Update: Apparently I left my math skills in Michigan. 8 x 10 x 5 does not equal 800. It equals 400. (Sadly, 400 minute abs doesn’t have the same ring to it.) Whoops.

Eight minutes can be simultaneously ironic and effective. Here’s how:

Six Years Ago

Six years ago Johnny McKenna gave me a digital copy of this video. Matt Laidlaw and I would spend three days a week running or lifting weights or something. Whatever our routine, the last eight minutes were always the same.

A Couple Months Ago

A couple months ago I turned my #5DaysInARow project into 80 Minute Abs: 8 minute abs, twice a day, five days in a row. The first few days of my project weren’t too bad. My stomach definitely felt the difference at first but began growing numb to the twice-daily pain I was inducing on it. By the end of the week I was ready to be done.

My hope with my #5DaysInARow projects is always that they’ll actually seep their way into my everyday routine. (So far my most successful one has been “Five Days of Mindfulness” — you should ask Jes about my daily “walk on water” routine [or at least that's what she calls it].) Only sit-ups (or any workout) hasn’t quite stuck.

So I’ve come up with a crazy idea. Potentially my craziest idea ever.

I’ve done eight minute abs. I’ve done eighty minute abs.

But I’ve never done eight four hundred minute abs.

This week my goal is to do eight minute abs ten times each day. For five days in a row. Totaling 800 minutes.

I figure if I can make it through one day I actually have a shot at the whole week. I’ll be twittering each time I complete a set, updating the world (or at least my mom) on how far into the ominous 800 400 I’ve journeyed.

So stay tuned for my twitter updates. And my future washboard. (Or just an achy abdomen.)

Anyone care to join me?