15 Day Burpee Challange - My Results

A little over two weeks ago I read THIS article online, about a gal who did a 15 day burpee challenge and in turn,made some fitness and health gains. It for sure caught my attention and unlike most challenges that are like, "Do 300 squats a day for 30 days" (no thanks) doing 30 burpees a day for 15 days seemed like a challenge, but a completely do-able challenge.

I started the challenge 15 days ago and finished up this morning. I didn't skip a single day and found that I had the most success if I did my burpees in the morning, within 15 minutes of waking up. One day I went all day without doing them and ended up having to do them at night, after dinner and I never made that mistake again - ugh!

I lost one pound (which for me is HUGE!) and gained significant strength, especially in my arms. I remarked nearly everyday to Adam, "Either Taylor (my baby) is getting lighter or I am getting stronger, because she doesn't seem as heavy to me!" It also became so much easier for me to lug her heavy car seat around as well.

My stamina and speed in my runs increased as well. Burpees require a great deal of explosive power to execute and I know that doing 30 a day helped me increase my running speeds. I shaved 10-30 seconds per mile off most of my training runs while doing this challenge. I was also able to tack on an extra mile or two to some runs because my body wasn't as fatigued by my standard mileage.

I had more energy also while doing this burpee challenge. I was on a three cups of coffee a day habit ever since little Taylor was born, but during this challenge, I was able to cut my coffee consumption down to only two cups. I didn't make this change consciously either, most days I simply forgot to have that third cup because I didn't feel overwhelmingly tired mid-afternoon.

Most importantly, I think this challenge helped drive and motivate me to work towards a goal and really focus on my fitness and training. I was feeling a little unmotivated before, but knowing that I had this challenge, and wanting to see it through really ignited this spark in me. Over the last 15 days I really committed to my training and goals.

I know you may be thinking - Really? Really, did all of these changes happen by doing 30 burpees a day for 15 day?! Yes, yes they did! I was totally skeptical too at first but now I'm a huge believer. One small lifestyle change can really make a big impact, and in my case, this was it. My 15 days are up but I am totally going to keep the 30 burpees a day challenge going. What do you say - will you join me this time?