in whatever way works best for you.

The different structure posed a little problem for me. If the challenge this week is to exercise on Monday, what do we do the rest of the week? Here’s what I suggest: let’s focus on meeting the public health recommendation to exercise 150 minutes at a moderate pace or 75 minutes at a more vigorous pace this week. There aren’t a lot of public health recommendations and this is a good one to adopt. If you are new to exercising and 150 minutes seems out of reach, exercise at whatever level works best for you. We all start where we are. I think reaching the goal of 150 minutes of exercise per week is something that’s achievable by almost everyone this year and I encourage you to make it your goal in 2018.

This Week’s Challenge: Make it a point to exercise this Monday and every Monday in February for at least 20 minutes a day. This week, let’s also try to meet the public health recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week.

Please post after you’ve done your Monday workout. Even a short “I did it!“ or “Done! Checked off the list!” may inspire others in our group to exercise. Creating an exercise routine that works for you is one of the best things that you can do for your health.

I will have a prompt for Move it Monday in all of our February weekly challenges. Please post if you exercised that Monday. It would be great to see a lot of us make the commitment to Move It on Monday!

I’m looking forward to hearing how this week goes for you. Make it a great week!

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Suggested Resources:

Move It Monday:
http://www.moveitmonday.org/about/

Use Monday to Stay on the Right Track
http://www.moveitmonday.org/monday-right-track/

Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_recommendations/en/

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