I lifted weights for 30 days | Results & unexpected benefits

At the end of last year, I was in such a rut that I was desperate to find a way out of it. The idea of doing anything felt overwhelming. And my go hard tendencies were keeping me stuck — I didn’t have the energy to go hard; but my brain has a hard time accepting that something is better than nothing.

But with the rut I was in, I needed to get over that. I didn’t want to start another year feeling the way I was feeling.

Life and my mental health had been teaming up against me for the last several years, and I’d had enough. I was so tired of feeling defeated and exhausted and depleted.

I wasn’t sure where to start or what to do. But I did know I needed a win. I needed something that would set me up for success. Something that would allow me to enter into the new year with a renewed sense of self, accomplishment and confidence but also something that wasn’t so ambitious that one tiny little failure would derail the whole mission.

I lifted weights for 30 days, here’s what happened.

Why weight lifting was the perfect option for mission: pull myself from a rut

I work from home, but at the time of this challenge, I also kept my 3 year old son home full time as well. I would have loved to join a gym and attend a certain number of classes or hit the pavement and log a certain number of miles (both very good rut busters, fyi), but there were too many factors that could fight against those two options for me.

I needed something that come rain or shine, happy or sad, lazy or motivated I could make happen. I needed something that would allow for max effort but also accommodate those low-energy don’t-feel-like-doing-anything sort of moments.

Weight lifting seemed like the most logical answer for a few reasons:

1. There are a ton of free workouts on Youtube.
2. The effort required could be modified by swapping out heavier weights for smaller ones.
3. I don’t typically sweat profusely weight lifting, so I could easily slip the workout into any part of my day wherever I had a free moment.
4. I could do the workouts at home with or without my son around.

The challenge

I needed realistic. I needed grace. And I needed to set myself up for success. As much as my go-hard tendencies wanted to insist on 30 straight days of lifting, I knew the state of my mental health was not going to allow for that. I needed to add in some padding.

I opted for the following:

For one month, 30 days, I would lift weights 5 days a week.

In my mind, that was going to be to lift Monday – Friday, off on the weekends. But there were some weeks where adding in a workout on a weekday was purely impossible. In retrospect, the only way I was successful at this challenge was the fact that I had enough forethought to add in the padding.

The workouts & parameters

The parameters were simple: show up and pick up a weight. Okay, that’s maybe a little more lax than the reality — but ultimately that was really the only requirement. Some days I had more energy than others — so I did longer videos with heavier weights. Other days, well, not so much. On those days, I did a 10 minute video with lighter weights.

The only requirement was to show up and pick up weights.

The workouts: YouTube video exercises

I’d done weight lifting videos in the past, so luckily I already had a few favorite creators before I started this challenge. I’d like to tell you that I was super organized and mapped out exactly what I was going to do very strategically.

I did not.

If I was feeling motivated and adventurous, I’d scroll around for something that looked interesting.

If I was barely hanging on, I’d opt for an old favorite where I knew exactly what to expect.

The videos I used:

I created THIS PLAYLIST on Youtube with all of the videos I used during my challenge.

I don’t have a ton of equipment, but I have a few pieces that make variation possible.

I like this dumbbell set, especially as a beginner. I asked for this set for Christmas the year my son was born. Plus, they’re pretty colors and super easy to maneuver.

This dumbbell set is great because you can modify the weights used. The only thing I don’t love about it is that you have to have somewhere to store the extra weights when you aren’t using them. If I would have thought things through, I probably would have opted for something like this instead.

I have a 10 lb and a 20 lb kettlebell.

The results

First, I have to say I didn’t do this for weight loss. So if you’re looking for numbers on a scale, sorry. This isn’t the challenge for you. I stopped weighing myself about a year ago after I was obsessively trying to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I finally accepted the fact that I am an adult woman, and my body has changed. And obsessively trying to obtain some arbitrary number on a scale just wasn’t a healthy mindset for me, so I had to let it go.

You can see the before & after in this video:

Unexpected benefits

My body did change. I noticed tightening and toning and all the things you might expect from consistent exercise. But since the purpose of this challenge wasn’t necessarily for physical change, I was also hyper aware of other potential benefits to consistent exercise. Here’s what happened.

1. I felt better in general. Even with a 10 minute, low effort workout, I felt better afterward. Endorphins are real. And they
2. I felt motivated to do other things. Big things. Small things. Things I’d been putting off forever. Things I didn’t even know I wanted to do.
3. I actually enjoyed the workouts and fell in love with challenging myself.
4. My head felt clearer. While the videos have their own sound, I would often just turn the volume all the way down, plug in my headphones and use the video as my visual guide. Just having a few moments of peace to allow my brain to be taken away by the tunes did wonders for my head space.

The challenge had the exact desired effect. It pulled me out of the rut. It did such a good job, actually, that I felt motivated enough to commit to vlogging every day in January to keep the momentum of “doing” going.

Ultimately, this challenge was such an easy, low-effort way to kick start the climb from the rut I was in. If you’ve been feeling the same — or you’re just looking to add in some low-stakes exercise into your routine, give it a go! And be sure to let me know how it goes for you below.