Habit #7

Nickels and Dimes

The Why

From the title, I’ll bet you are thinking this is post is addressing a money habit I would like to instill for the next 2 weeks. In actuality, this article has to do with fitness. But may I provide a bit of background to explain how this has absolutely nothing to do with financial wellness?

A few weeks ago, my sister referred a book to me that addressed a theme I find great interest in, human potential. The book Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet was written by entrepreneur Jesse Itzler. In the book, he invites a Navy SEAL to live with him and his family for one month and chronicles the entire experience. To say the say the 31 days was tough would be an extreme understatement, given the 6 mile runs through the snow, daily push up totals into the hundreds, plunging into frozen lakes, and sitting in blistering saunas till the point of passing out. Reading this book has inspired me to push my own physical and psychological boundaries to see what I’m made of. That’s where the Nickels and Dimes come into play.

The How

In the book, there were numerous workouts utilized to mix things up, but the one I plan on adding to my routine of 100 push ups a day is to do a series of 5 pull ups (Nickels) and 10 push ups (Dimes) each minute for 5 minutes. Not only is this workout incredibly efficient (25 pull ups and 50 push ups in the time it takes to check your email), but it is also incredibly difficult. By the last few sets, I am unable to complete all the pull ups and can barely finish the push ups, but I feel great afterwards. My goal is to be able to complete all 25 and 50 by the end of the 2 week trial.