28 Day Fitness Challenge - Day Five #28DayFit

Day Five
(aerobic/cardio)

Beginner Level

1. Run up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 14 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 37 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 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 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 8 minutes each.

4. Jump rope for 14 minutes. If 14 minutes of jumping rope is too difficult for you to achieve all at once, you may break the session into two 7-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 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 ten 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.


Intermediate 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. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes.

2. Walk for 47 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 25 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 25 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 25 minutes. If 25 minutes of jumping rope is too difficult for you to achieve all at once, you may break the session into two 12 1/2-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 17 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 17 times.

6. Do twenty 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 20 minutes without stopping, break the workout into two separate 10-minutes sessions.


Advanced Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 45 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 70 minutes at a fast pace and then jog for ten 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 35-minutes walking and 5-minutes jogging sessions.

3. Jog for 52 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 52 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog.

4. Jump rope for 12 minutes, then do star jumps/jumping jacks for 12 minutes, then do another 12 minutes of jump rope and finish with 12 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 62 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-minutes session, six 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.

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