Insert Clever Math Pun Here

It’s back! The fourth annual Fitbos challenge! Because working out is always better with friends!

Here are some FAQs about the challenge:

What is the #Fitbos19 challenge?  Set your own workout hours goal for the year, make that goal public by entering it on the first sheet at bit.ly/fitbos19. At the bottom, you’ll notice tabs for each month. This is where you can enter your daily workout times (if you’d rather enter them by week, just put the week’s totals in for one day). The front sheet should update your times.  Remember to put your yearly goal in as hours and your daily workout time in as minutes.

What if I want to do something other than hours, like miles or steps or pushups?
The spreadsheet is set up to convert minutes to hours. For each month, in cell 7 in your column, simply delete the “/60” part of the formula.

How did this start? In 2015, for some reason, I signed up for #500milesin2015. I made it (and did a 10K!) but not without some “knee awareness.” I wanted to still have a yearly goal but be able to vary the workouts, so I started a google spreadsheet last year. Each year I always end up slacking for the first half and then amping it up for the last quarter, but I have made my goals!

What should my goal be? I’m doing 150 because it’s a nice number. 3 hours a week with a two-week vacation. Some people are doing 100 hours, some people are doing 275. I try to find the line between possible and believable and that is something different for everyone. We don’t judge.

What counts? We’re not the exercise police. If you think it counts, count it. My rule of thumb is, “Am I not sitting on my butt when I rather would be?”  Hiking? Of course. Snow-shoveling? I’ve heard that such a thing is actually quite the workout. Dance-vacuuming? Hey, if you break a sweat and have a clean house, double bonus! Walking around the school during your planning period? Great way to get in some extra minutes and get re-energized! I personally do a mix of walking the dogs when the weather is nice and youtube videos and DVDs from Jessica Smith when the weather isn’t.

What if something doesn’t work on the spreadsheet? Yes, I was lazy and just made a copy of last year’s and did some tweaking, so there may be some wonkiness left over. Just shoot me a tweet (I don’t check blog comments very often) and I’ll try to get it sorted!

What if I’m a fitbit user? Sarah Martin (@Sarah3Martin) has a fitbit fitbos challenge group. You can give her your info and she will add you to the group for weekly challenges if you need more (or different) motivation.

What do I get when I complete my goal? Your hours turn green and you get a monthly shout-out on Twitter from me. This year I set a calendar reminder for the 5th of every month for the shout-out — sorry I slacked a bit in the fall this year! I blame it on lack of new Astros World Series gifs. As a new added bonus, if you finish your yearly goal, you get to sign up early for next year, meaning you can get a prime column! 🙂  (If you don’t get a prime column this year, some people like to color/fill their name to make it easier to find. Or you could make your own copy of the spreadsheet, put yourself in column B, then just copy and paste your times at the end of the month to the group sheet.)

Who completed the 2018 challenge? Congrats to:

Shelly (@stcarranza) 159 hours (106%)
Tina (@TPalmer207) 126 hours (100%)
Shelli (@druinok) 150 hours (109%)
Dave (@daveLanovaz) 182 hours (101%)
Brett (@ParkerMathEd) 100 hours (100%)
Megan (@MeganHeine) 299 hours (115%)
Mary Anne (@mahiker) 357 hours (!!) (119%)
Pam (@pamjwilson) 132 hours (101%)
Jennifer (@hhsmath) 197 hours (109%)
Megan (@megandubee) 258 hours (103%)
Elissa (@misscalculate) 2026 miles (100%)
Me! 150 hours (100%)

What does it feel like to complete your #fitbos goal?

Cloud 27. #EarnedHistory pic.twitter.com/amevwJkk54

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 2, 2017

And to answer your final question, “where do I sign up again?” bit.ly/fitbos19!