The Men's Health 30-Day Workout Challenge

Men's Health; Jason Speakman/MH Illustration6 min readSOMETIMES, THE MOST challenging part of working out is knowing what to do.You might not have a definite goal in mind other than that you want to get moving, or that you want to look different by the time the summer season rolls around. That's okay. Not everyone is wired to constantly aspire to build muscle or run fast, following a detailed program designed to elicit peak performance and radical transformation. Just wanting to get active to live a healthier life is a worthy goal, especially if you're taking your first steps to make fitness part of your daily routine or recommitting to exercise after a break. But you have to be ready to commit to your new routine for it to be effective.That's what the Men's Health 30-Day Workout Challenge is all about: doing something every day. Rather than limiting the focus to just one specific body part, muscle group, or type of exercise, as we have with our previous challenges, we're more interested in establishing healthy habits and introducing you to common exercise protocols that will be useful for the rest of your fitness life. Beginners can take the challenge and hold their own, while fitness pros can still push themselves to work to their full potential using these routines.The plan is simple. You'll take on a new workout routine every day—but there will be some consistencies so you won't be constantly thrown into the deep end if you don't have a ton of experience. All of the workouts will be comprised out of a pool of just 11 exercises, which you can see demonstrated below by the program's architect, Men's Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.Each week of the program will be focused on a different workout scheme, so you can get the swing of the structure and get comfortable within each protocol. The calendar will also be structured in a manner that allows you to flex all of your muscles, both figuratively and literally; Day 1 of each week will be focused on Mobility and Core, Day 2 is Upper Push/Pull, Day 3 is Lower body, Day 4 is a Mobility focus, Day 5 is Upper Push/Pull, Day 6 is an Upper/Lower/Core split, and Day 7 is all Core.All you have to do is buy in. By Day 30 (or the bonus Day 31, if you're game), at the very least you'll have completed this challenge. If you put in max effort, you'll also be moving better, feeling fitter, and looking different than you did on Day 1.The Men's Health 30-Day Workout Challenge ExercisesMOBILITY▼ Spiderman Lunge to T-Spine▼ Squat to T-Spine▼ Glute Bridge Reach AlternatingUPPER▼ Pushup▼ Close-Grip Pushup▼ Bent-Over T RaiseLOWER▼ Paused Squat▼ Glute Bridge Single-LegCORE/CONDITIONING▼ Hollow Rock▼ Plank Shoulder-Tap▼ Mountain Climber.Week 1: IntervalsFor each interval workout, work for 40 seconds, then take 20 seconds off unless otherwise stated. Repeat for 2 rounds. The goal: Work for quality reps for each move. Day 1 • Minute 1: Spiderman Lunge to T-Spine• Minute 2: Hollow Rock• Minute 3: Plank Shoulder Tap• Minute 4: Mountain ClimberDay 2 • Minute 1: Glute Bridge Reach• Minute 2: Bent-Over T• Minute 3: Pushup• Minute 4: Bent-Over TDay 3• Minute 1: Squat To T-Spine• Minute 2: Paused Squat• Minute 3: Glute Bridge Right• Minute 4: Glute Bridge LeftDay 4 60 seconds on, no rest• Minute 1: Squat to Reach• Minute 2: Glute Bridge Reach• Minute 3: Spiderman to T-SpineDay 5 50 seconds on, 10 seconds off• Minute 1: Spiderman to T-Spine• Minute 2: Bent-Over T• Minute 3: Close-Grip Pushup• Minute 4: Bent-Over TDay 6 30-second intervals, no rest• 1: Squat to T-Spine• 2: Glute bridge Reach• 3: Paused Squat• 4: Mountain Climber• 5: Bent-Over T• 6: Mountain Climber• 7: Pushup• 8: Mountain Climber• 9: Spiderman to T-Spine• 10: Mountain ClimberDay 7 Work for 40:20 first time through, then 50:10• Minute 1: Glute Bridge Reach• Minute 2: Hollow Rock• Minute 3: Shoulder Tap• Minute 4: Mountain ClimberWeek 2: AMRAPYou know the exercises you’re working with. Now things get fun. This week, we introduce you to AMRAPS, as many rounds as possible. You’ll work for 8 minutes in each workout this week, and your goal is to complete as many rounds of the circuit we lay out for you as possible. Don’t lose your focus on quality reps, but do aim to keep score.Day 1• 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• 10 Glute Bridge per side• 15 Hollow Rocks• 20 Mountain ClimbersDay 2• 5 Glute Bridge Reach• 10 Bent-Over T’s • 20 pushups• 10 Bent-Over T’s• 30 Mountain ClimbersDay 3• 5 Squat to Reach• 25 Paused Squats• 25 Glute Bridges Left• 25 Glute Bridges RightDay 4• 10 Spiderman to T-Spine• 10 Paused Squats• 10 Squat to T-Spine• 30 Mountain ClimberDay 5• 10 Spiderman to T-Spine• 10 Pushups• 20 Bent-Over T• 10 Close-Grip PushupsDay 6• 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• 10 Paused Squats• 10 Bent-Over T• 10 Paused Squats• 10 Close-Grip PushupsDay 7• 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• 10 Shoulder Tap• 20 Mountain ClimberWeek 3: EMOMThis week you’ll learn the beauty of the EMOM, every minute on the minute. You’ll once again work for 8 minutes, completing the entire sequence of moves we give you every minute. Your goal: Finish all the work as quickly as possible (while still maintaining good form!) so you can rest until the start of the next minute.Day 1 - 2 rounds• Minute 1: 6 Glute Bridge Reaches, 10 Hollow Rocks• Minute 2: 6 Glute Bridge Reaches, 15 Mountain Climbers• Minute 3: 6 Glute Bridge Reaches, 10 Plank Shoulder-Taps• Minute 4: 30 Mountain ClimbersDay 2 - 2 rounds• Minute 1: 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• Minute 2: 10 Bent-Over T, 10 Close-Grip Pushup• Minute 3: 10 Bent-Over T, 10 Pushup• Minute 4: 40 Mountain ClimbersDay 3 - 2 rounds• Minute 1: 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• Minute 2: 5 Squat to Reach, 10 Squats• Minute 3: 5 Paused Squats, 10 Glute Bridges per side• Minute 4: 10 Squats, 5 Glute Bridges per sideDay 4 - 3 rounds• Minute 1: 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• Minute 2: 10 Paused Squats• Minute 3: 20 Mountain Climber, 5 Hollow RockDay 5 - 2 rounds• Minute 1: 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• Minute 2: 25 Pushups• Minute 3: 20 Bent-Over T• Minute 4: 40 Mountain ClimbersDay 6 - 2 rounds• Minute 1: 5 Spiderman to T Spine• Minute 2: 10 Squats, 10 Bent-Over T• Minute 3: 10 Squats, 15 Pushups• Minute 3: 10 Squats, 20 Mountain ClimbersDay 7 - 1 round• Minute 1: 3 Spiderman to T-Spines per side, 6 Glute Bridge Reaches• Minute 2: 10 Hollow Rocks, 10 Plank Shoulder-taps• Minute 3: 10 Hollow Rocks, 20 Mountain Climbers• Minute 4: 25 Hollow RocksWeek 4: EMOM +1This last week, you’ll amp the intensity one final time, mastering the EMOM+1. You’ll once again train for 8 minutes each day, but each round, you’ll do a bit more work, by adding 1 rep to each of the exercises you must complete in every minute. That means the first minute of your workout may be easy, but the last minute will be ultra-challenging as you race against the clock to hit all your reps.Day 1 - 4 rounds• Minute 1: 10 Plank Shoulder-Taps, 10 Hollow Rocks• Minute 2: 30 Mountain ClimbersDay 2 - repeat until failure• Warmup Minute: 10 Squat to Reach• Minute: 5 Pushups, 5 Close-Grip Pushups, 5 Mountain Climbers, 5 Bent-Over TsDay 3 - repeat until failure• Warmup Minute: 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• Minute: 10 Squats, 10 Glute Bridges per sideDay 4 - 3 rounds• Minute 1: 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• Minute 2: 10 Close-Grip Pushups• Minute 3: 5 squat to reachDay 5 - Alternate both rounds until failure• Warmup Minute: 5 Squat to Reach• Minute 1: 10 Pushups, 10 Close-Grip Pushups• Minute 2: 10 15 Bent-Over T, 10 Mountain ClimbersDay 6 - Alternate both rounds until failure• Warmup Minute: 5 Spiderman to T-Spine• Minute 1: 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Pushups, 10 Squats• Minute 2: 20 Bent-Over TsDay 7 - Repeat until failureWarmup Minute: 5 Spiderman to T-SpineMinute: 5 Plank Shoulder Taps, 10 Mountain Climbers, 5 Hollow RocksWeek 5: RemixYou’ve learned and utilized four different styles of quick-workout training, now let’s sneak in three more workouts that mix-and-match these principles.Day 1• Warmup: 10 Spiderman to T-Spine• Fab 50 AMRAP: 50 Mountain Climbers, 50 Squats, 50 Hollow RocksDay 2 - repeat as many rounds as possible until failure• Warmup: 10 Spiderman to T-Spine• EMOM+1: 10 squats, 10 pushups, 10 hollow rocksDay 3 - repeat as many rounds as possible until failure• Warmup: 10 Squat to ReachEMOM+1• Minute 1: 40 Mountain Climbers• Minute 2: 30 Hollow Rocks• Minute 3: 20 Plank Shoulder TapsBrett Williams, NASM-CPT, PES, a senior editor at Men's Health, is a certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.