Get in Killer Shape with 200/100 Daily Challenge

After more than a year, I still love this workout I created last October 2013 because it's so damn simple you will do it every single day. Why does something simple mean you will do it every day? Because that is what you must do to complete this challenge and there's no excuse not to do something that only takes 10 minutes. Every.single.day. For 30 days. Here is the workout. Remember, it is a daily challenge.

Consistency trumps intensity or duration. Clearly duration and intensity are good, but if you set a goal for yourself that is too hard to attain daily, you won't do it consistently.  So here's my challenge to all the runners out there, again back for 2014:

200/100 Daily Challenge

Simple: Every single day you do 200 reps of core/abdominal work and 100 reps of upper body work, in addition to your regular running routine.  You can do reps of anything you like, that's where the magic lies. You can change it up every day or weekly. But you must do 200/100. We're counting on you.  I did the workout the past 2 days when I put in loooong workdays on my feet and just wanted to curl up in bed with a good movie.

For some of you, this is going to be really tough. If that's the case, ease into it with a 100/50 challenge. For those of you that it's really easy, be sure to slow down on each rep and feel free to add more reps, just don't add so much that you don't want to do it consistently. The beauty of it is that on a day when you don't want to do it, it only takes 10-15 minutes. On a day when you're digging it, add some extra.

Here are some ideas for what you can do in each category:

200s: Focus on your core strength
situps
bicycle legs (I do these as double tap elbow across to opposite knee, and switch)
crunches
plank (use 1 sec=1 rep)
kettle bell

100s: Focus on upper body
pushups
pullups
kettle bell
tricep dip
burpees

Also check out this awesome site: 22 Scientific Core Exercises for some new ideas. This website has hundreds of exercises for mountain athletes to build strength with links to videos/descriptions: Mountain Athlete Exercises.

IMPORTANT EXTRAS to add on if you can:

Plank 
2 minutes of plank (continuous). If that's too hard for you, you can give yourself a little break by temporarily going into downward dog. But try to keep doing it for 2 full minutes. 
I do 2 minutes of plank face down and 1 min on each side (side plank). 

Credit: 57 Physique

One legged Squats
10 one legged squats (on each side) or 20 reg squats if that's too hard. Tone it down if it hurts your knees. Keep your form!! To make it easier, start with fewer reps. If you cannot keep your form it's better to do as many as you can do with good form and slowly build up. 

Credit: Running with Jack

Do you have any exercises you particularly like? Share with us. 

Follow me on:

Facebook

Twitter

Youtube

Google+

Instagram