April 2017 Challenge: Jump Into April!

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Ready to jump into a brand new month with lots of great strength exercises?!?!

Strength training can help you become a better total athlete. It improves balance and coordination. It teaches discipline. By building your running muscles, and those that support them, you’ll start to become a “total athlete,” and a better runner!

Of course, at the end of the day, we are runners and we really just want to be on the road or trail. Every monthly challenge we do pushes us to be better at what we love, and each exercise in April has a runners needs in mind. Runners need strong arms, back and shoulders, a strong core, strong & stable hips, and strong, powerful legs, ankles and feet! By adding strength training to your routine, you’ll become a better runner, an overall better athlete, and you will be more fit.

We have an awesome challenge calendar this month with extra focus on our arms to get ready to rock those summer tees and to help propel us through long, hilly races. We will also continue to have days geared toward our core and legs, and challenge ourselves to crank up the cardio intensity with a new jump rope challenge and the oldy but goody burpee challenge. YAY!! I know that excites you! 😉

Here’s the layout:

We have some new exercises this month so be sure to click the link above for the day you need and that will direct you to the “how to” video page for that day. A couple new exercises to look for: Ball Toss, Toe Yoga, and Adductor Ball Squeeze. All the other exercises we have done in the past, but may still be new to some of you so please watch the videos and learn the correct way to do them safely.

Every day except for Wednesday and Sunday, you have the option to add our “extra” challenges. Wednesdays and Sundays are “rest” days from strength training and we will work on stretching and yoga. But watch for some added workouts on Wednesday for those who want  to do a little something more. And remember that Wednesday are always a great day for speed work too!

April “Extra” Challenges: Click here for “how to” videos

  1. Ab Challenge – Our Ab Challenge is similar to March but two of the exercises have changed. I made the change to keep it fresh and I think these exercises will be a little less time consuming as the reps get higher later in the month.
  2. Jump Rope Challenge – The Jump Rope Challenge is meant to get your heart rate up and incorporate extra cardio into our routine. You can do these in sets of 25, 50 or even 100 as you get better at it. Remember to breathe and do not rush through it. We don’t want anyone hurt doing this exercise! This challenge does not require a jump rope. If you don’t have one, pretend you do! You will still increase your heart rate and get sweaty without the equipment. Or you can always go out and buy a cheap jump rope. Please don’t feel the need to go out and spend tons of cash on an expensive jump rope.
  3. Burpees – I know…I know…but we all know how good these are for us. Burpees can be modified in many ways so take a look at our how to videos and do what works for you.

Yes, these are extras. No, you don’t “have” to do them. But they WILL help you gain additional fitness, burn extra calories, and get stronger.

The Ab Challenge is on a separate calendar because I couldn’t fit them all on the same page. Print out each calendar (there are 2) and put them somewhere you will see it each day. You can also save them as pictures on your phone so you have them with you all the time. Cross off the days as you go to see your progress and remind yourself how awesome you are! Or to remind you to get back to work! 🙂

Remember, you are doing this for you. You have goals that only you can reach. The Crew is here to help you, guide you, and support you…but only you can make a commitment and do the work. If reaching your goals are easy….if you don’t need to put in some hard work to attain them….then you need to set your sites higher!

Here we go Crew…let’s Jump Into April and get closer to reaching our goals!

April 2017 Core Crew Challenge

April 2017 Core Crew Ab Challenge