Are Fitness Challenges Killing Your Body?

Okay people, I’m just going to come out and say it…. WHAT IS UP WITH ALL THESE FITNESS CHALLENGES? Who created them? What was the intent? What is the goal? And how about WHAT IS THE END RESULT?     

In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, perhaps you were invited to do a Pushup Challenge last year to help fundraise for a charity. I have no problem with fundraising, but why would you ask people to do a zillion push-ups every day for 30 days? Did the person who created this fundraiser have any background in fitness? Because if they did, I’m sure they would see that doing any strength training move day after day after day (for 30 days) could really lead to injury.  Not to mention, how many people gave this challenge a try who were not even strong enough to do 1 proper push-up?  Now we have people suffering through this challenge with poor form just because someone said it was a good idea.

Another interesting challenge I have seen is the 100 push-ups per day for 30 days! OMG! I don’t even think doing 100 push-ups for ONE day is the greatest plan.  Then, I have seen the running challenge to run every single day for 365 days in the year (even if it is just 1 mile).  Hmmmm, not sure that is the best thing for your body either.

I find it frustrating because this is exactly how people get injured.  You generally do NOT want to ever do strength moves without 48 hours of recovery time for that muscle group.  So, if I did push-ups on Monday, I would not do them again on Tuesday.  Your muscles need to recover, otherwise you will end up OVER-TRAINING that muscle group which will lead to destruction rather than increased strength.  Another factor you might not take into account when doing these push-ups challenges is your opposing muscle group! If you do that many push-ups each day you are going to seriously TIGHTEN up that chest.  If you do not do something to strengthen your back muscles (the opposing side to the chest), then you are creating a severe imbalance in your muscle groups! Don’t be surprised if you start hunching forward from all of the overtraining you did to your chest.

Running is a whole different ball game! Running is one of the hardest sports on the body.  It’s a lot of impact on the ankles, knees and back.  In my opinion, to run every single day for 365 days without giving your body a break would be a big risk.  And if you are a die-hard runner, you would never want to risk getting injured. There is nothing worse for a runner than an injury that prevents them from running at all.

I guess what I’m trying to figure out is what is everyone’s goal with these challenges? Is it just to do it so you can say “I did it”?  Or do you think if you do this challenge you will get stronger? Or be a better runner? Perhaps before you take on the next challenge you should ask yourself this, “WHAT IS THE RISK OVER THE REWARD”? If injury is even a slight possibility, I can tell you that it is not worth it.

And by the way, don’t feel bad saying NO to a challenge. I have had to do it many times last year because I put my body’s health and safety first.  You can still make a donation to the charity without getting injured J

If you want even more detail on this topic, check out the Earn That Body Podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud at CLICK HERE!