Fitness is easy. Just start working out when you’re in middle school, continue the rest of your life and constantly push yourself to still greater heights of fit greatness. Or you could do what a lot of people do, and just pass gym class to spend the rest of your life walking and exercising as little as humanly possible while you work a sit down job and drive everywhere beyond your yard. If you haven’t done much working out lately, there’s still a lot of hope. The following are a few fitness plans you can follow to go from wherever you are today to wherever you want to be tomorrow.
C25K
This is all about running, and a lot of people haven’t done much of that lately. If you’re part of the clique that hasn’t run since gym class, it’s okay. You can become the kind of runner you’ve always wanted to be by following the C25K program. It literally stands for Couch to 5K — that’s 3.1 miles. If you think you can’t go from being a couch potato who gets winded jogging to the car on a cold morning to being able to run a few miles a day without much trouble, all you need to do is give this program a chance.
Pushup Challenge
If you dropped right now, how many pushups could you do? There is strong evidence to suggest that the average person, properly motivated, can get to the level of doing 100 consecutive pushups within a fairly short time. A few months can change your body and your understanding of what’s really possible.
Armstrong Pullup Workout
Developed by Major Charles Armstrong of the USMC, the goal of this program is to work your way up to doing 20 or more consecutive pullups. After a few weeks of doing this program in earnest, your body will start to look better and your strength level will rise considerably. All you really need is time, a goal and the discipline to actually go through with it.
Situp Challenge
Situps aren’t the only kind of ab work that will help you flatten your stomach and improve your regularity, but they work very well. How many situps can you do consecutively? A lot of military situp challenges prescribe workouts that operate in tandem with pushup challenges to build your entire upper body. The bonus is that full situps also work your hip flexors, recruiting your lower body into the operation.
These are just a few incredible challenges that will help you to meet your goals. Give them a try (one at a time) and you’ll be amazed at how much improvement you can achieve!
About the Author: Rolando Vanbenthuyse is a personal trainer who works with people of all fitness levels, whether they want to learn how to get ripped fast or simply get into better shape. Take your time and work to your own level and you’ll be in great shape in no time flat!
