Forty days… the amount of time the first rain fell and flooded the earth, the amount of time Moses spent on the mountain with God, the amount of time Jesus fasted in the wilderness… forty days… It is a pretty significant number. Our church just recently completed a 40 day fast where we each committed to fast in some way to strengthen our spiritual journey. Many other churches participate in 40 days of lent leading up to Easter where they also give up something in honor of the great sacrifice that Christ made for us.

Well today I got to thinking about “adding in” instead of giving up. We all have things in our live that would do us well to give up. But what about those things that need to be “added in” — like exercise?

Today the sun was shining and the trees were in full bloom. Spring was in the air. The grass was green. The weather was warm. It is like the earth is just starting over and adding back in all these good things. Can’t we do the same? Easter will be here Sunday and we are reminded of the new life we have in Christ.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things become new”. 2 Corinthians 5:17

I’m proposing a 40 day fitness challenge to kick start the new (new you, new spring, new outlook, new life, new shoes, etc). Let’s add something good in our life that will help us to live like the new creature we are. Let’s rev up our metabolism, re-energize, and be fit and healthy creatures for Kingdom service as well as every day, abundant life.

So here is the deal, if you so choose to accept it…

• the challenge will run for 40 days from Monday, April 9th till Friday, May 18th
• you will pick your challenge from the list below and will have the complete 40 days to reach it cumulatively
• Post a comment here (or email/message me) and let me know which challenge you are attempting to complete within this 40 days – you can start anytime but everyone must finish by May 18th
• make sure you report in at least once a week and let me know how you are doing toward your goal so I can keep a running tally
• I will post everyone’s progress in future blogs (please select a challenge name – be creative!)
• remember we are not competing with each other – It’s just us against our goal.
• I have three levels of every type challenge (walking, running, elliptical, cycling, group fitness classes) So there is something for everyone
• It is ok to pick a lesser goal and blow it out of the water and hit the one above it
• If you want to write your own goal – feel free. I’ll add it in.

Here are the challenges…

• Instructor’s Dozen – 13 cumulative hours of any group fitness class, bootcamp, circuit training, or PT sessions
• 20/20 Challenge – 20 cumulative hours of 20 classes of any group fitness class, bootcamp, circuit training, or PT sessions
• Group Fit Gold – 22.5 hours+ of any group fitness class, bootcamp, circuit training, or PT sessions
• Marathon Challenge – walk or run 26.2 cumulative miles
• Long Haul Challenge – walk or run 75 cumulative miles
• Track Gold – walk or run cumulative 80+ miles
• Crescent Challenge – elliptical 50 cumulative miles
• Total Eclipse Challenge – elliptical 100 cumulative miles
• Elliptical Gold – 110+ cumulative miles
• Century Challenge – cycle 100 cumulative miles
• Procycle Challenge – cycle 150 cumulative miles
• Cycle Gold – cycle 165+ cumulative miles

Are you in? May we all meet our goals!!