I remember vividly laughing a little to myself after I stopped my Garmin activity after 4 minutes and 3 seconds. Most of that activity was spent stretching my quads, hamstrings, and glutes. After I stretched, a took a deep breath and did 1 push-up, followed by 1 sit-up, then a 1 second plank. That was probably the moment I came up with the name for the challenge; “The Dumb Fitness Challenge”. Everything about that 4 minutes felt really dumb, but as the days progressed that feeling went away.

If you’re anything like me when you decide to start a training program, you probably build up the first day in your head, chocked full of expectations about how that day should feel. You might make a Spotify playlist of pump music, invest in Lululemon workout apparel, and fill your Hydro Flask with Smart Water. That first workout may feel great. Or it might feel awful. You might have a moment of Déjà vu remembering exactly why you quit doing this in the first place. Maybe this is your first time ever trying an exercise, and that uncomfortable, awkward, unfamiliarity creates a cloud of doubt. At the end of the day we look back at our first and take a mental inventory of our feelings. Sometimes we do this without even thinking about it. Perhaps that mile run felt amazing and you can’t wait to do it again tomorrow. Or maybe you finished your workout after having failed to complete 4 reps of something you remember being able to do really well 10 years ago.

Day 1 is hard. It can be the make or break moment for a lot of us. A good day creates momentum for the next one. A bad day creates a reason to quit later on. Have you ever had that moment? You throw in the towel and immediately think “I knew this wouldn’t work the moment I [insert day 1 experience here]”. I’ve had dozens of those moments throughout my life. Moments where I let the first day of “New Year New Me” ruin the possibilities of sustainable success. It’s not uncommon, and you’re not alone.

This is why the DFC takes a different approach. Rather than jumping head first into something you’ve never touched before, start with a single unit. One push-up, one sit-up, one second, one something. Day one should feel like the sample spoon at your favorite froyo joint. Chances are you won’t be laying in bed that night thinking “man that sucked, I don’t think I can do this anymore”. You’ll probably have a similar sentiment that I had; “wow that felt really dumb”.

Today is the hardest part of the journey. It sets the mental stage for success. The DFC is 90% mental stamina. If you’re trying to figure out how much time this is going to take out of your day, it’s peanuts in comparison to whatever box set of 1-800-getrippedtoday DVDs you thought about ordering. By the end of 2022, the DFC only took me 35:17 to complete, and that included 6 minutes of stretching. Thirty-five minutes to finish 365 push-ups, 365 sit-ups, and a 6:05 plank. Some of us spend more time than that commuting to and from the gym.

I’ll leave you with this. Whatever you decide to do today, know that your subconscious is going to label today good or bad. You may have a passing thought about how today went. You might think nothing of it, but that label will be there when you hit a crossroads. Label today something dumb, so you can laugh about it while you do your two reps tomorrow.

Have a good 4 minutes!