Why We’re Skipping January Challenges
Oh hi everyone!
Well, well, well—it’s that time of year again. Everyone and their mother is boarding the January Challenge™ train, departing next week!
Everyone except Backbody Project, that is.
Because we don’t do challenges.
We do systems, simple habits, and things that actually work.
After working in fitness for 16 years, I can't help but notice that challenges create wayyy too much psychosis around things that should function like second nature.
If there’s one thing Americans truly excel at (bless us), it’s taking normal human behavior and fetishizing it until it becomes unnecessarily difficult.
Wearables 24/7. Sleep scores. Coffee enemas (I love my coffee enema friends and you know who you are!). Meds for everything—including normal human emotion. Extreme diets—or the equally extreme anti-diet diet. Optimization on top of optimization.
We turn what should be basic ritual into a competitive sport.
Instead, I’m a big fan of intentional, small changes that move the needle forward for your lifetime—not behaviors that essentially guarantee cyclical failure. Which, let’s be honest: that's what most challenges do.
Case in point:
1 in 5 people will give up their New Year's resolution in week 1.
I've read conflicting numbers here so I'm not going to pretend like I know, but as few as 64% and as many as 85% of people give up their resolution after month 1.
Only 9% of people complete a resolution in a given year. And that's a generous estimate.
Do you think that's because we're all losers who have no willpower? Or do you think perhaps something is inherently flawed in the process? Only YOU can get yourself off the crazy train. It starts with a choice.
What if, instead, we kept things natural, low-key, and effective?
This isn’t about playing small. It’s not about avoiding effort, settling, or taking up chair yoga instead of progressive overload.
It’s about creating a life in which you intelligently layer intense, adaptation-driving workouts with a few simple daily rituals that support consistency, momentum—and yes, pleasure.
Because the goal isn’t to survive a phase.
It’s to build a body you love and trust for the rest of your life.
Instead of I'm giving up all carbs, quitting alcohol, and exercising 6 days a week plus walking 3 miles a day on January 1st, try: I'm going to commit to three intense 45-minute workouts and take a stroll after dinner this month. After that I'll re-evaluate.
No pressure. No resistance.
xo,
