Building a Stronger Mind and Body: Reflections on 1000 Days of Working Out

I worked out for 1000 days straight … and I’m still going.

Yes, you read that right – as of Feb 21 2023, I’ve worked out every day for 1000 days. At the time of this writing, I’m still going.

When will I stop? Who knows, all I know is that its part of my life now and has helped me in ways I did not anticipate.

In this post I’m going to talk about how:

• Why I did it
• How I did it
• Challenges and Adversities
• What I Learned
• Tips for working out consistently

Why I Worked Out for 1000 Days Straight

Working out for 1000 days straight sounds absolutely ridiculous.

Who would do that?

Even saying it out loud sounds ridiculous.

The thing is – iInitially I didn’t plan on working out for 1000 days. However, after about 3/4 of a year I realized I had worked out everyday and I wondered how long I could keep the streak going.

I didn’t keep a daily tally, I just remember the first day I started working out and would calculate the number of days I’ve been working out based off that date.

That date? May 27, 2020.

It was in the middle of the lockdown of the 2020 pandemic. We were all stuck at home, all gyms closed. I felt like you had no control over much in my life as the world had basically shut down. I realized I needed something to regain some sense of “control” in my life so I decided to start the 75 Hard program.

Most people think of 75 Hard as a fitness challenge, but its actually a mental toughness challenge. However, it does have one thing that marks it feel like a fitness challenge – the two workouts per day for 75 days (more on the workouts below in the – how did it section).

I successfully completed the 75 Day program in August of 2020.

After you’ve been working out for that long consistently you’ve built some amazing habits into your life. I didn’t want to stop, so I kept going. I continued to work out everyday, often twice a day for quite awhile.

75 Hard is part of the “Live Hard” program and the Live Hard program has 4 phases:

• 75 Hard (75 Days long)
• Phase 1 (30 days long)
• Phase 2 (30 days long)
• Phase 3 (30 days long)

The Live Hard Program is a year long mental toughness program. I wont belabor you with the details of how it works (there’s podcasts and blog posts about it), but suffice it to say that it’s built so that you have to be mentally on point to complete it successfully.

After finishing 75 Hard successfully I decided I wanted to try Phase 1 a few weeks later.

I did that.

I kept working out because it felt good as part of my routine.

I decided to do Phase 2 a couple months later.

Around the end of Phase 2 I did the math in my head and thought…

Wow, I’m about 3/4 through the year, and I’ve been working out every day. I wonder if I can make it a full year?

Knowing that the final 30 days of the Live Hard year long program ended with Phase 3 I figured I could easily do it as long as I finished the program, and that I did. 365 days of working out, done.

Once I finished the year long program I kept working out everyday. I didn’t keep track of the number of days I’ve worked out, I just made sure I worked out everyday.

That was the goal, work out everyday.

Why?

Because I felt better living life that way. It’s what worked for me.

After about and a year and a half I did the math and realized …

Whoa, I’m over 500 days already, I wonder how far this can go.

Then I got the idea to see if 1000 days was possible.

I looked up when 1000 days from May 27, 2020 was and that was my new guiding light.

I continued to work out everyday to that date and I’ve continued since.

Working out everyday is part of my life. It’s like eating and sleeping. It happens. It takes precedence over work, and nearly everything else. I make sure it happens.

How I Worked Out for 1000 Days

This is probably the part that everyone wants to know the most …

How can one workout for 1000 days?

• Don’t you need rest days?
• What about over training?
• What about burnout?

Good questions.

What I’m about to tell you will change your life forever if you adopt it and bring it into your life … and that thing is this:

I consider a workout anything where I physically move or improve my physical health for 45 minutes.

Yes, that means I consider walking for 45 minutes a workout. At a nice pace I can walk 3+ miles very easily in that time.

Before you dismiss this post as non-sense, hang in there … remember this will change your life if you let it.

I’m of the opinion (and its shared by many fitness professionals, UFC trainers and more) that walking is the most underutilized exercise there is.

If everyone in this world walked for 45 minutes a day our world would be vastly more healthy than it is today. Many health related diseases would simply disappear because the body is much more healthy.

Does that mean I walked every day for 1000 days? Absolutely not.

What it does mean is that when I was feeling beat up and worn out from weightlifting or a group fitness class, I would use as walk as an “active recovery” workout for that day. Sometimes, when on 75 Hard I might do two walks in a day if I’m really beat up.

The key to being able to workout everyday is to have a plan for when things go sideways, walking helps with that immensely.

Here’s a short video I put together where I talk about walking in combination with my intermittent fasting routine (which is another topic altogether).

Digging Deeper Into My Exercise Routine

Furthermore, I also have a Rogue Echo Bike (many people have Pelotons, that works too) and I’d sit on that and pedal for 45 minutes at a medium zone 2 pace.

Here are some examples of how I would spend my 45 minutes + working out everyday:

• Weightlifting workout (60-90 minutes)
• CrossFit workout (60 minutes)
• 20# Weight Vest Walk (45 mins)
• 35# Ruck Walk (45 mins)
• Body weight walk (45 mins)
• Jog (45 mins)
• Echo Bike for 25 minutes, then a 20-25 minute Pliability workout
• A Pliability Warrior Workout (45 mins or more sometimes)
• Walk for 25 minutes, then a 20-25 minute Pliability workout
• 30 minute interval circuit training, 15 minutes of walking/jogging/stair stepper

The key is 45 minutes. Not 20 minutes now and 25 minutes a few hours from now.

It’s a continuous block of 45 minutes.

That’s what a workout is to me.

To be successful at this I highly recommend you follow a workout program. I’ve found that the fewer decisions I have to make on a day to day basis, the easier success becomes.

What Workout Program Do I Follow?

I follow the Thundrbro Muscle Anarchy program for weightlifting three days a week, and then do CrossFit-style workouts for three days. Once a week, I do something at home.

I also use Pliability to help with guided mobility workouts.

I also go for long walks (minimum 45 minutes, more on that below) and use a weight vest and rucksack to make walking more effective and to burn more calories without putting too much strain on my joints.

I also do small sets of pushups and pull-ups while walking laps in my backyard.

Yes, you read that correctly – walking laps in my back yard. As in, around and around and around. I’ve walked around my back yard tens of thousands of times. No joke. I had two children who could not be left alone for 45 minutes so I had to figure out a way to still workout for 45 minutes outside. I’d throw on a weight vest and walk laps in my back yard for 45 minutes. They’re older now so I don’t have to do this anymore, thankfully.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

This makes up about 80-90% of my workout routine. Depending on my schedule, I will change it up and alter my routine accordingly.

If you’re looking for a workout program to follow at the gym and you don’t have one, I advise looking at one of the following:

• Thundrbro
• Street Parking
• Mayhem Athlete
• Speal Programming

If biking is more your style then maybe check out Peloton, or if running is your thing then perhaps hire a running coach to prep for a 1/2 marathon, marathon or ultra. The key is to find a program you can follow without having to think. Show up, do the work, move on with your day.

Challenges I Faced and Working Through Adversity

There were two main challenges I faced while working out this long:

• Injuries
• Sickness

Working out with Injuries or Disabilities

When I was originally researching 75 Hard, the creator, Andy Frisella, said something on one of his podcasts that resonated with me and it went something like this (paraphrased):

If you are bedridden for some reason, but can still muster the energy to move your arm, then you can workout. You just do what you can. You exercise your arm, your wrists, something. The key is to find a way.

– Paraphrased from Andy Frisella

You work with what you can in the situation you’re in.

During the last 1000 days I’ve injured my shoulders (both of them), my knee, my ab muscles, my pec, wrists, my elbow, my back, etc.

I modified the workout and kept moving.

I work out at my local CrossFit gym with a guy named Ryan, and Ryan is an amazing adaptive athlete. Follow him on Instagram (and here) – he’s a great guy and inspiring. He comes in everyday and puts in the work. The dude grinds hard. I look at Ryan as inspiration. – so if my shoulder hurts, or I have a tweaked knee … thats no reason why I cant workout. I can do something else that doesn’t irritate those areas. I work around it. If he can do it, anyone can. He’s living proof that you can still put in the work regardless of the situation. Keep kicking ass Ryan, you’re an inspiration to us all.

Getting Sick

I got sick multiple times during this ordeal and I still figured out a way to workout.

Here’s some of the challenges I faced:

• Got Covid (Delta variant in Dec 2020)
• Got Covid (Omnicron variant in late 2021)
• Ended up in hospital for Salmonella in July 2021
• Salmonella Poisoning again 3 days before the 1000 day mark (yes, very recently)
• … other small colds/flu/etc

I know what you’re thinking …

Wait … what? You had COVID and you worked out? You went to the hospital and worked out somehow still? This is ludicrous.

I’m not recommending anyone do what I do. I am very in tune with my body and know what I’m capable of.

When I was sick I’d move however much I could. Often times I’d sit on the echo bike and pedal to the best of my ability and just get the blood flowing for 45 minutes. Sometimes I’d do that for 25 minutes an then go do Pliability stretches and yoga for 20 minutes. Then I’d be exhausted and I’d sleep. I did not push it to the extremes, but I did exercise and get the blood flowing for 45 minutes.

Remember what Andy said above – you do what you can given your circumstances.

I did what I could though.

During the days that I was sick and not feeling well, I did not want to workout. I wanted to quit. I knew I was capable of moving for 45 minutes.

If someone had a gun to my head and said I had to move for 45 minutes or my life was over, guess what? I’d find a way to move for 45 minutes. Thats what I did.

Ultimately I realized I was the one selling myself short when I wanted to give up. I can do almost anything I put my mind to, even if I’m sick or injured. It’s about working through adversity and adapting to the situation.

What I Learned from Working Out for 1000 days

I learned that exercise is a choice. We can all do it if we put our mind to it. Even if you’re injured, not feeling 100% or just not starting off in a good spot. Move your arms, your legs, go for a walk. Even if you can only walk 5 minutes and then need to rest, then rest. Move your arms in circles. Stretch. There’s always something we can do to improve our body. Heck, buy a supernova ball and put it behind you awhile you work and grind out some knots in your back (I do this). If you work a desk job like me, read this book and always be stretching/etc while you sit.

I realized that exercise is like sleeping and eating – it something that needs to be done everyday. It’s just part of my life, its a non-negotiable for me. I’ll cancel plans in order to workout. That how important it is to me. It’s my body, I only get one of them, it needs priority treatment. So does yours.

I realized that good habits take time to form. For me, its that magical 21 days where it starts to stick, but for it to truly become engrained I need 60-90 days of consistency. Once I hit that mark its very engrained and part of who I am.

I learned that I am the limiter to what I am capable of. I never thought I would be someone who could have abs or be muscular when I was younger. I learned it was lack of dedication to an exercise routine and eating properly.

There are so many things I’ve accomplished since starting this journey, here are just some highlights:

• Wrote and released a new book: Freelance Tactics
• Wrote over 65,000 words for my next book (title TBD)
• Launched a 9+ Hour YouTube Course on the Kotlin Programming Language thats been viewed over, 100K times and has taught thousands of people how to program in Kotlin
• Written and released multiple software products (and more – e.g. – Stoa, now known as Conversate)

One of the most life changing things I learned that walking is by far the most underutilized exercise there is. I am convinced that walking is what helped me shed so many calories that allowed me to get into the great shape that I’m in. Yes, we know that diet is the most important, so you cant be eating ice cream and cookies everyday, but other than that, walking is the most important thing to adopt into your life.

Tips and Tricks

Have a workout plan

Use one of the recommended workout plans above or find another one you like. It should have enough workout plans that it varies day to day and keeps it interesting for you. Go into the gym with a workout plan, follow it and leave. I hate planning my workouts, so having a professional do this for me is worth the monthly fee I pay them.

Utilize your Walking Time Wisely

Listen to Podcasts and Audio Books while you walk. This is such a huge life hack. I’ve listened to so many life changing books on my walks. I’ve expanded my mind while improving my body. It’s a two-for-one deal in the best sense. Personally I prefer self help books and business books, but do what works for you. I know you have a list of books you’ve always wanted to read.

• Note: When listening to audio books or podcasts while walking, only put one ear bud into your ears. You will want to hear your surroundings (cars, people, etc)

Reframe What “Working Out” Means

Adopt the mindset that “walking is a workout” and just go for a walk already. Need to take a phone call that’s going to last an hour? Put an earbud in and go for a walk.

Keep Going

When you think you can’t, you probably can … dig deep.