Hi Guys! It’s Karen from Wellness Works NW. I hope you are having a great summer!
I have had such a good time meeting new people and reconnecting with old friendships because of Challenge 22. It was amazing. So many people were ready to help. The goal of Challenge 22 was to let people know that veterans sometimes have some difficulties. As a matter of fact, every day, 22 veterans commit suicide. Isn’t that something? That is an enormous amount of people. It is our belief that if we can let reservists, active duty and vets, from every branch of the military know that we care about them, they are not alone, and we understand life may be different now.
My friend Lieutenant David Mark Davis from The Salvation Army got me going. He was doing his 22 pushups for 22 days and he tagged me in a post to call me out. Immediately I agreed to do 22 pushups for 22 days and, my wife, Summer decided to give it a name which is where the name Challenge 22 came from. I did couple of lives on my Facebook wall but in the end it worked out better to post my pre-made videos along with the information for the Veterans Crisis Line. Sometimes you know someone and they might be having a hard time or you are someone who needs some help so we want to share this information.
Even family members joined us. I have competed my 22 days and since then, Summer and I were talking about the good things that came out of my Challenge 22. I got emails and calls from people who had found that the information was correct and they wanted to let me know what they were doing. While we were talking we decided to do it again because it gave people a reason to be active every day. So many people did 22 pushups per day for 22 days who hadn’t even done a pushup in years.
Starting August 9, 2020 I am going to start again. Wellness Works NW is going to do it, as well, including Summer and Jamie Holloway the other owners. The gym that I work out of is called Forever Fit Gym and they are closed due to COVID-19 so we have decided we are going to commit to start over every month on the 9th, until it is safe enough to reopen the gym. We want to really make people aware of this need to support our veterans.
If you didn’t get a chance to join in last time now is your chance and if you don’t or can’t do pushups you are able to do any movement that you are able to do to be part of this demonstration. We have people who are going to do arm curls, sit-to-stands, lunges, squats and for those who can’t workout everyday but believe in prayer, we have people who are going to “move the spirit” for 22 days on behalf of our veterans of the armed services.
If you don’t know what to do contact me because I have variations on all kinds of squats that I can help you with. Although the goal is support veterans, it also helps others remember to move everyday. This event has really brought about some camaraderie and we want to continue that as well.
Now we are going to exercise. I like to do exercises that increase or speed up our metabolism because most of us want to lose weight or build muscle. When everything is working well it is easier to not allow fat to store in our body. I am going to do some compound exercises. Compound exercises are great when you are short on time but want to get your workout in.
Today I am going to show us how to do what I call a Pike Pushup; go down into your pushup and then turn your arms up into a pike. This movement works our shoulders and overall body while being your own resistance. The second exercise is a Squat and Curl; come down with your squat and when you come up bring up your curl with the hand weights. The last exercise I am going to show is the Lunge Curl Up; lunge forward, curl up with the hand weights and then put your arms up in the air and then down. This exercise addresses the inside of your thigh as well as your arms and torso.
I want to thank everyone who helped me with my first Challenge 22 and I want to extend the invitation to anyone that wants to join the next one. You don’t have to be on Facebook or any other social media site, just tell me about it. If you don’t want to record your success, we do ask that you share the contact information for Veterans Crisis Line wherever you can.
CORRECTION: Before we began talking about Challenge 22 we blindly called it Mission 22, without checking to see if that name was being used for something else. Wellness Works NW wants to apologize to Mission 22®. We are thankful they understood that we meant no malice and support their wonderful work with Veterans. Please check out their website at Mission22.com for more details about what they do to help our veterans.
I am sending positive prayers and positive vibes.
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#KeepMoving #WellnessWorks #WootWoot
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Karen G. Clemenson is not a doctor or a scientist. She is a real person that eats too much sometimes and misses her workout on occasion but is mindful of her path toward wellness, all the time.
Karen understands that your physical wellness does not begin and end with your membership to a local gym. She knows that weight loss management begins with steps; some small and some large. These steps include diet, physical activity and retraining of the thoughts and habits that keep you from being successful on your path toward wellness.
