28 Day Fitness Challenge - Day Twelve #28DayFit

Day Twelve
(aerobic/cardio)

Beginner Level

1. Run up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 18 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 42 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 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 22 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog. If jogging for 22 consecutive minutes is too difficult for you, break it up and do two separate sessions of jogging for 11 minutes each.

4. Jump rope for 19 minutes. If 19 minutes of jumping rope is too difficult for you to achieve all at once, you may break the session into two 9 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 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 eighteen times.

6. Do 16 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 twice. 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 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.

Intermediate Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 38 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 55 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 29 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 29 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog. 

4. Jump rope for 29 minutes. If 29 minutes of jumping rope is too difficult for you to achieve all at once, you may break the session into two 14 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 22 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 22 times.

6. Do 26 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 26 minutes without stopping, break the workout into two separate 13-minutes sessions.

7. 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 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 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.

9. Take an 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.

Advanced Level

1. Run  up and down one flight of stairs (in your home, at work or at the mall) 49 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 64 minutes at a fast pace and then jog for 16 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 32-minute walking and 8-minute jogging sessions.

3. Jog for 58 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 58 minutes. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. Don't forget to stretch before and after you jog.

4. Jump rope for 15 minutes, then do star jumps/jumping jacks for 15 minutes, then do another 15 minutes of jump rope and finish with 15 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 68 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, eight 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 34 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 an 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 angle 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.

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