Drop it like a squat

Emily Jackson, Community Editor

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Twenty-five days ago, we rang in the new year with clinking glasses of champagne, cheers and maybe even a few tears. After a long year wrought with evil clown sightings, too many celebrity deaths and a harrowing presidential election, I’d say most of us were more than ready to forget 2016 ever happened.

But, were we just as quick to forget our new year’s resolutions?

Personally, I’ve never been one to stick to my resolutions. Either my goals were too unspecific, or they were so extreme that they were unrealistic. “Work out five days a week” sounds like a great goal until you realize you don’t even have the time to work out two days a week.

Every year I’d make a resolution, and every year I’d fall short of reaching my goals. I never lost that 30 pounds. I never ran that half marathon. I didn’t even get close.

I realize now that my problem wasn’t a lack of motivation. It was a lack of strategy. I had all these great big goals but no way of achieving them. I was setting myself up for failure before I had even begun.

So, this year, I made the specific resolution to lose 20 pounds and, in doing so, feel stronger and more confident in my body. But I didn’t want to set myself up for failure again this year. This year, I was going to have a plan.

So, for the month of January, I have decided to focus on cardio and squats.

But I didn’t want to go it alone. After talking to some of my fellow female editors at the Collegian and scrolling through countless photos of perfect booties on Pinterest, we decided on a challenge that would whip our backsides into shape.

No more just wishing for peach emoji posteriors. This month, we were going to make it happen.

Cue the 30-day squat challenge.

When it comes to sculpting that perfect booty, there’s no better exercise than the squat. Not only does it work those glutes, it also targets the core and thigh muscles. It’s like a total lower body workout all in one move. If you do them correctly, you can really feel the burn. And let me tell you, I could feel the burn straight from day one.

Day one of the challenge consisted of 30 squats. Now, that doesn’t sound like that many until you try to do them all at once. After powering through all 30, I turned around to check out my derriere, which, of course, hadn’t changed a bit.

But nothing good comes easy.

Over the next two weeks, we slowly added more and more squats to our daily routine. On day two, I did 50 squats. On day seven, I did 90. Today, I did 125.

Although I’m adding more squats daily, doing them has actually become easier. Not only have I felt my strength increasing but also my stamina. Now, I can drop 30 squats no problem.

Needless to say, squatting every day has really helped me jumpstart my new cardio routine. Two and half hours of Zumba, an hour of kickboxing, and an hour of Pilates each week calls for some serious lower body strength. In a Zumba class where it’s possible to do upwards of 400 squats in an hour, building my lower body strength with this squat challenge has been insanely helpful.

I haven’t stuck to the routine completely. I’ve missed a day here and a day there. But the most important thing is that I haven’t quit, and I don’t plan on it. Quitting isn’t a part of the plan.

Having my best friend, Felicia, to go to all those fitness classes with and my fellow editors to keep me and my booty in check has really helped me stay accountable and motivated.

And having a day-to-day plan like this 30-day squat challenge pushes me to work hard and be better than I was yesterday. I’m not wishing anymore. I’m making it happen.

So, whatever your new year’s resolution is, I hope you haven’t given up on it yet. Make a plan and work every day to reach that big goal. Reward yourself for reaching milestones along the way. And, most importantly, enjoy the journey.

The perfect butt wasn’t built in a day.

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Drop it like a squat