Try it: Count to bonus

If you're following a workout at home, you have some rep-based exercises. What if you're pushing yourself past the prescribed amount? Count to bonus.

Instead of "..., 24, 25, 26, 27" try "..., 24, 25, bonus, bonus."

You can also start your bonus reps during an introduction for an exercise you already understand well. In this case, the counting would look like "bonus, bonus, 1, 2, 3, ... ."

Counting to bonus helps you stay engaged for the same amount of time you were before. You're not waiting for the next exercise, you're not skipping ahead, you're not taking an early break, and you're not spending extra mental effort getting worked up over how many bonus reps you got in. You got to bonus. Good job!

Mirror Image: Pull-up vs. Leg-pulling

"Does this inability to do a pull-up make me look fat?"

People can put up a surprising amount of resistance to accepting that they are overweight and that it matters. I know I did. What I recommend is that if you've never been below the "overweight" BMI category, try to get there and see what happens. It's not a perfect measure--for athletes. Which brings me to the Tip of the Day:

Tip of the Day: Men in their 20s aren't allowed to dismiss an overweight BMI unless they can do three pull-ups.

Go ahead and jump up to that bar--cheat on getting your chin up for that first one if you want. Now go all the way down. Come on, all the way. Straight arms. Good. Now back up. Chin above the bar. Strong back, bring the bar to you. Good, we'll call that two. Back down again. Back up: okay, last one, come on, you're almost there, dude! You can almost dismiss your overweight BMI due to your massive athleticism! You're so close! Chin up!

Did you make it?

Never be fat again.

Tip of the Day: Stoned

You've probably heard that you shouldn't weigh yourself every day. The human body can easily fluctuate by about 5 pounds day-to-day, so you don't want to get bummed out and you don't want to get cocky. Still, that number...just...stares at you.

My solution? I bought a scale that I can use to weigh myself in stone, not pounds. Since a stone is equal to 14 pounds (roughly three times the variation in daily body weight), the numerical fluctuation in my measurement is reduced. At 6'3", I don't have anything to worry about as long as I'm clocking in under 14 stone.

Tip of the Day: Weigh yourself in stone.

After all, why use a unit of measurement precise enough for harvested produce when measuring something as dynamic as your body?

Tip of the Day: Don't out-eat your workout

Anyone can out-eat any exercise program. Overeating makes exercise less fun. Fortunately, regular exercise makes over-eating less desirable.

Enjoy your food when you're hungry. Stop when you think you might be full. Bring it when you exercise.

The hard parts

Eagle Scout. Pilot. Black Belt. P90X. NaNoWriMo. Building that app. You can list many more achievements which are often-attempted and seldom-completed. Many goals start out fun but get tiresome after a few weeks. Sometimes we want to be seen as wanting a goal more than we want to achieve it. Often we let short-term excuses derail a future goal.

Tip of the Day: Embrace the Hard Parts.

I knew when I started Power 90 that many, many people quit in-home workout programs. I recognized that in a 90-day workout program, most of the days would be normal, maybe even a little fun. Obviously, then, the days that make people quit are the tough days--the days when you're tired, you're busy, you're already doing something active or you just don't want to.

I looked forward to the tough days.

I looked forward to them because I knew that if I could finish my workout on those days then I would succeed. Sure enough, the hard days came. I was ready. I knew I was more than capable of forming a compelling reason to skip that day's workout. I would consider those reasons after completing that day's workout--meaning I worked out anyway. I completed Power 90 and lost 50 pounds.

Then I completed P90X.

So next time you set a new long-term goal, anticipate and get excited for the hard parts: the hard parts are what get you there.