Before we begin, please do these challenges with caution. If you are someone who has health problems or is coming back from an injury. I do advise to try these challenges at your own risk. If you feel any pain or discomfort in your chest, neck, jaw or arms at rest or during physical activity; dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting with exercise or exertion; shortness of breath with mild exertion, at rest, or when lying down or going to bed, please consult with your doctor right away.
Chris Heria (THENX)
This is Chris Heria and he is part of a YouTube channel called THENX. The channel has a wide variety of home workouts that focus a lot on calisthenics and High Interval Intensity Training (HIIT). The difficulty of his videos range from beginner level to elite level depending on how much work you put in. I was amazed when I first started looking into calisthenics because the amount of strength and power that these athletes can generate with their bodies look humanly impossible. A lot of people nowadays don’t have access to gyms and equipment which makes it seem a lot harder to get into an active lifestyle, but really all we need is our bodies and a strong mindset. The human body is complex and capable of accomplishing many feats that would amaze you. This first video is a simple HIIT workout that anyone can do from home and the best part is all you need is 10 minutes of your time! Time is important to a majority of people and it always becomes an excuse when it comes to fitness. I myself have used the excuse “I don’t have enough time for that” quite a lot. In reality, any amount of time you spend working out will be beneficial to you and it all depends on how much work you put in. By doing 10 minutes of work everyday, you’ll eventually see result. It may not be crazy progress, but it is still a difference.
Here are some other videos by THENX that I think you’ll enjoy
This lower body workout is great for improving strength, balance, and core stability. In this video he uses a lot of side movements and elevations using the lower body. My lower body is my strongest muscle group and so I was able to keep up with the exercises, but I noticed that my core stability was lacking. The video is a great workout for beginners who are trying to find new exercises for their lower body. The movements are easy enough to follow, just make sure to have enough space to do the movements properly.
This chest workout will for sure challenge you! I would recommend this challenge for intermediate to advanced level. This video consists of multiple exercises that will challenge the strength and endurance of your chest. The longest I have gone doing the circuit was 2x in a row. This is probably the most challenging chest workout that I have ever done.
Resistance bands are an inexpensive and effective gym equipment that are easily adaptable for any muscle group. This video shows you different exercises that you can do with a resistance band. In my opinion, resistance bands are great for anywhere you go, they are portable and they come in different sizes. This can be a new challenge for all skill levels because resistance bands can add something to your exercises.
Maddie Lymburner (MadFit)
This is Maddie Lymburner from the YouTube channel MadFit. Her channel is a fun mix of home workouts, dancing, yoga, and stretching. I came across her channel when I was looking for dance workout inspirations and I was amazed by her content. I have always liked Zumba and the idea of mixing exercising with dancing. When you’re dancing, it never truly feels like your working out and so it is a lot easier to get into. Her channel is available to all skill levels and she is pretty good at giving instructions as you follow along. In this video, she goes through 2 rounds of an exercise circuit that tackles the full body. I would recommend this for people who are intermediate, but if you are a beginner looking for a challenge, I suggest you try this as well. In the video, she provides movement variations to make it simple and easy to follow. The best part is that you don’t need any equipment for this video. All you need is space to do it and maybe some water because after two rounds of this, I was sweating.
Here are some videos by MadFit that I think you’ll enjoy
I’m a big fan of early 2000’s music, which made this workout fun and easy to do. The music just transformed this workout into nothing but a dance party. The moves were simple and easy to follow. I would say that the hardest thing for people to do would be staying on beat if your sense of rhythm is not the best. I would recommend it to someone of any skill level who wants to have fun and get some exercise into their day.
Taking time to recover, relax, and stretch is important whenever you start a fitness program. This video covers all of that and is a great way for you to get your stretching in. A lot of people forget to stretch before or after a workout but stretching is important to make sure that our muscles stay flexible, strong and healthy. I felt relaxed and I definitely got a good stretch in during this video. I recommend this to all skill levels, if you’re a beginner like me when it comes to flexibility, don’t worry too much about it and just try your best!
This is a HIIT workout for those who are short on time, but want to burn as much calories as they can with what time they have. You will need some dumbbells for this exercise, the heavier your dumbbells, the harder the workout will be. This HIIT training is suitable for all skill levels. After doing one round of this, my heart rate was high and I was sweating for sure. I definitely need to do more cardio! The moves are simple and easy, but the weight of the dumbbells add something different to the exercises.
Shaun T (INSANITY)
This is Shaun T’s INSANITY workout program, for those of you who don’t know, this was the program I talked about in the “My Fitness Journey” post. I managed to find a bunch of the workouts on Dailymotion but some of them don’t work as well. If you search up the title of the video however, your chances of finding the full video online is high. INSANITY definitely lives up to its name for being insane. I always had to push myself and be better after every workout. In my opinion, this was probably the hardest workout and best HIIT training that I have ever done. If you follow it correctly and push yourself to your limits, you will get all the benefits out of these workouts. The skill level for this is actually for any level, I was a complete beginner when I tried it, but I went at my own pace rather than try to match theirs. After a while, I was able to keep up with the people in the videos and sometimes I would do even better than them. I recommend starting with the fitness test video above, it lets you get used to some of the movements and you can see where your fitness levels are at. Make sure to have enough space to do the exercises and I would recommend two bottles of water, depending on how much effort you want to put in. Also, be aware that these workouts range from 30 minutes to 1 and a half hours, so please be prepared when you try these.
Here are some other videos of Shaun T’s INSANITY
Plyometric Cardio Circuit is the first full workout that you do after the fitness test. The layout of the video is warm up first, then stretch, then first circuit, second circuit, and a cool down at the end. My advice for you if this is your first time is to breathe. I remember my first time left me gasping for air after the warm up. Make sure to pace yourself throughout the workout, and again, don’t forget to breathe! Take a break when you need to, but otherwise work hard and stay strong!
Do not let the title deceive you, Cardio Recovery was supposed to be my friend but it ended up being an enemy in the beginning. After a while, I was grateful for Cardio Recovery because it was probably the easiest one to do out of all the workouts. The only reason I said it was an enemy was because Cardio Recovery is always usually in the middle of the week and it is supposed to be like a “break” for the intense exercises. Little did I know, it was actually a muscle burner and it made my legs feel like jello. If I had to compare it to anything, I would say it feels like intense yoga that will test your balance, core, flexibility, and endurance.
Max Cardio Conditioning is part of the program’s 2nd month workouts and it kicked my butt every time that I did it. Most of the other exercises follow the same pattern of warm up, stretch, first circuit, second circuit, and then cool down. You get rest typically between each one, which is something that you always look forward to while doing INSANITY. Max Cardio Conditioning is a little different. It goes from warm up, stretch, and then goes through more than 10 exercises back to back with no rest. At first it seems frightening, but eventually you get used to it and you actually start to compete with yourself. My advice for this is to pace yourself, breathe, and bring 3 bottles of water this time đ
Usonfitness 