BeWOW Six-Week Challenge: Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of the BeWOW Six-Week Challenge! We got a lot of great feedback on our first week’s challenge workout, so I hope you’re excited for what the next five weeks has in store. If you haven’t yet done the Week 1 Challenge Test, no worries! You can still catch up no problem; just do last week’s the challenge test today and proceed with this week’s workout challenge later this week.

As I said last week, each of the challenges for the next four weeks are meant to improve your stats for the inaugural challenge, which you’ll repeat on Week 6 to see how you’ve progressed. This week, we have a lot of super explosive moves: squat jumps, lunge jumps, ski jumps. Work on developing your power as an athlete; feel the strength of your body from head to toe, with the power moving up from your legs to the top of your head.

You’ll work in a descending ladder to get through the eight exercises below, starting with 10 reps of each, then nine reps, then eight, and so on. In between each set of reps, after you’ve worked down the full list of exercises, you’ll do a 30-second sprint (hello, cardio!), before starting over at the top. Try to get through the reps as fast as you can, while keeping good form. Remember, focus on power.

The rest of the week’s workout ideas and your nutrition challenge are below. As always feel free to share your progress with me and the rest of the Be Well Philly family. Leave a comment on this post, or share your results on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #BeWOWChallenge. Good luck, and three cheers for you for sticking with it so far!

BeWOW Six-Week Challenge: Week 2

The Rules:

Always start by warming up for a few minutes (light jog, elliptical, bike, etc.).

After you run an easy mile, you’ll move on to the ladder exercise. You are going to start by doing 10 reps of each exercise, followed by a 30-second sprint; then nine reps of each exercise and a 30-second sprint; then eight reps, sprint; seven reps, sprint; and so on until you complete one rep of each exercise and complete a final 30-second sprint. Stretch for at least five minutes at the end of the workout.

The Workout:

Run 1 mile

Reps ladder: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Squat jumps
Push-ups
Lunge jumps
Sit-ups
Dead lifts with dumbbells
Dips
Ski jumps
30-second sprint (on a bike, elliptical, treadmill or outside)

The More-or-Less Nutrition Challenge:

Eat LESS processed foods.

Now that you’re eating more veggies, try cutting out some of the processed foods in your diet. That includes things like deli meats and cheeses, pre-packaged snack foods, boxed meals, diet and regular soda, juice, and generally anything you would find down the center aisles of a regular supermarket. Stick to the outer ring of the supermarket for more fresh foods. Try having at least one meal a day that’s completely, 100-percent free of processed foods.

Your Homework for the Week:

Do at least 30 minutes of cardio three days this week
Do 1 more strength-training workout (here’s a suggestion!)
Try a new exercise class
Keep a food diary, tracking everything you eat and the portions. This will help you see where holes are in your diet, and areas of improvement.

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Audrey McKenna Hasse is the owner of A.M.Fit, a personal training and healthy consultation business on the Main Line. You’ll find her workouts every Monday right here on Be Well Philly.