I know what you’re thinking – “Why on earth would anyone do 20,000 jumping jacks every day for a month?!” Well, let me tell you, it’s been quite the journey.
It all started when I saw an Instagram post claiming that doing 20,000 jumping jacks every day for 30 days would give you “abs of steel” and “explosive cardiovascular endurance.” I mean, who wouldn’t want that? So, I decided to give it a try.
The first few days were a breeze. I mean, how hard could it be to do a few hundred jumping jacks, right? WRONG. By day five, my legs were shaking and my arms felt like Jell-O. But I was determined to see this through.
It was time-consuming
Although, I could mix it with my flying, it certainly got in the way of my drinking. Here’s a snippet from a flight I had to do from Moscow to Shanghai and back.
“I just wanted to let you know that we will be experiencing some slight turbulence during our flight, so I am going to perform 20,000 jumping jacks to stabilize the plane. No need to worry, this is a routine procedure that I do every time I fly. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. And maybe grab a drink or two to take the edge off.
Now, where was I? Oh right, the jumping jacks. Alright, here we go. One, two, three, four… man, this is going to take a while. But I’m committed. I’ve got to get these abs of steel and explosive cardiovascular endurance. Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine… my legs are starting to feel like spaghetti. But I can’t stop now. I’m almost at the halfway point. Ten thousand, nine hundred ninety-seven, ten thousand, nine hundred ninety-eight, ten thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine, eleven thousand!
Ok, we’re halfway there. Just another 9,000 out of 20,000 jumping jacks to go. Deep breaths. Twenty-two thousand, three hundred forty-six, twenty-two thousand, three hundred forty-seven… I can’t feel my arms anymore. But I won’t give up. I’ve come too far. Thirty-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-seven, thirty-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-eight, thirty-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine, forty thousand…”
One of the biggest challenges was loneliness
As the days went on, things only got worse. My copilot started giving me strange looks as I did jumping jacks in the cockpit (I had to fit them in wherever I could). My friends avoided inviting me to social events because they knew I’d be too busy doing jumping jacks to have a good time. And don’t even get me started on the sweat. I was a human waterfall.
But despite all the struggles, I persevered. And on day 30, I finally reached my goal of 20,000 jumping jacks. Did I have abs of steel and explosive cardiovascular endurance? No, not really. In fact, I’m pretty sure I gained weight from all the celebratory ice cream and pizza I ate to reward myself for my accomplishment.
So, the moral of the story? Don’t believe everything you see on Instagram, folks. Unless you really want to spend a month doing 20,000 jumping jacks a day, in which case, go for it.
Happy jumping!