To get fit you need to keep increasing the amount and the intensity of the exercise you do. This applies to all forms of exercise = from weight lifting to long distance running.
Don’t Run Before You Can Walk
The almost universal expression, Don’t Run Before You Can Walk, can easily be applied to fitness and weight loss. You have to build up your skills, strength and endurance over time before you can sprint like Usain Bolt or cruise 10,000 metres like Mo Farah. So, how can we apply this simple rule to getting fitter and stronger at home?
Our One Month Challenge
To take park in our challenge you simply need to perform the following short exercise routine. On day 1 you perform 5 of each exercise. On day 2, you do 6 exercises. And so on, until you reach the last day of the month, when you will do 32 on February 28th, or 35 in any month with 31 days.
- Bodyweight Squats
- Alternating Lunges*
- Cruches
- Push Ups**
- Bench / Chair Dips
- Bodyweight Squats
* always round up to an even number so you work both legs equally
** if you cannot do a full push up rest on your knees instead. Still complete the full movement, of straight arms then down so your chest touches the floor, then return up again.
So, on the first day of the month you will perform a total of 31 exercises (remember an extra lunge). You should find this very easy. If you wish to do more, go for a run or get skipping – but remember, you will be doing it again every day for the rest of the month!
On the final day of a 31 day month you will perform 211 exercises, i.e. 35 squats, 36 lunges, 35 V-crunches, 35 push ups, 35 dips and 35 more squats.
You do not have to complete all exercises without stopping, by all means perform 10 of each exercise before taking a 30 second breather if need be. But do complete them all.
What you do on the first day of the following month is entirely up to you. If you complete the Just 1 More Each Day challenge then you will certainly be fitter and stronger. You could carry on adding more exercises every day or start varied circuit training workouts.
One of the advantages of this type of introduction to exercise is that you start with a very short workout which does not take up much of your time, and by the time you reach the end of the month you have got so used to fitting a daily workout into your schedule that you hardly notice the time it takes to complete.
The real key to getting fit and losing weight is to simply keep increasing the amount of exercise that you do each day and never stop.