Full Body
Now that you have completed the pushup challenge, the next step is the lower body. This means its time to do some squats. To some, the word squat brings the image of a giant body builder holding a few hundred pounds of weights on their shoulders as every vein in their body busts out of their head and the set a new world record. Our goal is not to be that guy, but rather to simply increase our overall fitness and tone our legs and thighs.
Body Weight
I am a huge fan of body weight exercises. For most people, their goal is not to build large amounts of muscle. They simply want to get into good shape and slim down. These simple exercises will help you do that. Later on I will discuss how to modify these exercises to start building muscle.
Week 1
Day One (60 Second Breaks): 5 Squats, 6 Squats, 7 Squats, 6 Squats, Max Squats
Day Two (90 Second Breaks): 6 Squats, 8 Squats, 9 Squats, 8 Squats, Max Squats
Day Three (120 Second Breaks): 8 Squats, 10 Squats, 12 Squats, 10 Squats, Max Squats
Week 2
Day One (60 Second Breaks): 10 Squats, 12 Squats, 15 Squats, 12 Squats, Max Squats
Day Two (90 Second Breaks): 12 Squats, 15 Squats, 16 Squats, 14 Squats, Max Squats
Day Three (120 Second Breaks): 15 Squats, 17 Squats, 20 Squats, 16 Squats, Max Squats
Week 3
Day One (60 Second Breaks): 15 Squats, 17 Squats, 20 Squats, 17 Squats, Max Squats
Day Two (90 Second Breaks): 20 Squats, 22 Squats, 24 Squats, 24 Squats, Max Squats
Day Three (120 Second Breaks): 25 Squats, 27 Squats, 30 Squats, 28 Squats, Max Squats
Week 4
Day One (60 Second Breaks): 30 Squats, 32 Squats, 35 Squats, 34 Squats, Max Squats
Day Two (90 Second Breaks): 34 Squats, 36 Squats, 38 Squats, 36 Squats, Max Squats
Day Three (120 Second Breaks): 35 Squats, 37 Squats, 40 Squats, 38 Squats, Max Squats
Week 5
Day One (60 Second Breaks): 38 Squats, 40 Squats, 43 Squats, 41 Squats, Max Squats
Day Two (90 Second Breaks): 40 Squats, 43 Squats, 46 Squats, 45 Squats, Max Squats
Day Three (120 Second Breaks): 45 Squats, 48 Squats, 50 Squats, 49 Squats, Max Squats
Week 6
Day One (60 Second Breaks): 50 Squats, 53 Squats, 57 Squats, 55 Squats, Max Squats
Day Two (90 Second Breaks): 55 Squats, 58 Squats, 60 Squats, 58 Squats, Max Squats
Day Three (120 Second Breaks): 58 Squats, 61 Squats, 64 Squats, 62 Squats, Max Squats
Form
Ensure that when you are doing Squats:
You knees go to a 90 degree bend.
Your back is straight.
Your butt is down.
You are bending your knees over your feet.
You are drinking plenty of water.
Take the Challenge
Already tone the upper body? Start the squat challenge now and tone the lower half as well. Be sure to tell us how you are doing!
Hmm… I have been able to do the reps for the last day. Apparently, even though i do not exercise regularly (I do not train any martial arts), venturing on a few tower (churches, castles) during holidays and having my 3 year old son ask somewhere in the middle to carry him further (he’s about 19kg – over 40 # if i calculate correctly), was enough of conditioning for this challenge
Assuming you are talking about week 6, these exercises will be much more doable for some people than others. Increase the reps by 20% and reduce the break between sets until the challenge becomes more challenging. This was designed to help people get into better shape – not create the next ultimate fighter. Please let me know at what point (after increasing the reps) that you found it challenging. All the best.
OK, following your advice i tried it today with 70,73,77,74, Max, 60 breaks. This one was more difficult, in the last round i managed to do only 76, and then i was exhausted
So i think next week i’ll try
72, 77, 82, 79, max 60s breaks
79, 84, 86, 84, max 90s
84, 88, 92, 89, max 120s
I was thinking, that maybe i could make my legs strong enough so that i could do squats as cardio – today it lasted almost 15 minutes. What do you think about this idea?
Cardio[vascular] exercises are designed to work the heart. It is unlikely that you will be able to raise your heart rate to 60-80% of your max heart rate while doing squats, but if you can – then yes – it would be cardio. Burpees are an exercise that may help with getting the heart rate up and making it a more cardio exercise.