Cedar Rapids man makes it to the gym over 10,000 consecutive days

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – We all make excuses not to workout, but one Cedar Rapids man has not made an excuse to avoid hitting the gym in 27 years.

A 27-year fitness journey started for 65-year-old Mark Mueller on February 21, 1994. He was 38 at the time, and he still remembers the day.

“I looked down and swore to myself that my gut would never stick out further than my chest, and I have never forgotten that,” Mueller said.

That’s when he vowed to never miss a workout.

“You can always find a reason not to workout, you need to be finding reasons to workout,” he said. “So that’s just kind of how it got started. I also felt like days take themselves off, so you don’t need to take days off, because as it’s turned out, a day has never taken itself off.”

Mark has never taken a day off, last week Mark passed 10,000 straight days of working out.

“I am afraid not to work out anymore,” he said. “And then after I hit 9,000, then I actually set a goal to go for 10,000. Today is 10,003.”

We all find excuses not to workout, but even though he has had some great reasons to skip a workout Mark hasn’t missed one day in 27 years.

“I found out I had walking pneumonia, so I had to pretty much stay in the weight room and lift light for a couple of days,” he said. “The second one it was in 2016 when I had surgery on my knee, so I did a lot of light upper body stuff day after day, and a lot of core work. I had Covid in January. I did a lot of stationary bike and a lot of running on the treadmill, but still get my workouts in. You can always find a reason not to work out. The best part of discipline is self-discipline.”

So he doesn’t get burned out, Mark mixes up his workouts.

“Working out just revitalize me and gives me energy for the day. I like to swim in the morning and lift in the afternoon. On alternate days, I will run in the morning and bike in the evening.”

And Mark has recorded every one of his workouts in a journal.

“It’s color-coded,” he said showing a page in the journal. “So like the date is in green, because green is the color for growth, and it’s another day to grow and improve myself. I always have a purpose for each work out.”

And Mark says he hopes to continue until they put him six feet under.

“I was coming out of the “Y” yesterday and Keith Wymore is walking in to get a little workout in,” Mueller said. “[Keith] is 94 going on 95, so I’ve got a few years to go.”

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