Maintaining consistency to exercise is a challenge for all of us. With so many competing distractions, not to mention the onset of cooler weather, even the most motivated fitness buff struggles at times to keep to a regular workout routine.

Fitness challenges can provide that extra motivation to keep us going. Having a specific challenge goal to zone in on provides the impetus to get up in the morning and start sweating. In this article we provide you with 3 great fitness challenges to help you achieve your fitness goals.

Fitness challenges are especially beneficial for people who exercise at home, providing the extra motivation to keep you on track.

The Family Fitness Challenge

Working out at home while juggling family life can be a real challenge. Often it comes down to working out or spending time with the family. So, why not combine the two with a family fitness challenge? Make it as fun as possible, providing challenges that are achievable for the age groups of the kids involved.

The key to a successful family fitness challenge is to get the whole family to buy into the process. Get everyone involved in the planning stage. You also need to hold each other accountable but in a supportive way.

Of course, no challenge is complete without a reward to keep you pushing on to completion. Decide whether you want to award 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes or whether it would be better to have a combined family reward once everyone completes the challenge. Depending on your budget, this could be a weekend holiday or a restaurant meal.

Our family fitness challenge is as simple as it gets. Every day for 30 days, challenge the family to spend 30 minutes every day doing something physical together outside.

Talk about how doing so will benefit everyone both physically and mentally. Sit down with the family and brainstorm ideas. Make sure that every family member can have a meaningful share in the activity.

Here are a week’s worth of ideas to get you started . . .

• A walk in the woods
• A pick up game of basketball
• Take a family bike ride
• Set up an obstacle course in your yard
• Go swimming
• Have a family push up challenge
• Organize a treasure hunt

To find more fun, engaging ways to get the entire family engaged in a fitness lifestyle, head over to 1AND1.

Ab Challenge

This 30 day ab challenge will have you working your core area for 12 minutes every day for 30 days. Combine this challenge with a daily caloric reduction of 250-500 calories and calorie burning workouts 3 times per week and you will get results with this challenge.

The challenge is designed for beginner and intermediate exercisers, who should go through the challenge routine twice. More advanced trainers can extend this to 3 rounds of the circuit.

The 30 Day Ab Challenge involves doing 6 exercises in a row for 1 minute per exercise. Do not rest between exercises. Keep a record of how many reps you do on each exercise, with the goal of increasing the reps without compromising your exercise form.

You can keep the challenge interesting by changing up the order of exercises in the challenge. Here’s are the six exercises that make up the circuit:

Crunches

Begin this exercise with your feet elevated and feet crossed over. Position your hands above your ears but not lasp them together. Keep your lower back on the ground and crunch up with should to contract the abs. Hold for a second before lowering.

Plank

Be sure to maintain a straight line from your head to your toes when doing the plank. Look directly ahead and tense your entire core for the entire 60 seconds.

V-Ups

Lie on your back with arms and legs outstretched. Pivot from the hips only as you come up into a V formation. Hold the top position for a second, lower and then repeat. Do not bend either your knees or arms during this exercise.

High Knees

Sprint up and down on the spot, bringing your knees up as high as you can.

Side Leg Lifts

Lie on your side, with your legs stacked on top of each other. With straight legs, lift the top leg as high as you can. Slowly lower and repeat. If you require extra resistance, you can put ankle weight on your lower legs.

Hand Walkouts

Get down on your hands and toes and then walk your way out to full extension without shifting your foot position. Now walk back to the start position. Continue until the full minute has expired.

Push Up Challenge

This 30 day push challenge is designed for people who struggle to do 5 push ups. By the end of the challenge, the goal is to do 40 push ups in a row. This is a classic micro proressive chal;enge where you slowly increase the reps by the day. Here is the 30 day progression . . .

Summary

Taking on fitness challenges periodically is a great way to invigorate your workout, keep you motivated and help you to overcome a fitness plateau. Choose one of the three challenges we’ve laid out in this article, set your start time and then go for it.