Now that you are familiar with all the benefits of training and types of training let’s dive straight into the challenge.
As you learned, exercise is a thing you should consider habitual – not something with a start and end date.
On average, forming a new habit takes about 3 weeks, which is precisely why this challenge is split into 3 weeks.
Each week has a training plan and takes your process one step further by adding complexity to your training.
Let’s have a look at week 1!
Week 1
| Exercise | Sets | Reps/duration | Rest Times |
| Rope Skipping | 1 | 5 minutes non-stop | – |
| Bodyweight Squats | 3 | 12 | 90 seconds |
| Push-Ups | 3 | Close to failure | 90 seconds |
| Dead hangs | 3 | Close to failure | 90 |
| Rope Skipping | 1 | 8 minutes non-stop | – |
During week one, we are focusing on a variety of movements, targeting the majority of the body.
To start off, we are doing 5 minutes of rope skipping to get the blood moving, and the body warmed up.
After that, we proceed to squats, push-ups, and dead hangs.
The squats will target the lower body, while push-ups and dead hangs will stimulate the chest, triceps, shoulders, and back.
To finish off the workout, we do another 8 minutes of rope skipping.
This is a simple yet effective full-body workout that you can do every other day for a total of 3 times per week.
Week 2
| Exercise | Sets | Reps/duration | Rest Times |
| Rope Skipping | 1 | 10 minutes non-stop | – |
| Bodyweight Squats | 4 | 15 | 60 seconds |
| Push-Ups | 5 | Close to failure | 90 seconds |
| Band-Assisted Pull-Ups | 3 | Close to failure | 90 seconds |
| Handstand Holds | 3 | Close to failure | 90 seconds |
| Rope Skipping | 1 | 10 minutes non-stop | – |
During week 2 of the challenge, we are taking the same exact workout, and we add one extra exercise, and a bit more complexity to it.
In this case, we realize the principle of ‘progressive overload’ by manipulating the training parameters.
For context, progressive overload is simply the notion of progressively increasing the stress placed upon the musculature.
This is essential for continued progress.
Here’s what’s different in week 2, compared to week 1:
- Rope skipping before the workout and after the workout increased by 7 minutes total
- The sets for bodyweight squats are increased by one, the total reps for each set are increased by 3, and the rest is reduced by 30 seconds
- The total sets for push-ups are increased by 2
- Dead hangs are replaced with band-assisted pull-ups
- New exercise added – handstand holds
By implementing these changes, you are giving the body a new stimulus, and in turn, you get more fun and effectiveness in your workout!
NOTE: The workouts are, again, done 2-3 times per week.
Week 3
| Exercise | Sets | Reps/duration | Rest Times |
| Rope Skipping | 1 | 10 minutes non-stop | – |
| Weighted Squats | 4 | 15 | 60 seconds |
| Push-Ups (explosive) | 2 | 10+ | 90 seconds |
| Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 8 | 90 |
| Assisted Pull-Ups | 4 | Close to failure | 90 seconds |
| Barbell Overhead Press | 3 | 8 | 90 seconds |
| Rope Skipping | 1 | 15 minutes non-stop | – |
During week 3, we take the movement patterns from previous weeks and further emphasize progressive overload, by implementing weighted exercises, as well as increasing duration, sets, and reps of some exercises.
Think of weeks 1 and 2 as preparation for week 3 when you are going all-out!
Here’s how the week 2 workout evolves in week 3:
- Bodyweight squats replaced with weighted squats
- Push-ups are done only as a warm-up/primer for the barbell bench press, which is a newly added exercise
- Assisted pull-ups increased to 4 sets
- Handstand holds replaced by barbell overhead press
- Rope skipping after the workout is increased in duration by 5 minutes.
This workout can be done again 2-3 times per week, and you should let the body rest at least 48 hours before you do the same workout.
A Note On Recovery
As you probably noticed, by week 3 you are quite deep into training, as each workout has taken the form of quite an intense training session.
The more intense your workouts become, the more you need to pay attention to recovery.
For this exact reason, you are best off granting sufficient time for recovery between each workout (48-76 hours) and eating plenty of nutritious foods.
Note however that days off of training don’t have to be completely inactive days.
In fact, finding some light activity like walking, jogging, stretching, or even hiking, can be wonderful for your recovery, as it gets the blood and nutrients moving through your system.
It is only through good recovery that you will be able to achieve lasting results and sustained performance in your training session.
To Wrap It Up
And so, are you in? The Love for Exercise Challenge starts now!
Get your friends, family, and co-workers together to see who can get the most active and who can perform best in these little workouts!
After all, a little competitiveness didn’t hurt anyone, right?
We hope you’ll join us on this challenge to improve your health and well-being.
Ready, set, go!