Woo Hoo! It’s Karen and I am back again; just when you thought it was safe to go outside…dun dun dun…You know how you feel when you’ve done something, and you didn’t know it was wrong, but you did it? Oops! Yes it is called a mistake and we all make them. So last month we did something we called Mission 22 where we honored our veterans that are having difficulties with PTSD and depression and a myriad of different things.
Unfortunately 22 of our veterans kill themselves every day and I was called out to do 22 pushups for 22 days by a dear friend of mine, from The Salvation Army, Lieutenant David Davis, and I said: Sure that sounds like a great thing to do. I will knock that out and we called it Mission 22…sooo…then a couple weeks ago we got a call from Mission 22 which is a wonderful non-profit that takes care of veterans that have some mental health issues. We had no idea that we were using someone’s name. So when we got this call we were told that their name was trademarked and they could not give us permission to use it. They are very friendly people and we are thankful for what they do. Please feel free to learn more about them at https://mission22.com.There are many different organizations that do wonderful things for our veterans and they all deserve their accolades.
Once we realized what we had done, we had also realized that we wanted to do the challenge again so we have renamed it Challenge 22. I am so glad that the good people at Mission 22 understood there was no malice involved, that we had just got excited and checked to see if that name was taken.
So we are starting Challenge 22 again because we really enjoyed meeting veterans with great stories. I got several emails and comments on Facebook and it felt so good.
I know you can understand making a mistake like that. We all do it. I am just so thankful that the people at Mission 22 didn’t come at is angry and accusing but just told us the truth in a friendly manner. We are really appreciative of that.
So you are probably wondering what you can do to be part of of Challenge 22. There are many different kinds of pushups. When I first went into the army I didn’t even know how to do a pushup and they helped me perfect my style and I am still working on my style because that is just the way it is. If you want to do something else, besides pushups you can. You don’t have to do pushups to join Challenge 22. You can do squats. My Summer did squats for her challenge. You are going to see people doing all kinds of things for Challenge 22. What I really like about squats is they are called a Compound Exercise: it gets your glutes involved, it gets your hamstrings involved when you are going down. It is wonderful. So think about that.
We even have a few people who are going to pray. We need all the prayers we can get. Awareness is everything and the goal is to get people to think about veterans for 22 days.
In this time where we have so many other challenges it is nice to see people pull together and do something for 22 days and that is why we are doing this challenge again.
If you know a veteran or you are a veteran that is struggling please share this information. This is a real crisis line and someone is there that cares about you.
So you are out there and thinking about what you can do. I want you to be careful with the squats. I don’t want you to hurt your knees. You don’t have to go all the way down. You can even do an Assisted Squat with a Balance Ball.
I want to show you another pushup. When I first started doing pushups I began on the wall. These were the first pushups I mastered. Make sure you feet are a shoulder’s width apart and you come down toward the wall. Note that the further out you place your feet, the harder it gets to do these Wall Pushups. This is a good way to practice pushups.
Another pushup is the Kneeling Pushup. You start on your knees and place your hands on the floor like a regular pushup and come down to the floor. Take your time. It is another Compound Movement because you can feel it in your shoulders and triceps.
I also want show you a Pike Pushup. You start in Downward Facing Dog position with your hands and feet on the floor and your bottom in the air. There is a lot of shoulder power here. You come down with your arms while leaving your feet and hips in the same position.
Another good exercise that will address your abs is Planking. It is a very cool exercise. You get down the floor and hold your body with your toes while resting on your bend arms and holding your torso as straight as you can. You can do an Assisted Plank while resting your body on your knees too. The goal is to hold everything tight. You need to squeeze your glutes and your abs. If you can’t hold this pose for 22 seconds, it is ok. Do what you can. It is about giving your all just like our veterans have done, given their all.
We are having fun out here and we are taking care of our veterans. You guys are your best. Thank you for being here. I am sending positive prayers and positive vibes.
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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.
