I talked to you last week over a pint of beer how we are about 16 weeks away from Christmas and how important these next few months are to get into an exercise routine as well as getting your eating in line in order to lose weight so that you don’t start off the new year in January, 10-15 pound heavier than you are right now.
This week I went over why a 30-minute workout works for me, how you can design your own 30-minute workout, and gave you a free video of a 30-minute workout that you can try out for yourself.
We’re almost at 14 weeks now until Christmas so times a wastin’.
But with all of that, you are still probably just saying “Thanks for that information Mike but, just give me the workouts and let me get started NOW.”
Fair enough.
And with that being said, I’ve got a special offer coming your way that I really think you’re going to like.
On Tuesday, September 21st, I’m going to be launching the re-vamped 30-Minute Workout system where you’re going to have a couple of options.
One option that you’ll have is just like I have it set up now: You can purchase a membership where you receive TWO new 30-Minute Workouts a month (a beginner workout along with either an intermediate or advanced workout) that are each four weeks long AND also get the Lean Body Training Fat Loss Nutritional Guide. This option is going to be at an INCREDIBLY reduced rate from what it goes for now.
A second option is new. In this option you can buy FOUR MONTHS worth of the past workouts that I’ve put together in a package, for just a one-time charge. And remember, four months worth of these workouts actually equals EIGHT MONTHS since each monthly workout has two workout options.
So with this option you’ll get EIGHT workouts that are each a month long, broken down into:
· 4 Beginner workouts
· 2 Intermediate workouts
· 2 Advanced workouts
This second, package option will be at a 20% DISCOUNTED rate than what the normal price will be.
These two promotional rates aren’t going to last forever.
I’ll be shutting down the 30-Minute Workout site on Sunday, September 19th and this special offer is going live on Tuesday, September 21st at around 9:00 am and will last until Friday, September 24 at 11:59 pm. After Friday night, the prices are going back up to their normal rates.
You’re not going to want to miss out on this and it’s giving you the PERFECT opportunity to lose weight NOW instead of waiting until after the New Year.
So check back on Tuesday, September 21st when it goes live to get your fat burning 30-Minute Workout at home without the need to waste your time wandering from exercise machine to exercise machine at the gym.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Facebook
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A Full 30-Minute Workout Video
You read about how a 30-minute workout works for me, and you've read about how to design your own 30-minute workout. Now check out the video below to see a full 30-minute workout that you can try out. It's a combination of beginner, intermediate, and advanced movements so it'll be a challenge for everyone.
A direct link to the Youtube video is below:
30-Minute Workout
Make sure to check back tomorrow when I pull all this information together that I've been giving you all week. You aren't going to want to miss it.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Facebook
A direct link to the Youtube video is below:
30-Minute Workout
Make sure to check back tomorrow when I pull all this information together that I've been giving you all week. You aren't going to want to miss it.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Designing a 30-Minute Workout
You like the idea of a 30-minute workout because you find yourself like me: You just really don’t have time for anything longer.
There are just a few of steps that you need to take in designing a 30-minute workout: determining what exercises to do, then doing those exercises in a particular order, next, doing each exercise as well as resting for a particular amount of time. Let’s start with the type of exercises that you need to include.
There are six basic movements that you want to include in your workouts that will work the biggest muscles in your body: Squat, Core, Jump, Pushing, Single Leg, and Pulling.
Along with these movements, you can then break them down into a beginner, an intermediate, or an advanced variation.
Let’s look at each movement individually and then look at examples of each variation:
Squat – A beginner variation would be a Lying Hip Extension, an intermediate would be a full range of motion bodyweight squat, and a more advanced version would be a Sumo Squat on your toes.
Core - A Plank is one of the best core exercises out there. A beginner version would be a Plank on your forearms and knees, an intermediate would be a Plank on your forearms and toes, and an advanced version would be a Plank on your forearms and toes but your toes resting on the edge of a chair so that your body is on a decline.
Jump – A beginner version of a jump would be Jumping Jacks, an intermediate variation would be a Leap Frog, and an advanced version would be Bodybuilder Burpees.
Pushing – A beginner variation of a pushing movement would be a Pushup on the wall, while an intermediate version would be a Pushup on your knees on the ground, and an advanced version would be a Pushup on your toes, while resting your toes on a chair so that your body is on a decline.
Single Leg – A beginner version would be a Donkey Kick, an intermediate version would be a Reverse Lunge, and an advanced version would be a Crossover Forward Lunge on your Toes.
Pulling – Pulling exercises can be a bit tough with just using your bodyweight. Ideally you’d like to have something like a pullup bar (even if you can’t do pullups). But there are some modifications that you can do such as a Stick Up, and a Sky Dive with a W Pullback.
These are just some basic examples of each type of movement but as you can see, they encompass the use of your biggest muscles (shoulders, chest, upper back, core, and legs) in order to work your full body.
Now it’s a matter of putting them in some sort of order.
The best way to do this is to put them into a circuit where you’ll perform a certain number of exercises in a row with no rest in between. Maybe you want to do two exercises in a row, then rest for a bit. Or maybe you want to do 4 or 5 exercises in a row before taking a rest.
Let’s start with just three exercises as an example. Let’s say you were a beginner and you put together a circuit that would include a jump, a squat, and a push.
You could design it so that you first did Jumping Jacks, then you did a Pushup on the wall, then you did a Lying Hip Extension. You did all three of those in a row with no rest. Then you would rest for a bit, and then complete that circuit one or two more times.
The last piece is determining how long you want to do each exercise.
You could do each exercise for a set number of repetitions but, that makes it difficult to determine how much time it would take to complete those set of repetitions in order to know that you can get the workout done in 30 minutes.
A better way is to do each of those exercises for a set amount of time before moving on to the next exercise.
Let’s say that you’re going to do each exercise for 30 seconds. You’ll do the Jumping Jacks for 30 seconds, then immediately move on to the Wall Pushups for 30 seconds, then again with no rest, move on to the Lying Hip Extensions for 30 seconds. Then you’ll rest 30 seconds, and complete that same circuit two more times. After that, rest 60 seconds, and then go on to another circuit that you put together.
So in the above example, each time you do the circuit it would take you 120 seconds to complete (30 seconds for each exercise, then 30 second of rest between circuits). When calculating how long it would take to do this circuit 3 times, your total time would be 390 seconds (120 seconds for each of the first two circuits, then 150 seconds on the last circuit since you’ll be resting 60 seconds at the end and not 30 seconds).
Also, in reality, it’s going to take you about 10 seconds to move from one exercise to the next so include 10 seconds between the actual exercises. That will add in another 60 seconds to this circuit example, which will take the total time to 450 seconds, or 7 ½ minutes.
After that, you simply build some other circuits together of these exercise movements, until you have a 30-minute workout in front of you.
There you have it. A 30-minute workout template that you can use to build a quick and effective workout right in your own home with no exercise equipment necessary that’ll give you a better workout than if you did slow steady state cardio on the treadmill for an hour.
Tomorrow I’m going to show you a video of a full 30-Minute Workout that you can try out. It’s going to be a combination of beginner, intermediate and advanced moves and I think you’re really going to like it so make sure to check out my blog and/or watch for the e-mail tomorrow that’ll I’ll be sending out to let you know it’s viewable.
PS. Again, make sure to go over to www.30-minuteworkout.com and fill out the two quick fields to download the 3 free workouts that are available. Give one of them a try based on your training level and see for yourself how great of a workout you can get in just 30 minutes without all that fancy equipment that they have at the gym and you'll see that I truly am on to something.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Facebook
There are just a few of steps that you need to take in designing a 30-minute workout: determining what exercises to do, then doing those exercises in a particular order, next, doing each exercise as well as resting for a particular amount of time. Let’s start with the type of exercises that you need to include.
There are six basic movements that you want to include in your workouts that will work the biggest muscles in your body: Squat, Core, Jump, Pushing, Single Leg, and Pulling.
Along with these movements, you can then break them down into a beginner, an intermediate, or an advanced variation.
Let’s look at each movement individually and then look at examples of each variation:
Squat – A beginner variation would be a Lying Hip Extension, an intermediate would be a full range of motion bodyweight squat, and a more advanced version would be a Sumo Squat on your toes.
Core - A Plank is one of the best core exercises out there. A beginner version would be a Plank on your forearms and knees, an intermediate would be a Plank on your forearms and toes, and an advanced version would be a Plank on your forearms and toes but your toes resting on the edge of a chair so that your body is on a decline.
Jump – A beginner version of a jump would be Jumping Jacks, an intermediate variation would be a Leap Frog, and an advanced version would be Bodybuilder Burpees.
Pushing – A beginner variation of a pushing movement would be a Pushup on the wall, while an intermediate version would be a Pushup on your knees on the ground, and an advanced version would be a Pushup on your toes, while resting your toes on a chair so that your body is on a decline.
Single Leg – A beginner version would be a Donkey Kick, an intermediate version would be a Reverse Lunge, and an advanced version would be a Crossover Forward Lunge on your Toes.
Pulling – Pulling exercises can be a bit tough with just using your bodyweight. Ideally you’d like to have something like a pullup bar (even if you can’t do pullups). But there are some modifications that you can do such as a Stick Up, and a Sky Dive with a W Pullback.
These are just some basic examples of each type of movement but as you can see, they encompass the use of your biggest muscles (shoulders, chest, upper back, core, and legs) in order to work your full body.
Now it’s a matter of putting them in some sort of order.
The best way to do this is to put them into a circuit where you’ll perform a certain number of exercises in a row with no rest in between. Maybe you want to do two exercises in a row, then rest for a bit. Or maybe you want to do 4 or 5 exercises in a row before taking a rest.
Let’s start with just three exercises as an example. Let’s say you were a beginner and you put together a circuit that would include a jump, a squat, and a push.
You could design it so that you first did Jumping Jacks, then you did a Pushup on the wall, then you did a Lying Hip Extension. You did all three of those in a row with no rest. Then you would rest for a bit, and then complete that circuit one or two more times.
The last piece is determining how long you want to do each exercise.
You could do each exercise for a set number of repetitions but, that makes it difficult to determine how much time it would take to complete those set of repetitions in order to know that you can get the workout done in 30 minutes.
A better way is to do each of those exercises for a set amount of time before moving on to the next exercise.
Let’s say that you’re going to do each exercise for 30 seconds. You’ll do the Jumping Jacks for 30 seconds, then immediately move on to the Wall Pushups for 30 seconds, then again with no rest, move on to the Lying Hip Extensions for 30 seconds. Then you’ll rest 30 seconds, and complete that same circuit two more times. After that, rest 60 seconds, and then go on to another circuit that you put together.
So in the above example, each time you do the circuit it would take you 120 seconds to complete (30 seconds for each exercise, then 30 second of rest between circuits). When calculating how long it would take to do this circuit 3 times, your total time would be 390 seconds (120 seconds for each of the first two circuits, then 150 seconds on the last circuit since you’ll be resting 60 seconds at the end and not 30 seconds).
Also, in reality, it’s going to take you about 10 seconds to move from one exercise to the next so include 10 seconds between the actual exercises. That will add in another 60 seconds to this circuit example, which will take the total time to 450 seconds, or 7 ½ minutes.
After that, you simply build some other circuits together of these exercise movements, until you have a 30-minute workout in front of you.
There you have it. A 30-minute workout template that you can use to build a quick and effective workout right in your own home with no exercise equipment necessary that’ll give you a better workout than if you did slow steady state cardio on the treadmill for an hour.
Tomorrow I’m going to show you a video of a full 30-Minute Workout that you can try out. It’s going to be a combination of beginner, intermediate and advanced moves and I think you’re really going to like it so make sure to check out my blog and/or watch for the e-mail tomorrow that’ll I’ll be sending out to let you know it’s viewable.
PS. Again, make sure to go over to www.30-minuteworkout.com and fill out the two quick fields to download the 3 free workouts that are available. Give one of them a try based on your training level and see for yourself how great of a workout you can get in just 30 minutes without all that fancy equipment that they have at the gym and you'll see that I truly am on to something.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Why A 30-Minute Workout Works for Me
Some of you may know me personally. But most of you probably don't. So I'm going talk a little bit about my life.
Being a personal trainer is not my only job. I also work a full time job during the day for 8 hours.
So my day starts out between 5:15 and 5:30 each morning. Get ready for work, head out, and work a full day until about 3:00 in the afternoon. I rush home, let the dog out, then get my workout in.
Then I spend a little quality time with the dog taking her for a walk or just throwing the ball around outside for awhile. Then I make a quick dinner and then head out to teach one of my fitness classes that I teach 5 days a week.
I teach the class, then come home and work on the business part of the fitness business until roughly 10:00 at night.
Television? Don't have time for it (okay fine, I'll admit, it's on in the background pretty much every night that my Tigers are on but other than that, it doesn't come on much).
It's go-go-go from the moment I wake up until the time I'm ready to get back into bed for the night.
But look at the third paragraph again where I say I get my workout in. Read it again: I GET MY WORKOUT IN. With everything in that busy schedule, I still get a workout in. I rarely (if ever) miss it.
The workout I do isn't long. It's only 30 minutes because that's all the time in my schedule that I have.
What does your schedule look like really? I hear a lot of people say that they don't have time for a workout because they're just too busy with their work, taking the kids to their daily/nightly activities, etc. That's completely understandable, to a point. But, how much time do you spend at night watching TV? Just sayin....
I think when people think of "working out" they think the only way they can get a workout in is going to a gym. When you look at it like that, you're right, you probably don't have time because you have to drive to the gym, find something to do for an hour, and then drive home. That one hour workout in reality probably takes you between 90 minutes to two hours to complete after the travel time and getting the actual workout in.
It doesn't have to be like that. You can get a great workout in 30 minutes.
It's not going to be a light walk on a treadmill. It won't be a slow steady state pedal on a bike.
To get the effect that you want from a workout that only lasts 30 minutes, it has to be at a higher intensity. But, it's well worth it because you'll get better fat loss results, you'll get stronger, and since you only need to do a workout like this 3 times a week, you'll be saving a ton of time compared to a traditional gym workout that you'd do.
Tomorrow, I'm going to explain to you how YOU can simply design a 30 minute workout that you can do in your own home, with no exercise equipment except maybe a stability ball, that'll get you moving closer towards the look you're striving for.
Mike Navin, CSCS
www.30-minuteworkout.com
PS. Go over to www.30-minuteworkout.com and fill out the two quick fields to download the 3 free workouts that are available. Give one of them a try based on your training level and see for yourself how great of a workout you can get in just 30 minutes without all that fancy equipment that they have at the gym and you'll see that I truly am on to something.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Facebook
Being a personal trainer is not my only job. I also work a full time job during the day for 8 hours.
So my day starts out between 5:15 and 5:30 each morning. Get ready for work, head out, and work a full day until about 3:00 in the afternoon. I rush home, let the dog out, then get my workout in.
Then I spend a little quality time with the dog taking her for a walk or just throwing the ball around outside for awhile. Then I make a quick dinner and then head out to teach one of my fitness classes that I teach 5 days a week.
I teach the class, then come home and work on the business part of the fitness business until roughly 10:00 at night.
Television? Don't have time for it (okay fine, I'll admit, it's on in the background pretty much every night that my Tigers are on but other than that, it doesn't come on much).
It's go-go-go from the moment I wake up until the time I'm ready to get back into bed for the night.
But look at the third paragraph again where I say I get my workout in. Read it again: I GET MY WORKOUT IN. With everything in that busy schedule, I still get a workout in. I rarely (if ever) miss it.
The workout I do isn't long. It's only 30 minutes because that's all the time in my schedule that I have.
What does your schedule look like really? I hear a lot of people say that they don't have time for a workout because they're just too busy with their work, taking the kids to their daily/nightly activities, etc. That's completely understandable, to a point. But, how much time do you spend at night watching TV? Just sayin....
I think when people think of "working out" they think the only way they can get a workout in is going to a gym. When you look at it like that, you're right, you probably don't have time because you have to drive to the gym, find something to do for an hour, and then drive home. That one hour workout in reality probably takes you between 90 minutes to two hours to complete after the travel time and getting the actual workout in.
It doesn't have to be like that. You can get a great workout in 30 minutes.
It's not going to be a light walk on a treadmill. It won't be a slow steady state pedal on a bike.
To get the effect that you want from a workout that only lasts 30 minutes, it has to be at a higher intensity. But, it's well worth it because you'll get better fat loss results, you'll get stronger, and since you only need to do a workout like this 3 times a week, you'll be saving a ton of time compared to a traditional gym workout that you'd do.
Tomorrow, I'm going to explain to you how YOU can simply design a 30 minute workout that you can do in your own home, with no exercise equipment except maybe a stability ball, that'll get you moving closer towards the look you're striving for.
Mike Navin, CSCS
www.30-minuteworkout.com
PS. Go over to www.30-minuteworkout.com and fill out the two quick fields to download the 3 free workouts that are available. Give one of them a try based on your training level and see for yourself how great of a workout you can get in just 30 minutes without all that fancy equipment that they have at the gym and you'll see that I truly am on to something.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Stability Ball Core Workout 09-06-10
Three exercises in a row using a stability ball. Do each exercise for 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds after doing the circuit then complete it 2 more times.
Stability Ball Rollout
1. Kneel in front of a stability ball and bring your arms close together and your hands on the top of the stability ball.
2. Roll your body forward so that your arms "climb" up the stability ball. Make sure to not let your hips sag or raise. Continue rolling over the stability ball until your elbows are touching the ball.
3. Pause for a moment, and then contract your abs and pull yourself back up to the starting position. Again, make sure that you are raising your hips or lower back to pull yourself back up, concentrate on using your abs to complete the movement.
4. Continue the movement for the recommended number of repetitions or time.
Plank -- Forearms on Stability Ball
1. Rest your forearms on a stability ball.
2. Raise your body in a straight line and rest your bodyweight on your forearms (that are on the stability ball) and toes so that your body hovers over the floor.
3. Keep your back straight and your hips up but not so high that your butt is sticking in the air. Hold (brace) your abs tight. Breathe normally.
4. Hold this position for the recommended amount of time.
Mountain Climbers -- Hands on Stability Ball
1. Place your hands on the top of a stability ball and rest on your toes with your body creating a straight like from your shoulders to your feet.
2. Keep your abs braced, pick one foot off the floor and bring your knee up to your chest.
3. Do not let your hips sag or rotate.
4. Keep your abs braced and return your leg to the starting position.
5. Perform the same movement on the other leg and return to the starting position. Continue alternating legs until you have completed the recommended number of repetitions or time.
Direct link to video:
Stability Ball Core Workout
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Facebook
Stability Ball Rollout
1. Kneel in front of a stability ball and bring your arms close together and your hands on the top of the stability ball.
2. Roll your body forward so that your arms "climb" up the stability ball. Make sure to not let your hips sag or raise. Continue rolling over the stability ball until your elbows are touching the ball.
3. Pause for a moment, and then contract your abs and pull yourself back up to the starting position. Again, make sure that you are raising your hips or lower back to pull yourself back up, concentrate on using your abs to complete the movement.
4. Continue the movement for the recommended number of repetitions or time.
Plank -- Forearms on Stability Ball
1. Rest your forearms on a stability ball.
2. Raise your body in a straight line and rest your bodyweight on your forearms (that are on the stability ball) and toes so that your body hovers over the floor.
3. Keep your back straight and your hips up but not so high that your butt is sticking in the air. Hold (brace) your abs tight. Breathe normally.
4. Hold this position for the recommended amount of time.
Mountain Climbers -- Hands on Stability Ball
1. Place your hands on the top of a stability ball and rest on your toes with your body creating a straight like from your shoulders to your feet.
2. Keep your abs braced, pick one foot off the floor and bring your knee up to your chest.
3. Do not let your hips sag or rotate.
4. Keep your abs braced and return your leg to the starting position.
5. Perform the same movement on the other leg and return to the starting position. Continue alternating legs until you have completed the recommended number of repetitions or time.
Direct link to video:
Stability Ball Core Workout
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
30 Minute Workout Over a Beer - 09/07/10
We just finished up the Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer.
But, from my perspective, it's the start of the most important part of the year when it comes to fitness for you.
Grab a beer, and sit down with me for a few minutes while I explain in the video below.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Facebook
But, from my perspective, it's the start of the most important part of the year when it comes to fitness for you.
Grab a beer, and sit down with me for a few minutes while I explain in the video below.
www.30-minuteworkout.com
www.leanbodytraining.com
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
3-Day Breast Cancer Walk Recap
I’ve written before about my experiences last year in the 2009 Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure and also talked about my recent involvement with the 60-Mile Men.
I walked in the Michigan 3-Day again this year and I think there’s one initial word that can summarize the whole thing: HOT. I don’t think I’ve ever felt heat like that, although, how often are you walking 20 miles a day continuously in it? If I had to bet, I was probably drinking about 3 gallons of water a day, and needed every ounce of it.
But, regardless of that little issue, it was another great experience.
Last year was the first year I walked in it and I’ll admit that I found the whole thing intimidating. Didn’t know what to expect. Was nervous about whether I’d actually be able to walk on average, 20 miles a day. I also had my cousin on my mind a lot. Thinking about what she was going through and overall just hoping everything else went okay as she was coming down the finish line of her treatments.
This year was a little different though. My cousin is free and clear, I had a better idea what to expect out of the walk, and overall was just more comfortable and relaxed.
I spent a lot of time on this walk talking to a lot of people while walking. It’s interesting but you tend to make “pit stop to pit stop” friends on this walk. You leave a pit stop (that’s a rest station where you can fill up your water, use the porta john, get medical treatment, etc), and you start walking again and you end up more than likely walking around some other people and just start talking. You do this for about an hour until the next pit stop and then pretty much find someone else to talk with after you leave the next pit stop.
When talking with people, you talk about why you’re walking and what it means to each person. Thinking back, I really don’t think there was one story that was the same between two people. Some were walking for a friend, or a relative, a mother, a sister, a daughter, and even a lot of people walking for no particular person, just walking because they wanted to do something for the cause.
But the one similarity that I found, and I saw this last year too, was just the positive energy that people had while on this walk. It’s not a walk where people are all frowns and sad.
Sure, there are sad moments. But for the most part, people are looking at this walk with determination to not let breast cancer take their spirit. Everyone seems to have the attitude of taking something bad and wanting to make a positive out of it.
The 3-Day is definitely designed around that: A true showing of what a small little group can do together when they focus on one goal and walk towards it.
I can’t say enough about this walk and how I think it really establishes a true sense of the concept of "community." When looking at what part each person is doing, and doing it because they have such passion for it, it gives you such a huge uplift in how strong the human spirit really is.
Everyone from the walkers doing the walking, to the crew that is doing their jobs at the medical stations, the food serving areas, to the safety crews out on the streets, to the personal and corporate donors who graciously gave to get people the money they needed to do the walk to the Susan G. Komen organizers who push through doing this weekend after weekend, city to city.
And then you have the support on the streets. The neighbors and people at the cheering stations leaving food out on tables and neighbors setting their sprinklers out for us to walk through. Maybe the most heartfelt are the little kids out there spraying you with water and handing you food and clapping with big smiles on their faces all while decked out in pink outfits.
All of these people, just doing their individual parts when put together makes for just an amazing community that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced in any other setting.
That sense of community got me to put together a short little video using of my video camera while on the walk.
I wanted to put something together to kind of try and give a sense of what this incredible community looks like through the eyes of a walker. To give a feel for what you see for three days out on the streets, in camp, and at the opening and closing ceremonies.
Hopefully those that have done the walk can relate and I hope for those that haven’t done the walk it’ll give you a little insight into what it’s all about and hopefully give you the motivation to be a part of the 3-Day community over the coming years. It’s a great adventure, and through all the fundraising, training preparation, doing the actual walk and everything else that’s involved, it’s worth it in the end.
Okay, enough talk. Take a look and make sure you have your sound turned on:
For a direct link to this YouTube video, you can go to the link below:
Breast Cancer 3 Day
I walked in the Michigan 3-Day again this year and I think there’s one initial word that can summarize the whole thing: HOT. I don’t think I’ve ever felt heat like that, although, how often are you walking 20 miles a day continuously in it? If I had to bet, I was probably drinking about 3 gallons of water a day, and needed every ounce of it.
But, regardless of that little issue, it was another great experience.
Last year was the first year I walked in it and I’ll admit that I found the whole thing intimidating. Didn’t know what to expect. Was nervous about whether I’d actually be able to walk on average, 20 miles a day. I also had my cousin on my mind a lot. Thinking about what she was going through and overall just hoping everything else went okay as she was coming down the finish line of her treatments.
This year was a little different though. My cousin is free and clear, I had a better idea what to expect out of the walk, and overall was just more comfortable and relaxed.
I spent a lot of time on this walk talking to a lot of people while walking. It’s interesting but you tend to make “pit stop to pit stop” friends on this walk. You leave a pit stop (that’s a rest station where you can fill up your water, use the porta john, get medical treatment, etc), and you start walking again and you end up more than likely walking around some other people and just start talking. You do this for about an hour until the next pit stop and then pretty much find someone else to talk with after you leave the next pit stop.
When talking with people, you talk about why you’re walking and what it means to each person. Thinking back, I really don’t think there was one story that was the same between two people. Some were walking for a friend, or a relative, a mother, a sister, a daughter, and even a lot of people walking for no particular person, just walking because they wanted to do something for the cause.
But the one similarity that I found, and I saw this last year too, was just the positive energy that people had while on this walk. It’s not a walk where people are all frowns and sad.
Sure, there are sad moments. But for the most part, people are looking at this walk with determination to not let breast cancer take their spirit. Everyone seems to have the attitude of taking something bad and wanting to make a positive out of it.
The 3-Day is definitely designed around that: A true showing of what a small little group can do together when they focus on one goal and walk towards it.
I can’t say enough about this walk and how I think it really establishes a true sense of the concept of "community." When looking at what part each person is doing, and doing it because they have such passion for it, it gives you such a huge uplift in how strong the human spirit really is.
Everyone from the walkers doing the walking, to the crew that is doing their jobs at the medical stations, the food serving areas, to the safety crews out on the streets, to the personal and corporate donors who graciously gave to get people the money they needed to do the walk to the Susan G. Komen organizers who push through doing this weekend after weekend, city to city.
And then you have the support on the streets. The neighbors and people at the cheering stations leaving food out on tables and neighbors setting their sprinklers out for us to walk through. Maybe the most heartfelt are the little kids out there spraying you with water and handing you food and clapping with big smiles on their faces all while decked out in pink outfits.
All of these people, just doing their individual parts when put together makes for just an amazing community that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced in any other setting.
That sense of community got me to put together a short little video using of my video camera while on the walk.
I wanted to put something together to kind of try and give a sense of what this incredible community looks like through the eyes of a walker. To give a feel for what you see for three days out on the streets, in camp, and at the opening and closing ceremonies.
Hopefully those that have done the walk can relate and I hope for those that haven’t done the walk it’ll give you a little insight into what it’s all about and hopefully give you the motivation to be a part of the 3-Day community over the coming years. It’s a great adventure, and through all the fundraising, training preparation, doing the actual walk and everything else that’s involved, it’s worth it in the end.
Okay, enough talk. Take a look and make sure you have your sound turned on:
For a direct link to this YouTube video, you can go to the link below:
Breast Cancer 3 Day
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