28 Day Fitness Challenge - Day One #28DayFit

Today is the first day of the 28 Day Fitness Challenge.

First, for legal reasons, I have to add this disclaimer: I am not a doctor, a registered fitness instructor or nutritionist. for any changes in activity, like the ones this challenge calls for, it is recommended that you check with your doctor first. (The only expertise I have is learned from my fitness efforts while losing 145.5 lbs of excess fat.)

My reasons for providing this challenge are simple. First of all, I want to provide a way for us all to avoid that February slump where people are known to start giving up on their healthy-living New year's resolutions. Second, I have been letting my own fitness slide lately and nothing motivates me more than a good challenge with daily goals to keep me on track. Hopefully, these daily goals will help you stick to your fitness goals too.

The reason the challenge runs for 28 days is because studies have shown that it takes four weeks for your body to show physical results from your fitness efforts. It also takes at least four weeks of repeating an action for that action to become a habit. (This number can actually very from between 18 days and 66 days, depending on which study you read, but 28 days is the most commonly referenced amount of time for forming a new habit.) also, I originally was going to begin this challenge on February 1st, so 28 days would have comprised the entire month of February.

Here's how the challenge works; there will be three categories of challenges: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Every day, each category will have three or more different choices for activity to begin on that day. At least four days of the week will list aerobic challenges and at least two days of the week will list anaerobic (weight or resistance-based) challenges.  I will try to vary the choices for people in a variety of different situations, from those who have no access to exercise equipment to those who go to a gym regularly.

If you are a beginner to some forms of exercise, such as swimming, but are skilled at other forms of exercise, such as running, which use completely different muscles, you may mix and match your choices between the different levels. Each consecutive day, the challenges will increase slightly in difficulty and, occasionally, a new challenge will be added to the choices.

Once the challenge is over, if you wish to continue on using the next level up of the challenge, you are free to do so as the challenges will remain here on the blog for you to reference.

Day One

Beginner Level

1. Go to bed an hour early. This might sound like it doesn't make any sense to you, but studies have shown that getting a decent amount of sleep can help with overall physical and emotional well-being. Most people do not get enough sleep, and lack of sleep can cause all sorts of problems, such as difficulty concentrating, weight gain, and an increased chance for heart disease along with other symptoms. So, in truth, if your goal is to become stronger and more physically fit, one of the best ways to begin is to make sure that you are getting enough sleep.

2. Run up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 10 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.

3. Walk for 30 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.

4. Jog for 10 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 ten consecutive minutes is too difficult for you, break it up and do two separate sessions of jogging for 5 minutes each.


Intermediate Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 25 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 45 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 20 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. You should be able to run about 2 miles within this time, if not more.

4. Jump rope for 20 minutes. If 20 minutes of jumping rope is too difficult for you to achieve all at once, you may break the session into two ten 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.


Advanced Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 40 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 90 minutes at a fast 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. If you find it difficult to fit in 90 minutes of walking into your schedule, break it down into two 45-minute sessions.

3. Jog for 45 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 45 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog. you should be able to run about 2 miles within this time, if not more.

4. Jump rope for 10 minutes, then do star jumps/jumping jacks for 10 minutes, then do another 10 minutes of jump rope and finish with 10 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.

Tweet