How (and why) I did 8,675 situps in 2025

The start

In 2025, I did 8,735 pushups and 8,675 sit-ups, plus 144.6 minutes of planks. It was not my plan to join the group, but I listened in on the conversations at the end of 2024.

“I can’t do 100 situps a month,” I said. “I can’t even do ONE.” 

“You don’t have to do 100 today or this month.  Don’t think about December. Think about now,” Monica said.

The family group planned a 7-day a week workout. “Nope,” I said, “I need a day of rest.”

If they wanted me in, I needed a day of rest. They must have wanted me in, because they caved. Sunday was catch-up day, they said. If you missed a day that week, you caught up on Sunday.

“I’m turning 70 this year; I have no business doing this,” I remonstrated. Somehow, my kids talked me into it, or maybe I talked myself into it. I know I didn’t think I could finish. 100 pushups or situps was just too many.

“Don’t think about December; just do what you can now,”  I heard over and over.

So I did. I tried not to think about 100 and concentrated on 15. I decided to make it through January. It worked.

The plan

The family deal was 6 days of exercise: 3 days of situps and 3 days of pushups. Sit-up day also included planks – one second for each number of sit ups or pushups. We started with 15 per day per month. Every month, we increased the number by five or ten. By December, 100 per day was guaranteed. One hundred situps and a 100-second plank, or one hundred pushups, six days a week. 

Everyone was out the gate in a hustle, come January. I couldn’t do a sit-up. I did an abdominal crunch, and then another crunch, and another one. My kids said that counts. I kept crunching. By the end of January, I managed half sit-ups and half crunches. By February, I left abdominal crunching behind.

Here I am. The last of December, and I really did 8,675 sit-ups this year. 

I also did 8,735 pushups and 144.6 minutes of planks. You can’t believe I did that? Neither can I, but I did.

Drop outs

We started with most of the family participating. Butch dropped out because he was training for ultra-marathons. Emily dropped out because she was training for a marathon in Richmond – and by the time the marathon was done, she was twenty weeks pregnant. Sarah Beth and Rae stayed in until their pregnancies thwarted participation. Tim took a break while he recovered from a broken heel and subsequent surgery. That basically left Ben and me of the original group. Ben spent time overseas in third world countries with changing time zones. He’d play catch up for days. All of them had legitimate reasons for lagging behind. All but me. I had no excuses, no reasons, so I kept going.

I did sit-ups on the floor of motels, condos, and on a cruise ship. In addition to my home in Virginia, I exercised in Colorado, Wyoming, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New England.

Modifications

My push-ups and planks were modified. I made it to 40-second floor planks, but had to move to a counter plank – oncologist’s orders. I can’t do floor push-ups, so I did counter push-ups.  Not as difficult as from the floor, but a push-up, nonetheless. A counter push-up counts, especially when you are 70. A counter plank also counts, even though it’s not as hard as a floor-plank.

What I learned

Completing a goal is not guaranteed without some things in place. I would never, ever have completed the year – without missing a day – without a few things in place. Doing it alone would have guaranteed failure. This I learned:

• setting goals without a plan guarantees failure.
• accountability is key.
• comradery is an extra bonus.

The only reason I kept on was because my kids were watching and I had to report daily (except Sunday). Comradery and support is sometimes the only thing that keeps a person going. Many days, lying on a towel on the floor of a motel room when I was on vacation, Dave’s “I’m so proud of you” kept me going. I’ve done sit-ups with grandkids counting (and sometimes copying). Those little ones watching were more reasons to keep going. Who’d want to quit with them watching?!

2026

It’s a new year. There’s a new plan. I signed up, again. Will I finish? I don’t know. Am I going to try? Yepper. I’ve got a plan, comradery and accountability in place. The rest is up to me.