‘Til I See You Again Challenge . . . Will You Join Us?

Meet Matt Kahrs.  He trains me sometimes.  Matt is crazy . . . crazy in a admirable way. He’s always challenging himself, and I don’t mean in the “How many more clients can I train?” way.  I mean he is always personally challenging himself to do something new or something better, whether it’s going on a yoga retreat (when he had never really practiced yoga), doing a pull-up challenge or taking an insane Kettlebell SFG Strong First certification. He not only does it because it makes him a better trainer but because it makes him a better and ultimately, a happier and more confident person . . . so obviously he is a great positive energy to be around.  He’s also single (hey, ladies) with no kids, so when he tells me these challenges he’s doing I either respond with a “You’re making me miss my pre-baby life”,” (like when he told me he was going on Travis Eliot‘s Yoga Retreat to Mexico) or with a “That sounds awful,” (like when he told me how excited he was that Equinox had finally gotten a 100 lb kettlebell and he had just killed it the other day).

Anyways, so like anyone else, sometimes I need someone to hold me responsible for my workouts, especially when Mama is (more often than not these days), too tired to get her sweat on. However, I know that if I have an 8:30 PM training with Matt, I’m going to go, when my husband gets home, rather than flopping on the couch to watch one of my guilty pleasures. No appointment usually means no workout. Sadly, I’ve only had a chance to train with Matt twice since I had Liam, but last week when we trained, we somehow got into a conversation about burpees, probably because I love them and was excited to finally be able to do them all the way to the floor (now that I no longer have a baby in my belly). I told him how my good friend, Brittany Trahan, had done a 30-Day Burpee Challenge, where she did 100 burpees a day for 30 days (For hers you didn’t have to do them in a row. You just had to get in 100 total each day, all at once or split up throughout the day.)  I’m guessing you know where I’m going with this . . .

I’m not sure where the conversation went from there, but next thing I knew the two of us were making up our own challenge.  Clearly, my postnatal body is in no position to handle 100 burpees in a row, so I agreed to do 25 a day, and Matt agreed to do 100. He made two additional rules. 1) You MUST do all ___ burpees in a row. 2) You’re allowed one “free day,” meaning you are super sick or some other real excuse. I made the last rule which is that it can be any version of a burpee as long as your chest goes to the floor, and you get full extension of the hips at the top. I knew there was no way I could safely handle 30 plus days of plyo burpees. We said we would do it starting that day, which was August 7 and continue it until we saw each other again, which will probably be sometime the week of Sept. 8.  Thus, I created the name Til I See You Again Challenge.  

Why I love this challenge already:  I’m always trying to balance WHAT I love with WHO I love, and I don’t get to workout everyday, so at least now I know I’ll get in 25 burpees everyday. In fact, the other night I didn’t get to do them until 10 pm and that was my only workout for the day, right in front of my 10 week old.  Every time I hit the deck right in front of them, we made eye contact and smiled at each other.  He clearly thought this was hilarious, and no jumping tonight, as Grandpa was sleeping downstairs.

So, we invite you to join us (If you need to know how to do a burpee, see the pic below).  If you’re going to do the challenge, you have to pick a number (of burpees) and stick to it. Remember, you have to do them all in a row, so don’t be unrealistic. You know our numbers, so if you’re committed, write the number of burpees you plan to do each day and the date your challenge ends, in the comment section below and get burpeeing! (I think I just created a new word.) I’m sure I’ll continue blogging about this, so feel free to check back in and let us know your progress. Since you wont’ be “seeing us again,” you have 30 days from your starting day, but start soon! Summer will be over, and kids (if you have them) will be back in school before you know it, but hopefully you’ll be stronger by then, thanks to your new best friend – the burpee.