30 Day Fitness Challenge for Extreme Results

culled from:http://youqueen.com


by Steve Theunissen

It’s amazing how quickly a month goes by. What can you achieve in 30 days? When you apply yourself and get zoned into a structured, progressive workout program, you can achieve a whole lot in that short time.
Many of the 30 day workout programs that you can access online, however, are geared toward beginners. They just don’t offer the grunt that serious trainers need to challenge them maximally. That’s why we’ve put together the 30 Day Fitness Challenge that will give you the results you want.
This program will challenge you. However, it has been structured to allow you to progressively improve your strength and endurance as you go. So, get out that calendar, put a big ring around the date 30 days from today and get yourself in the zone to achieve something special over the next month.
You’ll note that some days repeat previous challenges. The difference is that you will be increasing your reps or time under tension.
As this program is not for beginners, we’re assuming that you know how to do most of the exercises.

Check out the 30 day fitness challenge overview before launching into day one

Day 1 Bodyweight Strength Challenge	Day 2 Climb the Mountain Challenge	Day 3 Speed & Agility Challenge	Day 4 Killer Quads Challenge	Day 5 Jump Circuit Challenge	Day 6 Upper Body Challenge
Day 7 Reducing circuit Challenge	Day 8 Plyo Circuit Challenge	Day 9 Ab 140 Challenge	Day 10 5 Mile Challenge	Day 11 Push-Up Challenge	Day 12 HIIT Burpee Challenge
Day 13 Armed & Dangerous Challenge	Day 14 Timed Circuit Challenge	Day 15 Cardio Recovery Challenge	Day 16 Modified 300 Challenge	Day 17 HIIT Knockout Challenge	Day 18 Cardio Power Challenge
Day 19 7.5 mile Challenge	Day 20 Ultra Push-Up Challenge	Day 21 Armed & Dangerous Challenge (Advanced)	Day 22 Timed Circuit Challenge (Advanced)	Day 23 Cardio Recovery Challenge (Advanced)	Day 24 Modified 300 Challenge (Advanced)
Day 25 HIIT Knockout Challenge (Advanced)	Day 26 Cardio Power Challenge (Advanced)	Day 27 10 Mile Run Challenge	Day 28 Plyo Circuit Challenge (Advanced)	Day 29 Ab 350 Challeng	Day 30 Personal Max Challenge

Day one: Bodyweight challenge

Today, we are going to start pushing your physical boundaries. Your challenge is to perform the following bodyweight workout:

• 20 push-ups
• 15 body weight squats
• 30 second plank
• 10 reverse dips
• 30 second wall sit

This workout will stimulate every muscle in your body. It will wake them up, get the blood coursing through them and prime your cells for the anabolic environment which is going to transform your physique over the next four weeks.

Day two: Climb the mountain

Source via weheartit.com

Today’s challenge is to successfully complete the climb the mountain workout. You’ll be alternating between mountain climbers and three other movements to get in a 15 minute sweat session that will have you doing 40 seconds of work and ten seconds of rest. You should be able to complete 3 rounds within 15 minutes. Here’s what you’ll be doing:

• Mountain climbers
• Rest 10 seconds
• Scissors
  From a standing position, jump your feet out as wide as possible. Now return to the starting position. Keeping control and your butt down, repeat as many times as you can in 40 seconds.
• Rest 10 seconds
• Mountain climbers
• Rest 10 seconds
• Tuck jumps
  From the same starting position, jump forward with both feet together. Your knees should come as far forward as possible. Return to the starting position.
• Rest 10 seconds
• Mountain climbers
• Rest 10 seconds
• Fork and knife jumps
  From the same starting position, with your feet together, jump toward the right hand. Return to the starting position and jump toward your left hand. This is different to tuck jumps because you are moving at an angle.
• Rest 10 seconds
• Mountain climbers

Day three: Speed and agility

Today’s challenge is to complete a speed and agility workout:

• Skipping – 1 minute
• Mountain climbers – 1 minute
• Plank – 1 minute
• Jumping jacks – 1 minute
• In and out ab progressions – 1 minute

Similar to mountain climbers, except you bring both feet up together so that your knees are up at chest level. You then kick your feet back.
Continue for 1 minute.
You will perform these exercises back-to-back with no rest. You’ll then get 30 seconds (no more) to rest (swig some water!).
That’s one set. You’re doing 4 sets for a great overall body workout.

Day four: Killer quads

Your challenge for today is to complete the killer quads workout. This workout is done as a circuit, where you do one exercise after the other without any rest. At the end of the circuit, you rest for 60 seconds before starting again. You will go through this circuit 4 times.
Here is your workout:

• Body weight squats – 1 minute
• Lunges – 1 minute
• Wall sit – 30 seconds
• Split squat – 30 seconds
• Jumping jacks – 30 seconds

Day five: Jump circuit

Today’s challenge is to complete the jump circuit. This workout will be structured around 8 intervals. Each interval will involve 40 seconds of exercise, followed by a 20 second rest period. Here are the exercises:

• Jumping jacks
• Jump squats – a deep squat with a jump at the top
• Reverse lunge with jump – step back to a lunge, then as you back up, jump up before repeating with the other leg
• High knees – jogging on the spot, driving your knees as high as they can go (move as quickly as you can)
• Split jumps – hopping back and forth in a jumping lunge motion without actually dropping into the lunge
• Repeater knees (right) – You are simulating a sprinting motion but with only one leg at a time so that you are driving your knee quickly forward and back. The other leg should be in a quarter squat position
• Repeater knees (left) – same thing, using the opposite leg
• Heel tap jumps – starting with feet shoulder width apart, quickly move your legs in and out as if you were doing jumping jacks. Because you are not involving your upper body, you will be able to move quicker than in a normal jumping jack.

Now rest for two minutes before going through the circuit again!

Day six: The upper body

Today, you’re going to complete the upper body challenge. Here’s what it involves:

• Ladder push-ups (standard): You will do a set of 5 push-ups, rest for 10 seconds, do a set of 6, rest for 10 seconds, then do a set of 7 reps. Now you come back down the ladder by resting for 10 seconds between sets of 6 and 5 reps. That’s a total of 29 push-ups.
• Reverse dips: Use the same rep system as you did in the exercise above to perform 29 reps of reverse dips.
• Decline push-up: Assume the same form as a regular push-up but with your feet elevated on a bench. Use the same system for 29 reps.

Now allow yourself a full 3 minutes rest before doing a final set of each exercise. This time you will do as many repetitions as you can on each one. Rest for 2 minutes between each exercise. Here are some targets to aim for:

Exercise	Men Target	Women Target
Push-up	40	20
Reverse dips	25	12
Decline push-up	20	10

Day seven: The reducing circuit

Today’s goal is to complete the reducing circuit challenge. Complete the following exercises with no rest between them. Rest for 2 minutes and then repeat the circuit. Go through the circuit 3 times today.

• Skipping – 1 minute
• Body weight squats 40 reps
• Box jumps – 15 reps
• Lunges – 15 reps
• Jumping jacks – 25 reps
• Split squat – 15 reps
• Push-ups – 10 reps
• Reverse dips – 10 reps
• Day eight: the plyo circuit

Today’s goal is to complete the plyo circuit challenge. Perform jumping jacks for 30 seconds, and then go directly to the skipping rope. Skip for 30 seconds at a comfortable pace.
You will go back and forth between these two movements, except that, on the second set of jumping jacks, after every 10 jacks, you will drop down into push-up position and then immediately return to jumping jack position. On the third set, you will drop down after every 8th Jack.
Rest for 2 minutes before going through this workout two more times.

Day nine: The ab 140 challenge

Source via www.pinterest.com

Today, you’ll complete the ab 140 challenge. Here’s what it involves:

• Reverse curl – 10 reps
• V crunches – 10 reps
  Lie on the floor on your back with your hands by your ears. Raise your upper and lower body at the same time to meet in the middle to form the letter “V”. Control your upper and lower body on the way down.
• Sit-up ball throw – 10 reps
  Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet close to your buttocks. Hold onto a basketball with both hands. Sit up with the ball and throw it to a partner in front of you. Catch the ball as they throw it back.
• Ab crunches – 10 reps
• Knee cross-over tucks – 30 reps
• Now, rest for exactly 1 minute, then go through the 5 exercises above again for a total of 140 reps!

Day ten: The 5 mile challenge

Today’s mission involves completing the 5 mile challenge. Running for five would have been akin to doing a marathon for you 10 days ago – you wouldn’t have had a chance. But now, you are ready. All of those grueling workouts, the plyo challenge, the speed and agility, those short but, oh so intense HIIT sessions, they have all brought you to this day.
Your goal is to run exactly five miles without a rest. You don’t have to sprint, just take a leisurely pace – but do not stop. Make sure that you stretch first and enjoy the journey. The reward will be in the accomplishment.

Day eleven: Push-ups

Source via weheartit.com

Today’s goal involves completing the push-up challenge. Your challenge will begin by performing as many repetitions of push-ups as you can. Keep going until you cannot do another full rep. Before you start, review the correct technique:
Set yourself on the ground, face down, with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Your feet should be touching. Keeping your body in a straight line, rise up so that your arms are fully extended. Tense your buttocks and tighten your abs to prevent your butt from lifting you into a ‘v’ position.
Look straight ahead rather than down. Now steadily lower yourself until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. When your chest touches the floor, explode back up to the start position.
Make sure that you don’t:
Allow your butt to rise
Drop your head
Only go down a few inches
Now, take your maximum push-up number and multiply it by 4. That is how many push-ups you will be doing. So, if you were able to do 20 push-ups, your total will be 80 push-ups.
You will accomplish your goal by going to your maximum on every set. You just keep adding reps cumulatively until you hit your target. Here’s an example:
Maximum push-up test total = 20
Challenge Total = 80
Set one = 17
Set two = 14
Set three = 11
Set four = 9
Set six = 8
Set seven = 6
Set eight = 5
Set nine = 4
Set ten = 3
Set eleven = 2
TOTAL = 80

Day twelve: HIIT burpee

Today, you should complete the HIIT burpee challenge. We combine the HIIT concept with a fantastic old-school plyometric full body exercise, burpees. You probably did these back in your school days. Here’s a recap:
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Crouch down and place your palms on the ground. With your arms supporting your body kick your legs back. Immediately draw your legs back then thrust yourself back up to the start position. That is one rep.
Now, here’s a recap of the HIIT protocol:

• Step one: Psych up for success: This is hard work. You need to be prepared to push beyond your comfort zone – and then keep going. Never slow down, always dig deeper and don’t leave anything in the tank.
• Step two: Get yourself in the start position. Make sure that you have a stop-watch or, even better, a partner with a stop-watch.
• Step three: Do a 2-minute jogging warm-up, focusing on exaggerated motions that allow you to move all of your joints.
• Step four: Begin your first set. Power into it at maximum intensity. Push through for a total of 20 seconds.
• Step five: Rest for exactly 20 seconds – take deep breaths and psych for your next sprint.
• Step six: Do your next set for another 20 seconds. Try to maintain the same intensity as during your first set. Push to the limit. Then recover for 20 seconds before repeating 5 more times.

You have now completed one cycle. Yes, that’s right. You are going to be doing 6 cycles of this burpee HIIT program.

Day thirteen: Armed and dangerous

Source via judy-fit-training.blogspot.com

Today’s mission involves completing the armed and dangerous challenge. The exercises:
Hand release push-ups
Start in the push-up position. Now lower your chest to the floor. Lift your hands off the ground while resting on your chest with your knees off the ground. Return your hands to the ground and press up. Extend your arms until fully locked out.
Half burpees
Start in a plank position with your arms straight and body parallel to the floor. Lift your legs up and thrust your hips forward so they land directly in front of you. Kick back to return to the starting position.
Reverse dips
Close grip push-ups
Exactly like a standard push-up, except that your hands are only six inches apart. This places maximum tension on your triceps.
You are going to super-set the first two exercises. This means that you will go from one to the other without rest. On the first set of hand release push-ups do 15 reps. Then immediately perform a set of 15 half burpees. Rest for 30 seconds and then do your second super-set, for a total of 60 reps for biceps.
Now you’re ready for the triceps portion of the challenge. You are going to do super-set close grip push-ups with reverse dips for a total of 60 reps. That means you’ll do 2 super-sets of 15 reps on each exercise. Again, rest for 30 seconds between each super-set.

Day fourteen: Timed circuit

Today you’ll complete the timed circuit challenge. This circuit will pit you against the clock. You’ll be performing 3 rounds of a six-exercise circuit as quickly as possible, ensuring that you are maintaining perfect form on every movement.
Here’s the circuit:

• 50 skips
• 50 push-ups
• 50 mountain climbers
• 50 body weight squats
• 50 lunges (25 each leg)
• 50 jumping jacks

If you know your math, you’ll have figured out that we are challenging you to do 900 repetitions in 18 minutes.

Day fifteen: Cardio recovery

This day is dedicated to completing the cardio recovery challenge. You’ll be doing a full body circuit of 5 exercises 5 times. After each set, you will rest for a shorter period before doing it all again. The exercises are:

• Suicides – 20 reps
  Place two markers 10 feet apart. Start at one marker, crouched down, with your hand touching the marking. Now sprint across to the other marker and touch it with your opposite hand. Keep going back and forth as quickly as you can until you have touched each marker 10 times.
• Jumping jacks – 20 reps
• Push-ups – 20 reps
• Skipping – 50 skips
• Lateral jumps – 15 reps

From a squatting position jump laterally as far as you can. Sprint back and repeat.
Now rest for 1 minute and then do set 2, rest for 45 seconds before doing set 3, rest for 30 seconds before doing set 4, rest for 15 seconds before doing set 5.
Congratulations, you are officially half way through your 30 day fitness challenge. Look back at what you have achieved already. You are stronger, fitter and leaner. And you have proven to yourself that you can do whatever you set your mind to.
Now is the time to get your second wind. From now on we ramp it up to take your results to the next level. So hunker down, get in the zone, and get ready to bring it!

Day sixteen: The modified 300

Source via weheartit.com

Now, we go on to complete the modified 300 workout. So, here it is:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 body weight squats
• 10 sit-ups
• 25 jumping jacks
• 25 box jumps (see below)
• 25 burpees
• 25 walking lunges
• 10 reverse dips
• 10 squats

Rest and repeat! Your goal is to complete two rounds of this circuit in less than 25 minutes.

Day seventeen: HIIT knockout

Today’s goal is to complete the HIIT knockout challenge. You’ll be doing 4 circuits of the following exercises:

• Jumping jacks
• Jump squats – a deep squat with a jump at the top
• Reverse lunge with jump – step back to a lunge, and as you back up, jump up before repeating with the other leg
• High knees – jogging on the spot, driving your knees as high as they can go (move as quickly as you can)
• Split jumps – hopping back and forth in a jumping lunge motion without actually dropping into the lunge
• Repeater knees (right) – you are simulating a sprinting motion but with only one leg at a time so that you are driving your knee quickly forward and back. The other leg should be in a quarter squat position
• Repeater knees (left) – same thing, using the opposite leg
• Heel tap jumps – starting with feet shoulder width apart, quickly move your legs in and out as if you were doing jumping jacks. Because you are not involving your upper body, you will be able to move more quickly than in a normal jumping jack.

Now you should rest for two minutes before going through the circuit again. To complete today’s challenge, you’ll be going through the circuit 4 times.

Day eighteen: Cardio power

We’ve come to the cardio power challenge. Here’s what it involves:

• Suicides (30 seconds)
• Body weight squats (30 seconds)
• Mountain climbers (30 seconds)
• Cross jacks (30 seconds)
  Stand with feet shoulder width apart and arms at your sides. Jump your feet wide apart and raise your arms overhead, crossing your wrists over. Now jump your feet back together, crossing your feet over and your arms crossing in front of you.
• Split squats (30 seconds)
• Standing long jumps (30 seconds)
  Jump off with both feet together as far as you can. Bend your knees before you jump and focus on going low to go far. Sprint back to the start position and repeat.
• Burpees (30 seconds)

You are to complete all of these movements with no rest between them. You then rest for exactly 5 minutes before doing the whole thing over again. Don’t think about it – just do it!

Day nineteen: 7.5 mile run

Source via weheartit.com

Today’s challenge involves completing a 7.5 mile run. Your goal is to run exactly five miles without a rest. You don’t have to sprint, just take a leisurely pace – but do not stop. Make sure that you stretch first and enjoy the journey.

Day twenty: Ultra-push-ups

Today’s training involves completing the ultra-push-up challenge. Just as in day eleven, you will perform your max number of push-ups. It should be about 20% higher than it was back then. Now multiply that figure by 5 and complete them in as few sets as possible.

Day twenty one: Armed and dangerous advanced

This day, you will be doing the armed and dangerous challenge (advanced). The exercises:

• Hand release push-ups
• Half burpees
• Reverse dips
• Close grip push-ups

You are going to super-set the first two exercises. This means that you will go from one to the other without rest. On the first set of hand release push-ups do 25 reps. Then immediately perform a set of 25 half burpees. Rest for 30 seconds and then do your second super-set, for a total of 100 reps for biceps.
Now you’re ready for the triceps portion of the challenge. You are going to super-set close grip push-ups with reverse dips for a total of a 100 reps. That means you’ll do 2 super-sets of 25 reps of each exercise. Rest for 30 seconds between each super-set.

Day twenty two: Timed circuit advanced

Today’s goal is to complete the timed circuit challenge (advanced). You’ll be performing 5 rounds of a six-exercise circuit as quickly as possible, ensuring that you are maintaining perfect form on every movement.
Here’s the circuit:

• 50 skips
• 50 push-ups
• 50 mountain climbers
• 50 body weight squats
• 50 lunges (25 each leg)
• 50 jumping jacks

Rest for 2 minutes and then repeat.

Day twenty three: Cardio recovery advanced

Source via www.tumblr.com

The time has come to complete the cardio recovery challenge (advanced). You’ll be doing a full body circuit of 5 exercises 8 times. After each set, you will rest for a shorter period before doing it all again. The exercises are:

• Suicides – 20 reps
• Jumping jacks – 20 reps
• Push-ups – 20 reps
• Skipping – 50 skips
• Lateral jumps – 15 reps

Rest for 1 minute then do set 2, rest for 45 seconds before doing set 3, rest 30 seconds before doing set 4, and rest 15 seconds before doing set 5.

Day twenty four: Modified 300 workout advanced

Here are the exercises you’ll be performing:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 body weight squats
• 10 sit-ups
• 25 jumping jacks
• 25 box jumps (see below)
• 25 burpees
• 25 walking lunges
• 10 reverse dips
• 10 squats

Rest and repeat. Your goal is to complete four rounds of this circuit in less than 25 minutes.

Day twenty five: HIIT knockout advanced

Today you’ll be doing 6 circuits of the following exercises:

• Jumping jacks
• Jump squats – a deep squat with a jump at the top
• Reverse lunge with jump – step back to a lunge, and as you back up, jump up before repeating with the other leg
• High knees – jogging on the spot, driving your knees as high as they can go (move as quickly as you can)
• Split jumps – hopping back and forth in a jumping lunge motion without actually dropping into the lunge
• Repeater knees (right) – you are simulating a sprinting motion but with only one leg at a time so that you are driving your knee quickly forward and back. The other leg should be in a quarter squat position
• Repeater knees (left) – same thing, using the opposite leg
• Heel tap jumps – starting with feet shoulder width apart, quickly move your legs in and out as if you were doing jumping jacks. Because you are not involving your upper body, you will be able to move more quickly than in a normal jumping jack.

Now rest for two minutes before going through the circuit again. To complete today’s challenge you’ll be going through the circuit 6 times.

Day twenty six: Cardio power advanced

Source via www.womenshealthmag.com

Today’s mission is to complete the cardio power challenge (advanced). Here’s what it involves:

• Suicides (30 seconds)
• Body weight squats (30 seconds)
• Mountain climbers (30 seconds)
• Cross jacks (30 seconds)
• Split squats (30 seconds)
• Standing long jumps (30 seconds)
• Burpees (30 seconds)

You are to complete all of these movements with no rest between them. You then rest for exactly 5 minutes before doing the whole thing again, and then you do it two more times – that’s four sets in total!

Day twenty seven: 10 mile run

Your goal is to run exactly ten miles without a rest. You don’t have to sprint, just take a leisurely pace – but do not stop. Make sure that you stretch first and enjoy the journey.

Day twenty eight: Plyo circuit advanced

Perform jumping jacks for 45 seconds, then go directly to the skipping rope. Skip for 45 seconds at a comfortable pace. You will go back and forth between these two movements, except that on the second set of jumping jacks, after every 10 jacks, you will drop down into push-up position and then immediately return to jumping jack position. On the third set, you will drop down after every 8th jack.
Rest for 2 minutes before going through this workout four more times.

Day twenty nine: The ab 350 challenge

Here’s what it involves:

• Reverse curl – 10 reps
• V crunches – 10 reps
• Sit-up ball throw – 10 reps
• Ab crunches – 10 reps
• Knee cross-over tucks – 30 reps

Now, rest for exactly 1 minute, then go through the above 5 exercises again and again for a total of 350 reps!

Day thirty: The personal max

You are to perform the following 4 movements:

• Push-ups
• Plank
• Jumping jacks
• Body weight squats

How to succeed at the final challenge:

Starting with push-ups, perform as many strict reps as you possibly can. Have another person standing by, who knows what to look for, and have them record strict repetitions.
Rest for 3 minutes before pushing yourself through the next movement. Remember, this is your final challenge. You must give everything you have to these movements. Keep going until you physically can’t do any more (you literally collapse half-way through a repetition).
Thanks for sharing the last 30 days of your life with me. I have been inspired by what you have been able to achieve. I believe that this last 30 days has also shown the limitless potential that lies within you. No matter what area of your life you wish to succeed in, you have the power to bring it.