Social Workout

This is the foundational feat: Just. Get. Exercise. For the Feralicious Challenge, we encourage you to go unplugged, but, as always, the "workout" is in the eye of the beholder. To complete the feat, you must get exercise on 20 days in March.

If you like to walk for miles, or sprint for...

There are a lot of exciting back-to-basics diets running around these days. Think Paleo, Raw, and Feral. We hear good things about...

This feat is mandatory for all Challengers in the 2009 Feats of Summer Challenge. Over 11 weeks -- from the Summer Solstice to Labor Day -- you must complete and blog 50 workouts. or roughly five workouts a week.

Human beings are social creatures. While we may commune with nature standing alone and quiet in the middle of a forest, we may get equally deep into our own nature when surrounded by a dozen sweaty bodies in a room with a thumping drum beat. This feat is about our need for wild rhythms...

Run, dance, swim, cycle, jump rope, climb, do donkey kicks! To complete this feat, you must elevate your heart rate and exercise your lungs for at least five (5) hours in March. Easy right? Here's the catch: There can be no machines involved: No treadmills, ellipticals, ergs, or stationary bikes...

31 Days. 1,000 Push ups. No tears. We'll do the math for you: That's just 32.25 per day! And you're home free! Can you do girlie knee push ups? Yes, but upgrade as you get stronger. Can you do hand clap, or one arm push ups? You tell us.

(...

Seem familiar? Yep: 1,000. No tears. There are a wide variety of situp forms, and we're entirely non-denominational. You may do bicycles, crunches, sit ups a la Marines Phsyical Fitness Test, or your own variant. It just must...

Pull ups are hard, and they're relative. Some people can knock of 20, while others can't do a single one. Different people have different baselines. To accomodate that truth, this feat is also relative. Over the course of the challenge, you must rack up...

Like pull ups, dips can be relative, and so this feat is also relative. Over the course of the challenge, you must rack up 20 sets of your baseline count of dips. The first step here, then, is to find parallel bars, or a dip rack and do as many...

No, you do not need to harness yourself to 500 pounds of iron, and stand on wooden crates. Yes, you do need to do 1,000 squats over the course of the month. These squats may be with or without weights — you just need to lower yourself into a bent-kneed position, and then rise up again,...

Silence is a rarity in today's world, but it's a staple of virtually all monastic and meditative traditions. For many, going 24 hours without talking be the most difficult feat to achieve. There can be no breaks of silence. Communication with...

To complete this feat, you must give up caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and any other addictive, discretionary drugs for a period of one week.

A timeless, macho measurement of basic upper body strength. It's not easy, but if you can do this, you can earn Big Respect in the free weights area of your local gym. A little training will go a long way here, but please be safe and work always with a spotter. For guidelines on form, see...

One glass of water after every cocktail. Fight hangovers, feel better in the morning. Added bonus, when you're hydrated you're less likely to mindlessly pick at party platter food. 

(Image:...

By December 26th, you may need to hit a heavy bag. Best to get away from the family, don gloves, and hit the gym. Or, perhaps try a boxing...

Food is not just about taste. It's about smell, and texture, and color. In some important, primal way, food colors signal things to us, and safe to say a monochromatic diet is not a healthy one. "The deeper the color, the healthier it is,"...

Remember emptying the contents of your lunch bag to discover a hand-writen note from Mom tucked tightly between your turkey sandwich and pretzel sticks? Or the way the american cheese and mayo oozed through the white bread after spending five hours too many stuffed in a...

Think you can do it? We do. No caffeine for a week. It raises cortisol levels in your body, causes your blood sugar to spike and leads to eventual fatigue. Withdraw now and thank us later.

Really Great Related Links:

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To complete this feat, you must be able to execute a respectable cartwheel, with legs fully extended, and landing smoothly. For amusing explanations of the cartwheel, see here or here...

Proper form and procedure -- as best articulated by the Marines -- must be followed. Your targets:

• Men: 10
• Women: 1

No elevators. Take the stairs. Really. 23rd Floor? No problem! New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley wants to slim down fat New Yorkers by making them...

Choose or make up a short mantra, or prayer, or zen koan. Repeat this to yourself silently at least 1000 times (roughly) while commuting to your destination. Examine the effects.

We're nothing if we're not accomodating. There must be some goal, some challenge that you would like to set for yourself, and which we can (collectively) help you accomplish. Ideally, this would have some mind-body dimension, but we're going to keep our definition broad: Your feat is legit if,...

As (almost) usual, we give you one feat to make up for yourself. The sky is the limit: It may be food related, or another exercise activity, or it have to do with your sleep patterns or bedside reading. Whatever it is, however, it must be something that stirs the wild in your nature....

Singing is therapeutic, and emotionally and physically cleansing. It's perhaps the most ancient and proven of social workouts. To complete this feat, you must gather your friends, and sing to the heavens at least once over the holidays. Punk karaoke, Nintendo Rock Band, or Christmas Caroling...

Turn off all non-essential home electronics, including the lights. Try a candle, and talking. To complete this feat, you must go largely electricity-free at home at least twice over the course of the challenge. No, you do not need to unplug your refigerator; and you can turn on your stove to...

The holidays are about family, but often it's all about eating, talking, or drinking, and not enough about dancing, running, or sweating together. To complete this feat -- initially proposed by Sassletic --...

The wonders of free market capitalism have made certain tasty-but-not-particularly-healthy food experiences exceptionally cheap and convenient. But overreliance on big, national fast food chains isn't particularly healthy, for anyone. Just ask...

Festivus is a Seinfeldian holiday, which involves carrying a pole around and wrestling the head of your household. Doing either of these qualifies you to achieve the feat, but the official approach to achieving this feat is to take a pole...

It sounds annoying to write down everything you eat all day long, but why not give it a shot? Keeping track of the foods you consume will make you more mindful and self-aware. For one week carry a notebook and record your daily intake.

Share the love: Do one shift with City Harvest or a another local food bank. 

Here's the ultimate in social workouts. While we challenge our bodies to live a healthier October, we commit to collectively improve the...

To complete this feat, you must successfully complete five out of ten standard basketball free throws. A 50% free throw shooting percentage is solid for a non-player, and it would put you on a par with Shaquille O'Neal, who admittedly...

Cook (or otherwise prepare) and eat one healthy dinner per week, every week, for the duration of the challenge. "Healthy" is subjective in this case, but the meal should be nutritionally balanced, not excessive in volume, and include large quantities of fruit and vegetables. (Note: You must...

Nutritionists agree that eating fish is very good for you. Most seafood will give you high-quality proteins and omega-3 fatty acids, but is low in saturated fats. Yes, you have to be a little careful about eating fish which may have high...

Too much milk in your diet? Sluggish from all that cheese? And your intake of red meat. Oy vey— it's time to chill out on the animal products. Try eating vegan for the month. No diary, no meat, no fish. Pack your diet with whole grains, fruits and veg and soy, then see...

There you go again: Your meaty paw is reaching for another order of
glistening, bright red spare ribs. You bite into a greezy cheeseburger, a slimy hot dog, a pimpley chicken leg all covered in skin. You're a meat-lover, and we love you for it. But it's time to...

To complete this feat, you must take three group fitness classes. At least two of these must be live, physical classes. One may be taken at home, via DVD, streaming video or audio, or via Wii or other gaming console. Your classes are as follows:

• 1 Spin Class...

Complete 50 Miles in five Hours or less. This is not a fast pace, and it even should allow for a break, like, say, lunch. The point is to get out and go for a long ride. If you want to go faster, please do. Regardless, please be safe.

This is an untimed feat. Must swim half a mile, without the help of flotation devices or swimming aids of any sort. You may complete the feat in a pool, or in the open water, with or without wetsuit. (In an Olympic sized pool with 25 meter lanes, complete 33 lengths. In a 25 yard pool, complete...

Hold a handstand for 20 seconds. You may do this against a wall to help with balance, but you can not have any assistance in holding up your weight. See here for guidelines on form and practice tips.

Hold a headstand, without support from wall or friend, for at least one minute. See here for guidlines on form and practice tips.

Dance 10 times, for each year of the past decade. Pick your favorite song from 2002 or 2005. Blare it...

It would be nice if we were all very charitable all year long, but let's say you were really busy over the summer, and skipped the Food Serving feat during the Eat.Sweat.Blog....

Life in the big city is about restaurants. Often, that's a fabulous thing, but sometimes eating out all the time can wear you down, physically and emotionally. Cooking is primal, grounding, and restorative. In short, preparing your own meals, almost regardless of the actual menu, is good for you...

Clearly, we believe in social workouts. We think it's good to be around other people while sweating — to spend non-verbal time with friends and strangers, to find ourselves motivated and inspired. YET, sometimes the social workout is not available. Sometimes its not even desirable. We also...

Must be able to hula hoop for one minute without dropping the hoop, or otherwise assisting with your hands. Check Hooping.org for instructions and examples.