It’s about time for another Better Butt Challenge. This one is much longer than our others, but don’t be scared because the commitment is minimal….
…in fact, your daily assignment won’t even take you 5 minutes. All you need to do to beat this challenge is:
1 squat,
each day,
for 365 days (a full year).
Sounds easy right? It is, and that’s the idea!
Mini Habits : An Awesome Idea For Creating Positive Change
I got this idea from the book Mini Habits by Stephen Guise. His experience was to do the exact same thing, but with push ups:
1 push up a day, no excuses, for a full year. And he smashed it!
Here’s the book here, available from Amazon.com:
Okay Jolie, I hear you saying. That’s great, but really, what is 1 squat per day really going to achieve? That’s it? What about progressive overload and all that other stuff?
Ah. Well, that’s the beauty of these mini-habits. They are easy to do, but guess what often ends up happening after you do your 1 squat a day?
I’ve tried this for the last week or so, and let me tell you something.
I’ve not done just 1 squat a day since I started.
That measly 1 squat easily turned into 2, or 5, or 10, or 3 full sets of 10, or sometimes even an hour-long workout (just because I had gotten into the swing of things!).
The key here is to set a goal or task that is so simple, so easy that you could always do it. Even if you are sick, or feel as though you don’t have the time; your daily assignment is so minimal that it’s always going to be do-able.
And the funny thing is that once you actually start doing it, you often get momentum and keep going with the task.
So Here’s the Challenge
Pick one butt-building exercise that you will do just 1 rep of each day….
… but here’s the catch: you have to do it for a whole year! That’s 365 days. If that sounds overwhelming, just remind yourself that it’s one measly rep! That will take you less than 5 seconds!
I’m sure you’ll agree with me that it’s totally do-able.
So go ahead and pick your butt-firming weapon of choice. A few of my favorites are:
Just pick one, and commit to doing 1 rep a day for an entire year.
Remember, the key behind this whole concept is keeping it simple and small – you’ll be surprised just how much that 1 rep will grow to naturally!
Are You Ready To Take The Challenge?
Here’s what I want you to do.
Leave a comment below saying “I’m in!” and let us know what exercise you’re committing to doing 1 rep of every day for a year.
Also let me know what you think your biggest obstacle will be when it comes to sticking to this challenge…. or do you think it will be easy for you?
The book that this idea is based off is “Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results” by Stephen Guise. It is available here on Amazon.
Hey,
This is a great idea. I get what you mean by the minimal challenge you manage to create a habit that turns into much more than just that one squat.
I can imagine being more productive and exercising regularly by doing so.
With the thought of having to go to the gym and working out for an hour it quickly demotivates me. But having to do just one squat for the day seems like nothing and while you’re at it you might as well do a few more.
Great post really loved it 🙂
Esteban
That’s the idea Esteban! Glad you liked it, I take it that means you’re on board 🙂
I really like the way in which you guide us through the process of improving our butt shape and only wish you could do the same for my non-existent ‘6 pack’ 🙂
Roger
Haha, thanks Roger! I’m sure there are sites out there for crafting six-packs… there’s got to be! That one is a bit out of my field of expertise though.
However, I’m sure you could apply this challenge but adapt it to a stomach exercise!
This is brilliant!
I always find the most difficult this about exercise is getting motivated to actually stand up and get started! This will make that a lot easier as I can tell myself “as long as I do one rep, I’m all good” which will most likely lead to doing more reps.
I’m blessed to be naturally skinny with a natural thigh gap but I would like a rounder butt to feel more feminine and sexier.
My chosen exercise is the glute bridge.
Thanks for this article, just what I needed to read.
Hannah
Nice choice Hannah, I find that especially with glute bridges, I’m always keen to do more until I can get a good muscle burn going on – that way you know it’s working! For me, heaps of reps (or weighted ones) or just holding a static glute bridge works best 🙂
Well, this looks like a good idea but I’m not sure about the deadlift. That barbell she’s lifting in the example looks pretty substantial to me. I’ll think I’ll just go with the squat. I can do those reasonably easily.
This reminds me of ‘paradigms’ those habits that are formed in the informative years of your life. If you do something often enough, you get into the habit, like always putting your right leg into your trousers first when getting dressed.
I’ve just done a squat, actually, I did 5, so it goes to show what you can do. Motivation first, then the habit sets in. Thanks for a great site. Ches
Good on you Ches. Yep, definitely stick with the squats if you aren’t comfortable with other moves yet, but you can also do deadlifts without any weight and still learn some good (and healthy) movement patterns. Thanks for sharing your experience – the system works!
Hey Jolie, challenge accepted! I think that forming a habit is the most important part of reaching any goal. Tony Robbins says that success lies in constant improvement, so starting small is way better than not starting at all.
Great article!
Awesome Daniela! Hope you get some good results from this!
Hey Jolie
Im in! I love the concept behind the idea. When presented with a new task or a new goal most people find it daunting as a whole. Broken down it is easily attainable and manageable. I’m certain that anyone accepting your challenge will soon increase their reps without even noticing the extra work they are putting in.
Welcome aboard!
I’m in! 😀 I’m making it my goal to do one squat every day for the next year. I think my biggest challenge here will be the thought that this isn’t going to actually accomplish anything. But I’m going to tell myself that’s wrong – because if I can do one, I can do many more. The first one is always the hardest one anyway. Great post!
Glad you’re joining in Cat!
It is true that one rep in itself won’t do much, but hopefully just doing one gets you up and moving (and you end up doing more as a result). That’s the theory, anyway!
Powerful stuff. Even easier than the whole exercise everyday by going out for a walk.
I completely understand that you end up doing more than one and it’s even harder to just stop after doing one.
365+ extra squats will certainly make a difference to the butt I’m sure 😀
Hi Jolie,
I like the idea of implementing mini habits as it easier than doing more difficult habits. You have an argument when you say it won’t stay with 1 squat because if you do one you can also do 5 or 10. It’s just the mental attitude that you do 1 squat each day, sometimes it will be more sometimes it will just be the one 😉
I have already my training plan why I don’t join this one, but it is a great idea.
Have you already started with the challenge?
Cheers
Don
Yep, I have already started Don! Keeping on track for my 365 days!
I think the biggest problem for me to exercise is time and motivation. But one squat a day sounds really do-able. I didn’t know that there’re so many different types of exercise to tone up our butt! Thanks for sharing all the articles.
You’re welcome, hope you can use this concept to make the transition into exercise a little easier!
Hi Jolie! This is really motivational!
I’m really glad I found your website.
I have always liked exersizing but I have a problem to stick to it hahaha
I will definitely try this and I will keep you informed how long I will stick to it.
I’m starting with the squat tommorow 🙂
Hehehe, I’m the same sometimes when it comes to exercise motivation Athanasia! But I’ve found this strategy to help a lot! Good luck!
Im in
Yay Claudia!! This comment made my day!