It seems that these days there’s a new 30-day fitness challenge being posted online every other week. You’ve got squat challenges, the plank challenge, a pushup challenge, the 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge, and more. Some people may think fitness professionals would get annoyed with these things popping up, but that’s not really the case. A 30-day fitness challenge is a great way to supplement your regular routine. Most of them take only 10-20 minutes a day to complete, and they all get you to be a little more active than you would have been otherwise.
One of the reasons 30-day fitness challenges are successful, is that they follow the SMART principles. Meaning that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Here’s an example of them:
- Specific – I’m doing kettlebell swings
- Measurable – I’m doing 500 swings 20 times in a month to reach 10,000 swings.
- Achievable – By breaking down those swings into 5 rounds with sets of 10, 15, 25, and 50 reps I can do this.
- Relevant – I want to build my core, and kettlebell swings are a great way to do that.
- Time-bound – I want to reach 10,000 swings over a 30 day period.
Almost every single one of the 30 day challenges I’ve seen out there have 5 similar characteristics to them.
- They are able to be progressed/digressed. Meaning there are alternatives for people who want more or less out of them.
- The exercises tend to require little to no equipment.
- They are not too intrusive on a participant’s schedule. You can be done with it in 10-20 minutes.
- They are usually a fairly standard exercise, one that most any certified fitness professional can coach. If the exercise is done properly there is little chance of injury.
- They are something you can probably get your friends into. Make them social!
There is one caveat about most of these challenges though; Most of these challenges are not meant to replace your workout routine, only supplement it. Unless the routine for the 30-day fitness challenge requires 2-3 hours a week and involves a total body workout including core and flexibility exercises you should probably still be making it into the gym for your normal workouts. You may be a bit sore the first few days of the challenge in certain spots, but by the end you should be killing it in both the challenge and with your regular routine!
What 30-day challenges have you taken part in? Share some in the comments!