Who’s Ready For A June Challenge?

I can’t believe that May is almost over! I swear my birthday was just the other day but that was in the beginning of the month. Wow! 2013 needs to slow down just a little.

With the closing of May, comes the end of the May Challenge that I was doing with Jac from Nora & Jac. The challenge was all about squats and planks and we really held each other accountable all month. Of course as the end of the challenge approached, we began to wonder what we should do for June, so I came up with a challenge that will work our arms as well as our core strength. I’ve really become a fan of the these monthly progressive challenges and I think that doing another one will be perfect during June, which tends to be a crazy and hectic month for me. I like that they are quick yet effective workouts and that I can see results without devoting a ton of time.

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I tried to change things up a bit each day, so we wouldn’t get bored. Here are some tips if you are worried about the moves listed above.

• Push-ups can of course be done from your knees if you can’t do a full push-up yet, but really push yourself to reach the goal of doing full push-ups. Even if you can only do one or two before switching to your knees, it’ll help you improve and slowly work your way to doing more full reps.
• Chair Dips can be done in different ways too. Beginners can start with their knees bent to give added support. As your tricep strength increases, try putting your legs out straight in front of you so can get more resistance from your body weight. If that becomes easy, lift one leg or put your legs up on a chair too!
• Military Push-ups are done with your hands lined up directly under your shoulders. As you lower down into the push-up, your elbows stay back and tight to your body. These are still difficult for me, so don’t worry if you can’t go down very far. It’ll come with time!
• Wide Fly Push-ups are exactly what they sound like. You place your arms out in front of you in a wide push-up pose. These tend to be easier, at least for me.
• Mountain Climbers begin in the top of a push-up or full plank. You’ll then alternate pulling in your left and right foot…kinda like running in place. They are fabulous for building core and shoulder strength.

If you are unsure of the other moves listed her, please let me know and I’ll be happy to explain them or provide links to “how-to” videos.

I’m really looking forward to another month of teaming up with Jac and keeping each other accountable. I also just started DDP Yoga (I’ll talk about that soon in a separate post) and I hope to get back into running this month using the technique I posted about on my Facebook page last week.

So who else would like to join us for this challenge? We’d love to have you!