Day 90 - In it to finish it??

Day 1 - 65 participants
Day 30 - 50 participants
Day 62 - 20 participants (based on commenters)
Day 90 - How many are there of us??

Please comment so we know how many of us there are left!!

Only 10 days left - WOOHOO!!

On an up note - I've committed myself to now doing 4 sets of 10 in the morning - what a great start to the day!!

Don't forget - we will be having a burpee party on April 10th here in NYC, we encourage everyone else in the challenge to take a picture/document your Day 100 celebration - please send/post you doing your last burpee and/or your celebration!!

Day 89: Happy Thoughts on a Monday

So this morning I tried to get to work a bit early. I left early on Friday to get out of town for the weekend so I figured I'd get a mini head start to the week. Well, after waiting for the subway for an unusually long time, a crowded R train approached the station. It was pretty packed as others were waiting, and on top of that, stubborn people would not give up their precious standing space right by the door (most of us know this situation all too well - there's PLENTY of space in the middle of the car, but everyone crowds around the door).

Well I pushed through and got a decent space to stand. I thought to myself, what a great way to start the week - I'm not going to be early anymore, these subway riders are obnoxious, AND I HAVE 89 BURPEES TO DO TODAY!!

Now, I'm sure at this point you are saying "I thought you posted 'Happy Thoughts on a Monday'??" and I did. I made the decision at that moment to not worry about the minor bumps with my subway commute and relish in the positive.

So, here goes:

1. Its a beautiful day (in NY at least)
2. I'm wearing good burpee jeans so I can tackle my burpees throughout the day today
3. JLB and Jayne pushed me through my burpees yesterday and were so supportive - thanks again :)
4. I'm OBSESSED with Passion Pit (I downloaded the whole album) after Kelly posted her awesome burpee video!
5. Next Friday is not only day 100 but a day off for me!
6. I finally made good french press coffee this morning (finally!)
7. Burpee spelled backwards is Eeprub, pronounced "eeeep - rub" ha.
8. I know that I can finish this challenge (even though I'm still in the hole and making them up every day) and SO CAN YOU!!

Enjoy your Monday, folks, and keep on burpeeing!

Day 88 - Burpees, I hate you.

Today is day 88. Today sucks. I must admit that I like doing burpees on the weekend better than during the week because I have more freedom throughout the day to complete them and don't have to do them in the bathroom at my office. The way that I'm getting through day 88 is to do them in sets of 5 while watching March Madness. TV timeouts, player interviews and half times are great opportunities to crank out sets of 5 or 10.

This challenge is almost done and I CANNOT wait for it to be over. I must admit that I'm so happy that there are still other people in this challenge with me and that there are people who are no longer in the challenge who are still supporting us...

April 10th - here we come!!

Frustration of a Different sort...

So...some of you might want to smack me after this post - but I just want to share some frustrations from the other side...
I am SO DAMN FRUSTRATED that i can't be SUFFERING with all of you still in this challenge! I know that sounds crazy, but it is really how I feel. I know burpees stink. I know they are hard. I know they are killing your arms, legs, backs, wrists...name it and I bet someone in this challenge is having difficulty with it. I know they are time consuming, and I know that they are creating anxiety for a lot of you. And so you would think, that any normal person, knowing all the difficulty that everyone is having with them, might be a bit happy to not have to do burpees. Might be a bit happy to be let off the hook and have a "free excuse" to walk away.

But not me.
No.
I want to be a part of the challenge. I want to feel the pain. I want to have the chance to prove that I can do it.

And I am in no way writing this as a "poor Hobs" post or a "feel bad for me" thing. I am not looking for sympathy, I am simply venting my own frustrations.
I know several people have been forced to quit this challenge due to injury and I can't speak for all of them here, but from my perspective it is extremely maddening to not be able to continue. To not have the chance to prove whether or not I could complete the challenge. The competitor in myself is ticked! If I had gotten injured from the burpees then I just might be able to let it go and say to myself that my body couldn't handle the challenge and the burpees won. Maybe that would have worked... :) However, getting injured through a different means has only added to my frustration as I feel like I will never know if I would have made it. I would like to believe I could tough it out...but I really would have liked the chance to prove it.
And sure - when I am better I could start over again, or I could even start from day 55, where I left off. But I won't be doing it with all of you. I am a team player. And there has been post after post after post stating how meaningful and important the group dynamic has been in all of this. I signed up to be challenged with everyone...I really am not sure I would be tough enough to do it alone.
I guess along with me venting my frustration I am also writing to admit that I am out. I am done. I will not be able to finish the challenge with the rest of you. And I am damn pissed about it.
I do wish you all luck, and I will be cheering with you all along the way. :)
Beat the damn burpees.

Day 86 - Frustrated

Somehow, between work, rugby practice, basketball playoffs, and god knows what else, I managed to do only 35 burpees yesterday. When I woke up this morning, it was to sun, birds chirping, and 136 burpees that cast a cloud over the spring weather.
While I did 26 this morning, I have no idea where I'm going to fit the rest in, as today is fairly unconducive to burpees. My office is busy, I'm wearing a shirt that isn't burpee friendly, I'm forgoing the gym, where I do most of my burpees, to see a friend after work. Tomorrow our team has a big rugby tournament, so it's going to be a struggle just to do Saturday's burpees between games and then Sunday's burpees with extreme muscle soreness. If I don't catch up today and then for some reason have to roll over Saturday and Sunday, that's 374 burpees by Monday! CRAP!
I'll make every attempt to have a clean burpee slate by the end of the day, but at this point I doubt that's going to happen. A severe case of burpee anxiety is overtaking me. How did I let this happen?! Dumb! Dumb, dumb, dumb....

Day 84 Video Inspiration

Thanks Kelly for sending this inspirational and professional video of a set of 20 from yesterday!! Kelly joined the challenge through the rugby grapevine, linked this blog to lifehacker.com and loves this challenge!



Nice form Kelly! Send your video to u19rugby@gmail.com

Day 83: We're breaking up!!

I hate you right now. I feel like you have taken over my life and my body and my mind. You are a life-sucking alien that is out to get me. Slowly but surely. I'm losing interest in working out because of you; you leave me bruised and battered.

I made a "PROS" and "CONS" list to see if we should stay together.

PROS
1. You give me great arms
2. You give me better core strength
3. We can do it anywhere
4. You increase my heart rate and cardiovascular health
5. Rugby teaches this well, but you're teaching me a new tolerance for pain

CONS
1. You hurt my shoulders
2. I am constantly worrying about you
3. You hurt my hip flexors
4. I have given up other workouts for you
5. We've done it in places we probably shouldn't (subway floor!??!)
6. I have rescheduled my life for you
7. You are emotionally abusive
8. You are physically abusive
9. I think you are cheating on me with many other men AND women
10. You don't cook or clean or tell me I look beautiful after we've done it


As of April 10th, we're through!!

Day 81

Day 81. 9:23 pm. And I still have 75 burpees to do.

I'm tired. I'm full. My abs are still sore from Friday. 

Around this time yesterday, I was down 60 burpees. And I was tired. And sore.

And I burpeed. 

If I did it yesterday, I can do it today. 

I can do it for 19 more days.

Day 78 video inspiration

Joke got inspired by my video post the other day and did her own. She has been doing the challenge since Day 1 (Jan 1) from Amsterdam with her husband Anuj and friend Tom. As far as I can tell from her comments none of them have gotten too far behind!



This was both of our first time EVER posting a video to youtube. If you are inspired to do your own set of 10 send me the link at u19rugby@gmail.com

A day in the life of a burpee addict

Hey Guys!
I am so excited to be part of the new enthusiasm around the burpee challenge! I am about 30 behind in the grand scheme, and think I might get current (or closer) today.
With all the discussion of what this challenge is and how we survive and are we crazy etc, I thought I'd give a sidelong view into my burpee day.
7:00 AM, WNYC on my alarm; get up, regret my decisions.
7:15, set of 15 burpees, a moment to get in touch with my body. Feel the physical aches and pains from practice last night, the psychic aches and pains of being human.
7:30 breakfast is cooling, another set of 15 burpees. Now that I am waking up, I am start to remember why I love this challenge; I get to be in touch with my body at all moments of the day. My frontal quad and pecs are sore, and I love that. I feel stronger for being sore, and healthier for having committed to this.
7:50 one set of ten before I leave the house, heading to the train with almost a full work out done.
8:10 Awkward stares from downstairs neighbors who I pass on the way to the train, their eyes ask "Who or What are you doing up there?" My smug reply, "If I told you I'd have to invite you, and this is mine. See you in the blogosphere, losers."
Throughout the day, I'll do a set of ten burpees in-between periods at the school where I teach. "Mr. Diesel is doing the farting thing again." "When you gonna stop that and join a gym?" etc. Love the high school kids.
4:00 pm, get home, finish off with a few sets of ten in between emails and other paperwork. By practice time, I am already fully in touch with my body and have revved up my muscles, not to mention have something to be proud of. Insofar as this is instructive, I enjoy burpees not only because of the challenge, but they also get me in touch with the best gift I can give myself, health and fitness.
I hope you find the time to do a set of 10-20 burpees today and experience the joy and regret we have all become intimate with!

Michelle Obama does burpees

Albeit, "no-jump" burpees....but burpees nonetheless. Do I believe this website, I'm not sure...I think they are just trying to sell their arm workout. However, if Michelle Obama does actually do burpees, I think the whole world is seeing their effect.



http://flabfreearms.blogspot.com/2009/02/michelle-obamas-arms-workout.html

Day 77 - comments from lifehacker

It's exciting to have lots of visitors and more commenters on this blog! All motivation helps at this point. Please continue to comment!!

I also wanted to address the question that someone in the comments yesterday raised about why we'd do this challenge in the first place. Here is there comment:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Half Way Point!!! - Day 71":
"I caught this from lifehacker.com and I feel compelled to comment. I don't quite understand the challenge and I don't understand why you would put such stress on your body. Working out is a key function of a healthy life style. However, doing so in a manner that allows for no real rest is just a bad idea. What will you do at the end of it? It'll probably take some time for your body to heal... anyway, maybe I just don't understand, but I think the best results with a workout come from rest. Resting is where all the 'magic' happens and your fitness increases and your muscles strengthen. That's all, don't mean to rain on your parade. I just hope you don't cause yourself permanent damage to your wrists or backs or other areas you're over stressing."
Posted by Anonymous to The 2009 One Hundred Day Burpee Challenge at March 17, 2009 9:39 PM

I don't actually have the answer that addresses all the fitness parts of this because sometime I ask myself the same thing and maybe someone else (ahem, Hedwig) will do a full post on this.

However....why do people do any endurance fitness challenge? run marathons? hike the Appalachian trail? Free Dive? Climb Mt. Everest?

I think its a combination of mental and physical challenge. Also most people (that I know of) that entered this challenge are athletes and workout in some way on a regular basis. Part of being an athlete is being in tune with your body's needs. You certainly can't complete your goal if you injure yourself or deplete all your resources. From what I know of the challengers we are all being pretty smart about it. Taking a day off (and making it up later) when we need to, breaking it into smaller sets, modifying for injury or taking certain parts slow.

If you are starting this challenge and need advice on how to get through this safely please read through our old posts as there are lots of suggestions that we have shared along the way and also ask anything in the comments!

I know for me that I complain that my low back is cranky and sore. Well to tell the whole story it is cranky and sore because I have terrible posture (which I am trying to help by sitting on a swiss ball at my desk). This challenge is strengthening my core and helping align my spine and pelvis -- this causes some soreness. I counter it with lots of yoga & these days I am doing sets of 10 throughout the day because I can't handle one sitting.

Day 77 - Burpee Benefits

Though this was discussed somewhat by Rachel in the Day 76 comments, I think this topic warrants its own post.

I do my burpees in sets of ten to twenty throughout the day, rather than trying to bang out the entire total in one sitting. While I'd definitely see more cardiovascular improvement if I did them all at once, I'm still getting serious benefits. The muscles in my arms, abs, and shoulders are more defined. My pull ups are improving drastically. I'm able to bench press more weight than I was when I first started, even though I trained in the gym regularly before the challenge. Also, at rugby practice yesterday we did a drill where we sprinted to the edge of the field, hit the deck, and got back up and sprinted back. The sprinting part still wasn't so fun, but I'm getting off the ground much faster and with (seemingly) less effort than I have in past seasons.

So ultimately, though the burpee challenge may be labor-intensive and neurosis-inducing, it produces results. How is everyone else feeling? Any noticeable/interesting/unexpected burpee benefits (or detriments)?

Day 76 - Big Pimpin'

Thanks to Kelly, we have many new friends from lifehacker.com! Welcome! (For anyone confused, read yesterday's comments)

Today is Day 76 for us, meaning 76 burpees today, 77 tomorrow.... But today can be day 1 for anyone.

Do we have any new burpee challengers who are going to start their own? What are your goals? Do you have friends you can burpee with? Let us know!!

Frankie, I am going to add to your post:
I've been meaning to put this video clip up - and since we have new people in the challenge today is a good day for that. This video is from Day 60 when I did a timed challenge (meaning no rest between sets). I wanted to see how my form fell apart. The whole thing took me 5 min 50sec - but this clip is just 10 somewhere in the beginning and already I creak back into my squat.



If other people have video clips and aren't a contributor send them to me (Rachel) at u19rugby@gmail.com to be posted!

Day 75

Three quarters of the way there, at least time wise! I'm currently in the process of catching up for most of yesterday and today (80 down, 60 to go). Right elbow is a bit sore in the pushup, something that isn't helped by sleeping with my arm bent over my head, but so far it's just a minor annoyance.

Also, I'd like to commend Sarah Litt for doing burpees in the back of the Budget moving truck yesterday.

Happy burpee-ing!

Half Way Point!!! - Day 71

Hello all...I just finished my third set of today - which means since January 1, I've completed 2525 burpees...exactly half of the total number of burpees that we will do by April 10th. If you think about it, today is a HUGE accomplishment. I'm still doing all of them every day. I've been playing sports/been active my whole life. I constantly figure how "how much do I have left?". When running, I say to myself - I have done 75%, only 25% left. In a rugby match, I break the minutes down into quarters or eighths even. Now that we are 71% done with the days and 50% done with the burpees, I'm feeling accomplished.

PS: Is anyone else's lower back starting to hurt??

30 days and counting!

APRIL 10th is the big day. Day 100. 30 days away!

SAVE THE DATE!

WHAT: Burpee Celebration (and final chance to get em' done!)
WHERE: TBD
WHEN: Friday, April 10, Time TBD
WHY: Come on, do I really need to go there? A celebration to pat ourselves and each other on the back for completing this grueling challenge!

Any suggestions as to a location? As the majority of burpeers are in the NYC area, I'm suggesting a NYC/BK location. Obviously, everyone is encouraged and welcome to join!

Day 70 - Why burpee?

Rachel's post made me wonder: Why did I start burpee-ing? And why do I continue to do so?

Besides the appeal of taking on a challenge with a group of my friends and teammates, I started because I really hated burpees. A workout philosophy that I picked up from Kelly McMahon is that the harder something is, the more often you should do it. I think edging towards a total of 5050 burpees within 100 days qualifies as "often." And unlike trying to take yoga classes multiple times a week, burpees required no financial investment and a minimal (or so I thought) time investment. I also underestimated how much burpee catch-up days would suck and the toll burpee-ing takes on the body in conjunction with a workout; in light of these details I still would have joined the challenge, but probably with much less enthusiasm.

I continue to burpee for a few reasons. Burpees have become part of my routine. I'm kind of starting to enjoy them now that I'm getting better at them. (OK, maybe "enjoy" is the wrong word. Or maybe I just enjoy the feeling of them being completed.) Post-challenge, they'll be working their way into my warmups and workouts, though probably in maximum quantities of 50.

Mostly, though, I continue because I decided in the beginning that the only way out was to finish on Day 100. I have enough time to burpee, since I'm lucky to have coworkers, roommates, and teammates that think nothing of me dropping to the ground and pushing out a burpee or ten, regardless of the setting. My body is healthy enough and physically capable of finishing, though sometimes it tries very hard to convince me otherwise. And, while people have dropped since day 1, there are still 20+ other people doing burpees, too. I have more reasons to continue burpee-ing than I have reasons to quit.

Plus I'd be plain pissed at myself if I stopped now. 30 more days of burpees are worth the satisfaction (and the massive reward cupcake) on day 100.

Day 69 Burpees are making me crazy

This challenge is offically making me crazy and neurotic. I can't stop thinking about burpees - especially now that I am running a deficit. I talk about them all the time. I blog about them all the time! I worry about getting them done. I am doing them in short sets right now because my body is still so sore. Therefore I feel like I am doing them all the time. I constantly wonder how I even got involved in this crazy challenge, especially as people drop out left and right.

I need burpee therapy.

Day 66 & 67

This weekend has proved to be stressful on the burpee front, but all in all it's worked out pretty well. Yesterday we (Belmont Shore) had 4 (yes FOUR) rugby games. I found that burpees are a great way to stay warm while waiting to go in. So I did them throughout the day and ended up with just 10 to do at the end of the night. I banged those out before my ice bath and started today with no rollovers.

This morning at 10 am we played Berkley in the semi-final (30 min halves). I couldn't bring myself to do any pre-game burpees. I played the entire game and feel pretty banged up now. My entire left arm hurts and I have a huge bruise on the top of my foot and ankle. Since the game ended I've done 22 - every single one of them hurts a lot so I plan on carrying over into tomorrow. It will be the first rollover burpees I've had, but I think at this point it is better for my body.

day 65

It is way harder to do 65 burpees when you are sore from rugby practice. I am trying to figure out a good strategy for getting through the weekend without having to make up too many. I am thinking that I'll do 10 (which is easy at this point) for warm up for each game and then do whatever I can at the end of the day leaving the rest as make up. I am nervous as I haven't had to keep track of owed burpees before....

Day 63

2016. That's how many burpees we've done so far, though the number may be a little lower for those who have some in the bank. (I caught up on 177 yesterday, but still owe 50 of today's 63.)
2016 is a big number.
If burpees were inches, that would be 168 feet.
If they were years, starting at 0 a.d., we'd be anticipating the next batch of the summer olympics (maybe with sevens rugby involved!)
If they were grains of sand....well... that probably wouldn't be that impressive.
If you did one of these burpees a minute, it would take you 33 hours and 36 minutes to complete them.
If they were miles, they'd get you from LA to Chicago, or from New York to Albuquerque.

Bottom line: That's a lot of burpees. 37 days (and a bunch more burpees) left.

Keep it up/make it up/heal up so you can come back!

Day 62: How many of are still in the challenge

Probably should have done this at day 60 since that would have been 30 days after our first check in. At Day 30 there were 52 people who left a comment that they were still in the challenge - and a few on facebook who couldn't get on the blog for some reason. There are still over 200 people in the facebook group, but many never started the challenge.

So if you are still in the challenge leave a shout in the comment section - feel free to include where you are from, how many burpees you are in debt, etc.

Day 61: The Plan

So, I am one of those unfortunates with 100's of banked burpees. This weekend, as I saw them keep piling up, I had to make a plan. I REALLY want to make it to the end of this challenge. My wrist is actually injured and I am trying to rest it to complete healing before I strain it with burpees.
So, yesterday, I did some calculations. If I rest my wrist for 5 more days I will be down... 807 burpees. That seems like an astronomical number. Rather than have an entire day where I try to make up tons and tons of them and have my arms and legs turn into jello puddin' I thought, what if I spread them out over the remaining days? So, I rejoin on day 65. I have 35 days left of the challenge to complete all my burpees. I have 807 to make up. 807 divided by 35 is 23. 23 additional burpees every day. So, on day 65, I hope to come in with 88 burpees, which will be plenty challenging but then I just have to bump it up to 89, 90 and so on.
THAT is the plan. I hope my wrist is up to it. It will be a huge accomplishment if I do it so please help keep me in it. For those of you who have never missed a day, I confess, you are my true idols.

Day 60--The best laid plans...

Last week, while brainstorming ideas for what to give up during Lent, I came up with the idea of giving up banking burpees. No more would I add to that large number I owe to the burpee gods! I was very excited about this plan, as my burpee bank was in the red by 451 at that point.

I hoped to use this plan to not only complete my daily burpees, but to begin to repay my burpee debts, and this weekend seemed the perfect starting point, as a few other burpee challengers and I were at a rugby coaching clinic. Our early attempts to surreptitiously complete sets of 10-15 burpees after practical gym sessions and to warm up for tackling drills became more noticeable after we explained the burpee challenge to a few other coaches; people began cheering for us to perform sets of 10 at the post-clinic social on Saturday night, and even began rating our form!

It was a great weekend for burpeeing--we even convinced two other coaches to start their own challenge as of today, March 1st--until the last practical coaching session today. During a fun game of Jackpot, I jumped up to catch the ball and landed funny on my ankle, spraining my left foot. I was disappointed, not only because I missed the rest of the session, but because I'd only completed 30 of today's 60 burpees! Only 5 days into Lent and I've missed my goal already. It looks like ice, advil, and more banked burpees are in my future. So...do I need to pick a new challenge for Lent?

Day 60 from California. ARGH!!

After procrastinating by stretching for a good 20 minutes I did my 60 timed burpees. It sucked I took a breather at 30 and at 50, however still managed 5.45. This is only 25 seconds more than my 50 time. I think I was much faster in the beginning. My pushups from 40-50 weren't full, but my form held the rest of the time.

Anyone else time today?