The Chairman's Fitness Challenge Blog

The results that people are achieving through the 52 Day challenge can be pretty impressive - body fat loss, muscle and strength gains, and improved performance in any number of different exercises or activities.  How does such a simple, unstructured program work to help participants achieve their personal goals?
One word - ACCOUNTABILITY. The discipline to, first, set the goals, then sit down every day and assess performance, also serves as motivation to work harder towards them. Although this seems obvious to me, a new study from UNC and the University of Kentucky, looking at eating habits, confirms it scientifically.  (The study was reported in the National Post today - LINK).

An interesting finding of the study is that the self-monitoring (writing things down) is a more effective motivator than peer motivation (ie reporting to a group, working with a trainer, or posting in a forum). That actually makes sense to me as well - I know from experience that I can post all I want, but if without wanting the end result enough, I won't make progress towards it. Posting my progress for all the world to see can be motivating, but it is taking the time to plan, log and track progress that sets the table for results, whether I just track it in a personal logbook or post it up for public consumption.

I think the main value of the 52DC forum is it does provide a framework for that sort of self-monitoring - it establishes start dates, end dates, and some suggested categories of goals; the rest of the process is left up to the participants. It is an ideal way to ensure that each participants owns their own goals and is accountable to themselves to ensure the targets are challenging and well-suited to their own fitness/wellness objectives.