I learned last summer while Jacob was visiting that he joined a group iMessage chat for a daily push-up challenge. I horned in and invited myself.

Jacob, Matt, and I doing our push-ups together Jacob, Matt, and I doing our push-ups together

It is primarily composed of Jacob, his father-in-law, and college friends of said father-in-law. We check in daily, pester no-shows (that rarely is needed), and provide support and encouragement. You go at your own pace. Generally speaking we start with some multiple of 25, and every 1-2 months you try to increase the total by 25. I started at 50 over 4 months ago, and now I’m doing 100 per day. Most of us take Sundays off.

Streaks screenshot Streaks screenshot

I track my daily progress using the amazing Streaks app – the same app I use for tracking daily journaling, language learning, non-fiction reading, and more. I have a hard time keeping a consistent workout habit while we are on the road so much, but this small amount of work each day has been good. The push-ups get easier.

1% better every day.

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