I was so excited to start this blog, but I'm having such a hard time keeping up with it!! I have a monthly challenge that I think will be great to do for the ENTIRE SUMMER.
HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER, by the way ;)
Time for the beach, vacations, pool parties, the lake.. whatever you do for fun in the summer most likely involves a bathing suit at one time or another. SO in addition to the workouts I've already posted (Your Best Booty and Your Best Arms: Superset).. I've got your Summer Challenge that will challenge your abs and tighten your core and will get you bikini body ready! (And maintained throughout the summer!)
I'm going to post Your Best Ab's in the next few days so this challenge can be incorporated into that workout! This is obviously best done in combination with more exercises, whether it be doing abs before your cardio or adding this to the end of you strength training workout. Either way.. once again.. you SHOULD NOT work the same muscles two days in a row. So for your Summer Challenge I've given you two fun options :)
1. Add 25 reps every other day to your ab exercise plan. So for example start today with 100 and then on Sunday you would do 125, Tuesday 150.. etc. See if you can go the whole summer adding 25 every other day! You will, without a doubt, strengthen your core.
2. Add 15 seconds to the clock each time you do a plank exercise. So for example, today you would start at a 1 minute plank, and on Sunday you would do it for 1 minute and 15 seconds. Add 15 seconds every other day for the rest of June, July, and August!
This challenge is great for a few reasons. First, this Summer Challenge follows the FITT principle which requires you to change Frequency, Intensity, Time, or Type in order to see changes. (Basically, if you did the same exercises every week without changing anything you would not see any results). So I've made it easy for you- you can do the same exercises whether it be from my Your Best Abs workout or your own favorite ab exercises and as long as you increase the reps or the time (for the plank) you are on your way to your summer bikini body! Another reason why I know this challenge is great is because it is fun!! Every other day you know you've got to challenge yourself a little more by adding more reps or time to the clock. It will be fun (and rewarding) for you to see the reps increase and you may even surprise yourself! Do this challenge with a friend or your spouse and see who can add more time or reps OR who can make it through the whole challenge! And I bet by the time your finished with the Summer Challenge you'll want to continue (1 because you have started a routine and 2 because you will see results).
Now that you understand the challenge and why it will be worth it.. how do you know how many reps to start with?! You can give yourself a mini fit test- on the first day do as many as ab exercises as you can (counting reps) or hold the plank for as long as you can. That will be your starting point, so if you could complete 4 different ab exercises at 20 reps.. that is where you will start (80 total) or if you held the plank for 30 seconds then you can add 15 seconds from that point on. A good rule of thumb is that the last few reps (of any exercise you are doing)... or seconds for the plank... should be very difficult to complete. You'll be close to muscle failure, which is what you want!! Breaking your muscles down is how you build them up, so build away your abs!
GOOD LUCK WITH THIS SUMMER CHALLENGE!
I'm excited to start it myself and I hope you are too!!
. Be happy and healthy,