January 21 day Fitness Challenge week 1

Welcome to the Afrogirlfitness 21 day fitness challenge. Our total body sweat challenge is excellent for burning fat and increasing muscle. We’ve listened to what you want and created a challenge that saves you time and stress by taking the guesswork out of burning fat and building lean muscle. The routines are neither time consuming nor boring and range between 30-50 minutes 5 days a week.

The workouts are intense but designed to be suitable for majority of fitness levels. You are encouraged to go at your own pace and to opt for modified versions of an exercise as and when necessary.
Remember that we strive for progress not perfection. With each day you continue to push yourself, you’ll see drastic improvements in your body tone, strength, speed, endurance and flexibility. More importantly you’ll feel great about yourself. This challenge is about building functional strength that benefits you everyday.

We encourage you to do away with the scale and judge your progress on how your clothes fit.
Measure and weigh yourself at the start of day 1, in the morning before you eat or drink anything. Use the table below to record your measurements.

Measure the following:

Weight
Body fat (if known)
Chest
Waist
Belly button
Hips
Thighs

Progress over perfection

Use #theagfplan on social media to share your progress with the community, find motivation and inspire and connect with others who are also doing the challenge.

We’ll love to share your pictures so if you’d like to share your progress please follow these dos and don’ts
Photo Do’s

Photo don’ts

Equipment

• You’ll need a set of dumbbells
• Water
• Download “Tabata” timer app
• Lots of enthusiasm and great music

This workout guide is meant for those with a general baseline of fitness and no injuries medical conditions or contraindications to exercise/and or working out strenuously.
To reduce the risk of injury, before beginning this or any exercise program, please consult a healthcare provider for appropriate exercise prescription and safety precautions. This program has been built for the general public and is not catered to anyone individual. The exercise instruction and advice presented are in no way intended as a substitute for medical consultation. We advise that you get express approval from your doctor or health care provider before starting this challenging program.

If you experience faintness, dizziness, pain or shortness of breath at any time while exercising, you should stop immediately.

Consistency is key! All you have to do is put in your best effort, commit to the daily workouts and use our meal guide to tailor your diet over the next 21 days lets go!

What to expect

This challenge is clear and easy to follow with no equipment required (optional dumbbells for added intensity) so you can perform your workout from anywhere

Warm ups and cool downs

It is important to start a workout with a warmup and end with a cool down. You might be eager to dive into your workout, but don’t. Warm-ups help to warm up your cold muscles to prevent injury. A good warm up should last 5-10 minutes and work all your major muscle groups. We have provided you with an example below.

 30 ankle rotations on each leg
 20 leg swings
 20 arm circles
 10 deep squats
 10 alternate lunges
 10 push ups (full or modified)
 60 jumping acks
 60 secs boxer shuffle

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their full range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

An effective cool down
A cool down can last from 3-10 minutes. The purpose of cooling down after exercising is to allow our heart rate and breathing to gently return to mear resting levels. It also helps avoid feelings of dizziness which can result from blood pooling in the large muscles of the legs after exercise. Cooling down effectively helps to remove waste products (such as lactic acid) from muscles, which can build up during exercise. In short, it helps to relax your muscles in preparation for your next training session. Walking at a brisk pace for 5 to 10 minutes is a great cool down, but this isn’t always ideal especially if you’re training indoors.
We have provided you with an example below
Hold each stretch for 30 secs and rest briefly then repeat on the other side

 Ab stretch
 Cat cow stretch
 Hip flexor stretch
 Lower back stretch
 Standing forward bend
 Quad stretch
 Calf stretch
 Shoulder stretch
 Biceps stretch
 Child’s pose

WEEK 1

Day 1

HIIT 25 seconds on 10 off repeat x3
2 single leg lateral hops and touch down
Curtsy lunge the jump
Push up to leg raise
Side lunge to squat
Static squat
Pop squats

Arms 45 seconds on 15 second rest
Dumbbell squat press
Bicep curl and reverse lunge
Plank to shoulder tap

HIIT 45 seconds on 15 secs off (once only)
Jumping jack
High knees
Side lunge center jump
Sumo squat and round kick
Lateral hop to burpee

Arms 45 seconds on 15 secs off
Floor tricep dips
Commandos
Push up and tuck jump

Day 2

HIIT 25 seconds on 10 off repeat x3
Jumping jack
High knees
Side lunge center jump
Sumo squat and round kick
Lateral hop to burpee

Legs 45 seconds on 15 secs off
Thigh slap jumps
Side plank kicks
Deadlift (dumbbells)

HIIT 25 seconds on 10 off repeat x3
Squat jacks
Burpees with jump
Heel clicks and touch down
Lateral leaps
Plank jack
Squat with curtsy lunge

Legs 45 seconds on 15 secs off
Static squats
Side leg raises
Donkey kicks

Day 3
Rest Day

Day 4

HIIT 25 seconds on 10 off repeat x3
High knees
Star jumps
Thigh slap jumps
Burpees
Jump squats
Jumping lunges

Core 45 seconds on 15 secs off
Jack knife get ups
Leg raises
Side plank kicks left
Side plank kicks right

HIIT 25 seconds on 10 off repeat x3
Burpees
Jump squats
Jumping lunges
Lateral bounds
Lunge and kicks
Jumping jacks

Core 45 seconds on 15 secs off
Oblique crunches
Reclined punches
Side plank and dip (left)
Side plank and dip (right )

Day 5

HIIT 25 seconds on 10 off repeat x3
High knee stutter
Jump squat and step back to lunge
Reverse lunge and high kick
Jumping jacks
Split jump burpee
Jump squat

Leg 45 seconds on 15 secs off
Squat twist (dumbbell)
Curtsy lunge
Reverse lunge rotate
Squat hold

HIIT 45 seconds on 15 secs off (once only)

Burpees to jump
High knees
Mountain climbers
Jumping lunges
Walk down push ups
Pop squats
Star jumps

Legs 45 seconds on 15 secs off

Thigh slap jumps
Side plank kicks (left)
Side plank kicks (right)
Deadlift (dumbbells)