Friday 21 February 2014

28 Day Fitness Challenge - Day Seventeen #28DayFit

Day Seventeen
(aerobic/cardio)

Choose two exercises within your level:

Beginner Level

1. Run up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 12 times (that's up AND down counted as one time). This is a great way to get your heart rate up. Just remember to be careful; the last thing you need at this point is to slip and fall down a flight of stairs. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes.

2. Walk for 22 minutes at a relaxed pace. Make sure you are wearing comfortable walking shoes. If the weather is not conducive to outdoor walking, go to your local mall or shopping center. You can also use a treadmill, if you have access to one. Take deep breaths as you walk, letting oxygen fill your lungs.

3. Jog for 12 minutes. You can do this either by jogging in place at home, on a treadmill if you have access to one or by jogging outside for 12 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog. 

4. Jump rope for 12 minutes. Make sure you are either wearing appropriate shoes or are on a padded surface (rug or mat) to prevent overly jarring your joints.

5. Do 12 star jumps/jumping jacks. You start with your legs together, then jump them apart. While this is happening, you are also bringing your arms up to clap above your head, keeping your arms straight at all times. Then bring your arms down as you jump your feet back together. In the USA, these are called "jumping jacks," and in the UK, these are called "star jumps." Do this twelve times.

6. Do 12 minutes of running on an elliptical crosstrainer. You need to be at a level 3 or above for incline. Varying speed and rate of incline will give you the most effective workout. Don't forget to keep your arms working too. Elliptical crosstrainers give an overall body workout while keeping stress to your joints at a minimum.

7. Use the Wii Fit step exercise, the 5-minute session, three times, then do the 14-minute boxing session once. This may seem like a very slow-moving work-out, but the key to these workouts is variation, so even though it seems slow, it should work-out a variety of different muscles.

8. Dance to fast music for 12 minutes. This works even better if you find a music video featuring dance moves that you can try and follow. Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" is one music video that, if you try and follow her dance moves, filling in your own movements for the few moments when dancing is not shown, will give you a good workout. That is only about 4 minutes long though, so you need to find some fast music that you can play continuously and move your body to it.

9. Take a 30-minute long beginning-level class that involves aerobic training. This class can be ballroom dancing, belly dancing, stationary cycling, Zumba, aerobics, kickboxing, martial arts or any number of things. Choose something you think you might enjoy learning.

10. Jump side to side, starting by moving your right foot to the right and following it with your left foot until your left foot touches your right ankle and then doing the same towards your left. Do this for 3 minutes. Then jump, with your feet together, from side to side, for another 3 minutes. Go back to the first form of jumping for another 3 minutes and then do the side to side jumping with your feet together for another 3 minutes. This will work out your leg and hip muscles.

11. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and wiggle your hips very fast, not moving any other part of your body, keeping your stomach and back as straight as you can, for 4 minutes. Then move your body in a semi-circle from the waist up down to the right, moving fluidly down in front and then to your left. Do this four times. Then do this in the opposite direction, starting on your left and moving to your right, three times. Then hold your arms straight out to the side, shoulder-height, and make small circles with them, keeping the elbows straight, for 4 minutes. This works out a wide variety of your muscles.

12. Hula hoop for 5 minutes. If you don't have a hula hoop, mimic the action you would do if you were trying to keep a hula hoop from falling.


Intermediate Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 22 times (that's up AND down counted as one time). This is a great way to get your heart rate up. Just remember to be careful; the last thing you need at this point is to slip and fall down a flight of stairs. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes.

2. Walk for 32 minutes at a reasonable pace. Make sure you are wearing comfortable walking shoes. If the weather is not conducive to outdoor walking, go to your local mall or shopping center. You can also use a treadmill, if you have access to one. Take deep breaths as you walk, letting oxygen fill your lungs.

3. Jog for 16 minutes. You can do this either by jogging in place at home, on a treadmill if you have access to one or by jogging outside for 16 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog. 

4. Jump rope for 16 minutes. Make sure you are either wearing appropriate shoes or are on a padded surface (rug or mat) to prevent overly jarring your joints.

5. Do 16 star jumps/jumping jacks. You start with your legs together, then jump them apart. While this is happening, you are also bringing your arms up to clap above your head, keeping your arms straight at all times. Then bring your arms down as you jump your feet back together. In the USA, these are called "jumping jacks," and in the UK, these are called "star jumps." Do this 16 times.

6. Do 22 minutes of running on an elliptical crosstrainer. You need to be at a level 3 or above for incline. Varying speed and rate of incline will give you the most effective workout. Don't forget to keep your arms working too. Elliptical crosstrainers give an overall body workout while keeping stress to your joints at a minimum. 

7. Use the Wii Fit step exercise, the 5-minute session, four times, then do the 14-minute boxing session once. This may seem like a very slow-moving work-out for the intermediate level, but the key to these workouts is variation, so even though it seems slow, it should work-out a variety of different muscles.

8. Dance to fast music for 16 minutes. This works even better if you find a music video featuring dance moves that you can try and follow. Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" is one music video that, if you try and follow her dance moves, filling in your own movements for the few moments when dancing is not shown, will give you a good workout. That is only about 4 minutes long though, so you need to find some fast music that you can play continuously and move your body to it.

9. Take a 30-minute long intermediate-level class that involves aerobic training. This class can be ballroom dancing, belly dancing, stationary cycling, Zumba, aerobics, kickboxing, martial arts or any number of things. Choose something you think you might enjoy learning.

10. Jump side to side, starting by moving your right foot to the right and following it with your left foot until your left foot touches your right ankle and then doing the same towards your left. Do this for 5 minutes. Then jump, with your feet together, from side to side, for another 5 minutes. Go back to the first form of jumping for another 5 minutes and then do the side to side jumping with your feet together for another 5 minutes. This will work out your leg and hip muscles.

11. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and wiggle your hips very fast, not moving any other part of your body, keeping your stomach and back as straight as you can, for 6 minutes. Then move your body in a semi-circle from the waist up down to the right, moving fluidly down in front and then to your left. Do this six times. Then do this in the opposite direction, starting on your left and moving to your right, six times. Then hold your arms straight out to the side, shoulder-height, and make small circles with them, keeping the elbows straight, for 6 minutes. This works out a wide variety of your muscles.

12. Hula hoop for 10 minutes. If you don't have a hula hoop, mimic the action you would do if you were trying to keep a hula hoop from falling.

Advanced Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 32 times (that's up AND down counted as one time). This is a great way to get your heart rate up. Just remember to be careful; the last thing you need at this point is to slip and fall down a flight of stairs. And wear appropriate shoes.

2. Walk for 38 minutes at a fast pace and then jog for 7 minutes. Make sure you are wearing comfortable walking shoes. If the weather is not conducive to outdoor walking, go to your local mall or shopping center. You can also use a treadmill, if you have access to one. Take deep breaths as you walk, letting oxygen fill your lungs. 

3. Jog for 22 minutes. You can do this either by jogging in place at home, on a treadmill if you have access to one or by jogging outside for 20 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog.

4. Jump rope for 11 minutes, then do star jumps/jumping jacks for 11 minutes, then do another 11 minutes of jump rope and finish with 11 more minutes of star jumps/jumping jacks. Changing up the exercise helps to break the monotony of doing the same thing. The mind likes having the second-long breaks between doing one action and doing the next to look forward to. Make sure you are either wearing appropriate shoes or are on a padded surface (rug or mat) to prevent overly jarring your joints.

5. Use the elliptical crosstrainer for 32 minutes. You need to either vary your speed and incline or you need to stay at a mid-to-high range with both. Varying speed and rate of incline will give you the most effective workout. Don't forget to keep your arms working too. Elliptical crosstrainers give an overall body workout while keeping stress to your joints at a minimum.

6. Use the Wii Fit step exercise, the 5-minute session, five times, then do the 14-minute boxing session twice. This may seem like a very slow-moving work-out for the advanced level, but the key to these workouts is variation, so even though it seems slow, it should work-out a variety of different muscles.

7. Dance to fast music for 22 minutes. This works even better if you find a music video featuring dance moves that you can try and follow. Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" is one music video that, if you try and follow her dance moves, filling in your own movements for the few moments when dancing is not shown, will give you a good workout. That is only about 4 minutes long though, so you need to find some fast music that you can play continuously and move your body to it.

8. Take a 30-minute to 60-minute long advanced-level class that involves aerobic training. This class can be ballroom dancing, belly dancing, stationary cycling, Zumba, aerobics, kickboxing, martial arts or any number of things. Choose something you think you might enjoy learning.

9. Jump side to side, starting by moving your right foot to the right and following it with your left foot until your left foot touches your right ankle and then doing the same towards your left. Do this for 7 minutes. Then jump, with your feet together, from side to side, for another 7 minutes. Go back to the first form of jumping for another 7 minutes and then do the side to side jumping with your feet together for another 7 minutes. This will work out your leg and hip muscles.

10. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and wiggle your hips very fast, not moving any other part of your body, keeping your stomach and back as straight as you can, for 8 minutes. Then move your body in a semi-circle from the waist up down to the right, moving fluidly down in front and then to your left. Do this eight times. Then do this in the opposite direction, starting on your left and moving to your right, eight times. Then hold your arms straight out to the side, shoulder-height, and make small circles with them, keeping the elbows straight, for 8 minutes. This works out a wide variety of your muscles.

11. Hula hoop for 16 minutes. If you don't have a hula hoop, mimic the action you would do if you were trying to keep a hula hoop from falling.

12. Work out for 30 minutes to a Tae Bo exercise video. Tae Bo is a combination of tae kwon do and boxingTae Bo is effective in toning and defining the body as well as giving an excellent cardiovascular workout.

1 comment:

  1. I'm terrible at using a real hula hoop so I did 5 minutes on Wii Fit Hula Hoop, followed by 22 minutes fast dancing using the Just Sweat Pop Aerobics routine on Wii Just Dance (can you tell I love my Wii!)

    ReplyDelete

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