MY 2025 PUSHUP HABIT

Since I have a great interest in habit formation, I thought it would be good to record a little progress report on a New Year's resolution - 

One of my morning commitments for 2025 has been to do at least 100 pushups. It's important to note that this was not starting from zero. For several years I have been getting a bit of exercise at home nearly every day. But I didn't tend to get much beyond about 30 pushups. 

It's early February and, 40 days in, I have missed only 2 mornings and they were not back-to-back. (In habit formation, it is key to prevent a single missed day from turning into two consecutive days.)

Each morning on my calendar I have written down the progression of my pushups - what number I reached on my first round, second round, etc. This is a motivation trick for habit formation - tracking a habit provides a visual record of progress - which becomes a small mental reward. It feels good when I record my pushups on paper.

And since the calendar sits on my desk, it helps ensure that I never simply forget to do the pushups. 

During the first two weeks, it took me four reps to get to 100 total pushups. Six weeks in, I am regularly doing around 130 in just three reps:

Week 1:  36/56/80/100

Week 2: 38/67/91/100

Week 3:  40/71/102

Week 4:  46/88/130

Week 5:  49/92/128

Week 6:  51/89/131

In six weeks, I have done 4,615 pushups. I don't know that this has produced any noticeable physical difference in my upper body, but that's somewhere close to 2,000 calories burned - the equivalent of one full day's worth of food. And I am obviously a bit stronger if I can do 50 pushups at a time rather than just 36. 

My goal now is to hit 100 in just two reps. After that, I will likely increase my overall daily goal to 150.

There is a natural push to go bigger once you have proven consistency with a smaller goal. This is why it works to start a new habit with the smallest version of that habit - something that takes 2 minutes or less. A small habit eliminates the excuse that you have "no time" to add something to your routine and gives you the chance to establish automaticity before your natural urge to push yourself to higher goals kicks in.  

And the most important part of this entire habit is my overall commitment to staying healthy and fit for my age. I want to minimize future doctor visits and I want to be in shape to roughhouse with any future grandchildren. ;-) 

Someday.