Fitness Challenge!

You’ve been patiently waiting and here is our first ever FITNESS CHALLENGE!

This is designed for all the lovely ladies who are not currently pregnant (sorry preggos) and are medically cleared to work out if you have had a child in the past year.  Guys are welcome to participate too!  Everyone who chooses to participate must be healthy enough to exercise.  By choosing to participate in this challenge you release L3 Fitness of any liability.  I just had to get that disclaimer out of the way, now onto to challenge:

You do not need any special equipment, you can do this at home or at work or wherever.  You can use a towel or yoga mat if you want, but this is optional.

Here’s the deal- we are going to do this for one week starting on Saturday.

30 push ups

30 second plank

30 squats

Do this before breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Yes, as in you do this 3 times every day- so at the end of the day you’ve done 90 push ups and squats and 90 seconds of plank.

I know right, that is IT.  All body weight exercises that contribute to full body toning.  If you are looking at this and thinking it sounds really hard just trust me- you can do this.  Go at your own pace and get it done.

If you are a little worried about being able to do 30 push ups in a row remember that you can break this into sets of 5 or 10 and take up to a thirty second rest in-between sets.

Let’s review proper form for each of these moves so you get the best bang for your buck.  Improper form can cause injury.

Push ups- take your pick from these three style of push up:

Traditional push up: Hands are under shoulders in a straight plank position.  Lower yourself to the ground with your elbows IN.  Your elbows should graze your rib cage   Hover above the ground for a second and then push yourself back up to plank position with a straight back.  This means you aren’t bending your spine and lifting your chest first and then your butt.

Open-handed push up:  Start just like a traditional push up but lower yourself all the way to the ground.  Your elbows should graze your rib cage on the way down.  Once on the ground push yourself back up to plank with a straight back.  If you think about lifting your butt first and then your chest you will hold the straight plank position coming up.

Knee push up: From plank position drop your knees to the floor.  Lower yourself down with your elbows grazing your rib cage, hover a couple inches off the ground and push back up.  Your back should be straight the entire time.

Regardless of which push up you do, be sure to keep your abs tight!

Plank- two options:

Full plank- hands are under shoulders and feet are about hip width apart.  Hold your abs tight, visualize pulling your belly button into your spine.  Don’t let your hips droop down!  You will notice this is the exact same position as the start of a traditional push up.

Elbow plank- if full plank isn’t going to happen try this modification.  Come up on your elbows, which should be under your shoulders.  Feet are still hip width apart.  Keep your spine straight and hold in those abs.

*If you are finding plank too challenging to hold for 30 seconds at a time: hold it for 10 seconds, drop your knees to the ground for for up to 5 seconds, and then lift back to plank.  This counts as 10 second, not 15 seconds, so do it again two more times to get your full 30 seconds.

Squats:

Squats are pretty straight forward.  Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, lower down until your legs are about 90 degrees (your knees should never go forward past your toes- don’t go down as low if they do), pause for about five seconds, and then come back up to standing, pushing through your heels on the way up.  You can raise your arms out above your head and slightly in front of you as you lower to counterbalance or you can hold onto a chair if you feel unstable.  Your chest should stay open the entire time- imagine you are wearing a shirt with a logo on the chest and you want everyone to see the logo the entire time you are squatting.  Looking at something high on the wall also helps you to maintain an open chest and good posture.

So that is it!  Comment below if you are accepting this challenge!   Ask questions in the comments, I’ll answer. 

We will start Saturday and do this every day for a week.