Here’s the workout challenge for the month of January. In this month, we focus on abs while working out at our own pace. The aim is to work out at our own pace and challenge ourselves to work harder than before and get better and fitter while doing it. It is important to stay motivated and charged up as you look to complete the challenge every day. Wherever needed, take a break and get back with new strength and energy. This workout challenge is a 30 minutes home workout routine which is designed to lose weight and gain strength at the same time.
Warm up
- We warm up for the workout with four different exercise movements (2 sets)
- First exercise : Jumping Jacks
- We carry out 100 jumping jacks
- These 100 jumping jacks are to be carried out without any break in between
- Second exercise : Jump Rope
- We carry out 150 jump ropes
- These are to be carried out without any break
- It doesn’t matter if you have a ropw with you or not, you can tap your hands on your thighs
- Third exercise : Toe Touch
- This is the third exercise
- We touch our toes and hold them for 30 seconds
- Fourth exercise : Cross Toe Touches
- We carry out cross toe touches with 20 count each side
- Two sets of these four warm up exercises are needed to be carried out to ensure that our body is adequately warmed up
Part 2 : Sequence Work Out
- This a sequence workout in which you carry out four sequences in one go
- The first of which is full plank
- While doing the full plank, ensure that weight is equally distributed on your hands or legs
- Keep your body parallel to the ground and avoid dropping your head while doing this exercise
- The full plank movement is followed by chaturanga pose or movement
- In this, you keep your feet slightly apart and your hands slightly more open then your shoulders
- Without touching your knees or things to the ground, go down and gently touch your shoulders and chin to the ground
- This movement is also known as the four limbed staff pose
- After the chaturanga pose, we do the next movement which is upward facing dog
- In this movement, we stretch our body upwards keeping our body weight equally distributed on our hands and legs
- Without touching your legs and thighs on the ground, stretch upwards
- Look up while doing this exercise
- If you’re a beginner, touch your legs and thighs on the ground to start with
- The last pose or movement in this sequence is the downward facing dog
- We keep out weight distributed on our legs and hands
- Take your head down below your shoulder level and lift your buttocks towards the sky
- Hold there for some time
- These four movements are to be repeated 5 times and 2 sets of these movements are to be carried out
Part 3 : Isometric Hold
- First exercise in this part is the elbow plank hold
- Get your body weight equally on your toes and elbows
- While keeping the elbows straight and parallel on the ground
- Make sure your body is parallel to the ground
- Engage your abs and core area fully and hold for 30 seconds to start with
- Gradually you can increase your time to upto 45 secs to 1 minutes
- After the elbow planks, next hold is the superman hold
- While lying on your stomach, raise your hands and legs at the same time
- Make sure that only your core area is touching the ground
- Hold for 30 – 40 seconds to begin with
- From here on, carry out two sets of exercises
- Next hold is the half squat or chair pose hold
- Sit like a chair for 30-40 seconds
- While doing this, ensure that your back is straight and buttocks are being pushed down towards the ground
- After the chair pose hold, next hold is the static lunges
- Bend your legs 90 degrees wjile balancing your weight on both the legs
- Keep your upper body straight and push down towards the ground
- Maintain balance at all times
- The next hold is the boat pose hold
- Sit down and lift your legs and upper body off the ground
- This will only leave your lower back portion touching the ground
- Try to keep your legs as straight as possible
- If you can’t hold your hands over your head, get them parallel to your legs
- The last hold is the glute bridge hold
- Lie down on the ground
- Keeping your feet firmly on the ground, lift your upper legs and back off the ground and hold
Part 4 : Stretches
- First exercise in this is the camel pose
- Stand on your knees with your toes facing the sky
- Gently bend your back backwards and place your hands on your lower back for support
- When you’re comfortable, bend down further and touch your feet with hands
- Hold for as long as you’re comfortable
- Next stretch is the knee forward bend
- Sit down with your legs completely on the ground
- Hold your legs with your hands and try to touch your haed to your knees
- Hold like that for as long as you’re comfortable
- Side one leg toe touch bend
- Sit with one leg straight and other leg bend inwards and resting against the thigh of the first leg
- Now, bend down with your head touching the knee and try to touch the opposite toe with your hand
- Do this on both the sides
Cooling Down
- After all these exercises, cool down with simple stretches
- Similarly, stretch your hands on either sides, stretch your neck and gently stretch your legs as well
- Take your time to cool down, as cooling down is as important as warm up