If your New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight and maintain a healthy body (inside and out), you should consider a January fitness challenge. Not only will these challenges help you lose weight, but they’ll also make you more aware of the health decisions you make on a daily basis.
Here are eight 30 day fitness challenges that are perfect for January — pick one (or multiple) and start living your best life:
30 Day Walking Challenge
Walking is one of the best ways to exercise and guess what? You can walk whenever you want, wherever you want. You just have to make the time and put in the effort to do so. If you have a watch that monitors your steps, you should set a goal for how many steps you want to take every day (10,000 steps is a good place to start).
If you don’t want to count your steps, just make sure you’re walking whenever the opportunity presents itself.
30 Day Portion Control
What does it really mean to watch your portions? It means being conscious of how much food you’re piling on your plate. The easiest way to do this is to measure your food. That way, you’ll know just how many carbs, sugar, and calories you’re consuming. You could also use a smaller plate in an attempt to make your food portions look larger.
Watching your portions doesn’t mean you should skip meals. In fact, you should make sure you’re still eating three meals a day!
30 Days Of 10 Minute Abs
Working your core is key to a flat tummy and a great way to increase flexibility. And while planks and push-ups might look easy, they definitely aren’t. Thankfully, this challenge only requires you to work your core 10 minutes a day, for 30 days. Here it is:
- 1 minute of scissor abs (pause for 10 seconds after every 30 seconds)
- 30-second side plank to the left
- 30-second side plank to the right
- 3 sets of 10 warrior balances (should take you about 3 minutes)
- 1-minute leg lift (pause for 10 seconds after every 30 seconds)
- 1-minute bicycle crunches
- 1-minute superman (pause for 10 seconds after every 30 seconds)
- 2 sets of 10 plank ups (should take about 2 minutes)
30 Days Of Squatting It Like It’s Hot
Challenge! Squat like no ones watching. There are so many squat challenges out there so we’ll keep it simple for you — 100 squats a day for 30 days. It sounds harder than it really is but you’ll feel so much stronger once you’re done. And odds are, you’ll want to keep squatting. You can even bring weights into this challenge, for additional intensity.
30 Day Water Challenge
Spend January opting for water instead of juice, soda, or whatever your go-to drink is. Sound hard? It’s going to be difficult in the beginning, but the more water you force yourself to drink the better you’ll feel. Most drinks are packed with sugar, which adds calories to your day. Eliminate them and keep yourself hydrated by drinking water.
In order to successfully accomplish this goal, you’re going to want to have a water bottle with you pretty much 24/7.
30 Day New Daily Habit
Before the new year starts, make a list of 30 habits you want to incorporate every day. They can be as simple as taking a five minute walk one day or as elaborate as cutting dairy out of your diet.
It’s completely up to you. Just make sure these habits are healthy and plausible. Don’t set yourself up for failure, okay?
30 Day Yoga Challenge
A lot of fitness influencers offer their own 30-day yoga challenges, which can be a little expensive. And even if you find a cheap or free option, you might just want to practice by yourself and with yourself. We get that! You can definitely do a 30-day yoga challenge at home. As long you’re disciplined and have the moves, and space, you should be good.
Spend a few minutes a day working through some of the below yoga moves so you can heal your body and exercise at the same time.
- Downward-Facing Dog
- Bridge Pose
- Planks
- Cat-Cow Stretches
- Mountain Pose
- Low Lunges
- Mountain Pose
- Corpse Pose
30 Day Plank Challenge
Does the 30-day ab challenge sound a little too intense? Take a variation of that challenge. How? By focusing on one ab workout. For example, planks. Every day during the month of January set out a time to hold a plank for 1 minute.
If you’re new to the plank world, you can take a 10-second pause every 30 seconds so you don’t overextend yourself right off the bat. But the goal will be to complete one plank in one minute without any breaks or pauses.
Keep in mind, it’s up to you which challenge you’d like to go for! Some of these are more difficult and might not help you achieve your personal fitness goal. Keep your goals in mind and choose accordingly.