Congratulations to Eva on Reaching 10,000 Swings!

Eva completed her 10,000 swing challenge yesterday - 10,037 swings in 6 weeks! Way to go!!!! Read about it here.

I've been thinking some about what I like so much about the 10,000 swing challenge. Here are some of my thoughts (as always, I'd love to hear yours :)

• Gives you a goal to work toward. By specifying how many you want to do in a specific time frame, you create a deadline, which, for some, can be a real motivator for getting things done.
  
• Gets you into the regular practice of working out. You've set your deadline and the goal is big enough that you need to work at it steadily to accomplish it. It doesn't matter which weight you use - it's about getting it done. The swing challenge is a great way for beginners to get in the regular habit of kettlebelling or renewed motivation for those who have lost the KB habit.
  
• Gets you into the regular habit of recording your progress. Many of us who learned aerobics first, focused our workouts around time (ex: 20 or 30 min of cardio was often the base workout). Then, as we progressed to the weight machines and free weights, it became a lot of work to write down how much weight we did with each of the overwhelming number of exercises that we were doing. The swing challenge simplifies all of that - just write down the number of swings you did in each set and add that to what you did in your last workout. Or, subtract it from your total goal, which is exciting to see your progress. We all like to see how much progress we are making, and especially, to look back over time and see where we started and where we are now. It is important to recognize our progress and acknowledge the work we've done to achieve our goals!
  
• Is straightforward. You don't need to spend workout time trying to figure out what you are going to do next. It's all swings. So, it is easy to know what you are going to do today for workout - the same thing you did yesterday :) Swings are the "bread-and-butter" exercise of kettlebell lifting. The swing challenge is something that you can always fall back on in between your strength-training cycles, or, if you prefer, you can forever tailor your workouts around a swing challenge. Swings have it all - strength, conditioning, and flexibility.
  
• Builds the base for other movements. Swings are the most basic kettlebell exercise. Through so many swing repetitions, you are developing body awareness and learning how it feels when your whole body is working together. You are building functional strength because you are practicing proper lifting alignment with each repetition.
• Is meditative. You are repeating the same exercise and don't have to think much about what you are doing, what you are going to do, etc., so you are refreshing your mind in the process!