28 Day Fitness Challenge - Day Eight #28DayFit

Day Eight
(aerobic/cardio)

Beginner Level

1. Run up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 15 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 38 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 18 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 10 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog. If jogging for fifteen consecutive minutes is too difficult for you, break it up and do two separate sessions of jogging for 9 minutes each.

4. Jump rope for 16 minutes. If 16 minutes of jumping rope is too difficult for you to achieve all at once, you may break the session into two 8-minute sessions. 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 14 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 fourteen 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, two 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.

Intermediate Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 34 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 48 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 26 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 26 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog. You should be able to run more than 2 miles within this time.

4. Jump rope for 26 minutes. If 26 minutes of jumping rope is too difficult for you to achieve all at once, you may break the session into two 13-minute sessions. 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 18 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 18 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. If you are finding it too difficult to do 22 minutes without stopping, break the workout into two separate 11-minutes sessions.

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.

Advanced Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 47 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 68 minutes at a fast pace and then jog for 12 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. If you find it difficult to fit in 80 minutes of consecutive exercise into your schedule, break it down into two 34-minutes walking and 6-minutes jogging sessions.

3. Jog for 54 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 54 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog.

4. Jump rope for 13 minutes, then do star jumps/jumping jacks for 13 minutes, then do another 13 minutes of jump rope and finish with 13 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 64 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, seven 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 30 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.

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