How fit are you?
Data from Gov UK suggests that just over 60% of people in England aged 16 and over are physically active i.e. they do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week. Examples of this kind of activity include:
Examples of moderate intensity activities include:
But perhaps you do the above kinds of physical activity but want to start doing more to get fitter still. Or maybe you are one of the almost 40% of people who are not achieving 150 minutes of exercise a week and you know that needs to change.
If either of the above describes your current situation, what can you do about it?
One helpful solution is to sign up for a fixed term fitness challenge. Something that you can commit to for just a short period of time and that will help you get into a new routine of exercising.
Evidence suggests that it can take anywhere between 18 and 254 days for a person to establish a new habit, and around 59 days for it to become automatic. So ideally when taking on a fitness challenge, you should aim to do it for a couple of months. However, that can be very off putting if you have a busy life, so why not get started by trying just a 30-day fitness challenge and take things from there?
For your challenge to be successful, you need to find a fitness activity that you will enjoy and are more likely to stick to. So here are five ideas for a 30-day fitness challenge. See if any of them suit you?
This kind of challenge is one of the most popular and effective challenges around. At its simplest, you simply choose a distance that you plan to cover during your month, and then log your progress against that distance. You might choose to walk, run, swim, cycle or a combination of all the above. There are various apps that can help you to do this, such as Race at Your Pace.
If you want to throw in a bit of added interest, look for virtual challenges where you can not only log your distance but also participate in a virtual journey either on your own or with others. For example, The Conqueror Virtual Challenges has challenges ranging from 20 to 2485 miles over different parts of the world, which you can do over a period of your choice of up to 18 months.
Then of course, there are many monthly distance challenges organised by charities. So, if you are happy to go public on your challenge and raise a bit of money for your favourite charity at the same time then why not give that a go? Check out charity websites and social media to find out details of upcoming challenges so that you can decide on the best one for you.
For raising your general fitness, a 30-day workout challenge is hard to beat. And the good thing is that there are so many different ones out there that you are bound to find one that is perfect for your current level of fitness and also the time you are prepared to put into it.
If you can only spare a few minutes a day, check out the range of seven minute workouts from Lucy Wyndham Read. Just seven minutes a day done consistently for a month can make a huge difference. Joe Wicks also has various free fitness videos on his Youtube channel plus an excellent 28 day beginner fitness challenge available on subscription via The Body Coach App.
Another 30 day workout challenge that includes affirmations for the mind is MrandMrsMuscle’s 30-Day Mindset and Movement challenge. This challenge aims to improve your physical fitness and also boost your motivation and confidence in under 20 minutes per day.
If you are already reasonably fit and want to use your 30-day challenge to move things up a gear, then why not consider a 30-day HIIT challenge? HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT is claimed to provide the same health benefits as regular exercise but in less time, because it helps to increase calorie burn and reduce body fat, heart rate, and blood pressure.
The idea of HIIT is that you combine short bursts of intense exercise with low intensity recovery periods, usually for a period of between 10–30 minutes. Examples of potential HIIT activities include running, cycling, and skipping. All you need to do is experiment with different lengths of exercise and recovery to see what works best for you.
For further guidance, check out YouTube resources such as Lilly Sabri’s 30-day Fitness Challenge or Anna Engelschall’s Growingannanas’ 28-Day HIIT It Hard Challenge.
If it’s your core strength rather than overall fitness that needs a bit of attention, why not select a challenge to target that specifically. Two examples are a squat challenge or a plank challenge:
Squats are an effective way to improve your lower body strength. A 30-day squat challenge will generally build up both the amount and complexity of the squats as you go through the challenge. There are many squat challenges around, including one at Shape.com.
Planking is an excellent exercise to build your core strength, and can be done almost anywhere and everywhere. 30-day plank challenges normally begin with short planks of less than 30 seconds and build up in length throughout the challenge. There are also different types of planks for you to try. Check out sites such as Healthline.com for further information.
And if you don’t want to do any kind of intense fitness workout, but still want a challenge that will really benefit both your body and mind, then why not consider a 30-day yoga challenge. Yoga can be extremely effective at improving your flexibility and reducing stress.
Take a look at a 30-day programme called MOVE, featured on Yoga With Adriene’s 30-Day Yoga Journey. Daily workouts vary from 12 to 32 minutes and the exercises vary to make them suitable for both beginners and more experienced participants.
We hope that the above information helps you to decide on what kind of 30-day fitness challenge might be best for you this spring. And if at any stage you need a financial boost to get kitted out, remember that Munzee Loans offer online loans that may be able to help.
Check back here soon for more lifestyle and financial tips from Munzee Loans.
Starting a new job? Five tips to make it work for your finances