Could Working Out Be This Easy?…Our 15-minute Challenge Begins

It starts today! A daily 15 minute workout challenge! 

Joe Guy and I have each been in great shape at different times in our lives. We’ve each separately run a half marathon, done two-a-day workouts, and also done a whole lot of nothing as well!  

The latter would be the best way to describe our workout routines these days. Sometimes, our only exercise consists of walks to and from the park.

So we’ve decided to challenge ourselves — 15 minutes of working out a day. 

The idea is to find something sustainable that we can do each day and see if it can make a difference — not only to our fitness level but also our state of minds by releasing some much-needed endorphins! 

We’re using a few guiding principles for the challenge — easy, affordable and flexible:

• Easy: The exact workout time might vary by day. Our rule is that the workout has to be at least 10 minutes but no more than 20 minutes. Even if we’ve reached the end of a grueling day, we hope to be able to muster 10 minutes of exercise to keep the healthy living going.

• Affordable: We wanted to make the challenge easy, affordable and sustainable. We’re spending a minimal amount of money on resources ( about $100 each for annual access to online or app workout resources). We’ll also be using little or no equipment. Most of the routines will be bodyweight with some bands or small dumbbells mixed in. 

• Flexible: The exercises will be done in our home, outside or wherever we’re staying for vacation. (Keep in mind we have a small 2BR apartment, so not lots of space). And we have free reign to mix up the routines — core, full body, yoga, stretching, push-ups, lunges…It doesn’t matter as long as we do something!

Hopefully, this new fitness endeavor lasts and becomes a habit that helps keep us healthy and happy. We’ll report back on how it’s going.

Here are some great places we’ll be using to get short workouts:

• Aaptiv — Audio workout app with lots of routines for all levels and time ranges
• Slim & Strong — Guided online video workouts by New York-based nutrition and fitness expert Ariane Hundt
• Melissa Woods Workouts — Another great online full-body and mind workout site

We would love to hear other resources you’re using to create a sustainable workout routine. Please post them in our comments section!