30 Day Fitness Challenge + Printable Calendar for Women Over 40

Are you all geared up to start the 30 Day Fitness Challenge? When I started out on my fitness journey it was workouts like these that really burned fat and toned my muscles. The exercises in this workout challenge are fast moving and less than 30 min a day!

Cardio for women over 40 is a great way to burn fat, increase energy and raise metabolism to lose weight. This is one of the best 30 day weight loss challenges for beginners or any level of fitness.

What’s even better is you can adjust the time as needed every day…so no excuses for getting a workout in! You’ve got this!

Details for the 30 Day Fitness Challenge

The workouts are set up for varied skill levels. Each exercise has a time rather than a number of sets so that you can modify the workouts to your current level. If you can’t do the suggested time, do the exercise as long as you can. Take a breather and continue. The challenge is designed to be something you work up stamina for. Stick with it, you will notice an improved difference each week.

Your nutrition is an equal partner in your fitness goals. It is vital to your success to make the changes necessary in nutrition to maximize your workout efforts.

If you really want to burn some extra calories, here is a great HIIT workout for beginners for the Saturday cardio.

Don’t be hard on yourself if the first week you fall short of the individual exercise times. Push yourself to do as much as you can without injury, and realize your stamina and strength will improve over time.

Try to move from one exercise to the other with minimal breaks, but definitely listen to your body and take a breather when necessary.

I have built in 2 rest days per week. It would be beneficial to make those active rest days. Going for a brisk walk around the neighborhood or on the treadmill will be great to combat sore muscles as well as keeping the calorie burn going. Side note – there are a lot of benefits to walking 10,000 steps a day!

Additionally, make sure to take a couple of days off AFTER you complete the challenge for a good recovery period before you start the next challenge.

Cardio Days in Fitness Challenge

There is one day a week scheduled as cardio your choice. I recommend a LISS cardio (Low intensity sustained state) such as a nice brisk walk or a LISS elliptical as well as other equipment. Likewise, choosing a LISS cardio on rest days would be great for your muscle recovery and minimizing soreness.

Using BCAAs for Women During the Fitness Challenge

I discovered BCAAs a few years ago and have been drinking them ever since. BCAAs are great for muscle recovery and help to minimize muscle soreness as well as replenish your body much like Gatorade does, just without the sugar junk.

A 30 day fitness challenge can be difficult if you just starting out, or even for the more experienced, it is so important to ensure the body is getting the nutrients it needs to recover properly to maximize the results of the fitness challenge.

If you are like me, supplements were a bit scary to begin with. However, as I learned about fitness I realized the right supplements are as good as gold for us. BCAAs are at the top of my list of supplements for women for many reasons that you can see when you check out my post, BCAAs for women.

There are many BCAAs to choose from, some taste great, others not so much. We really like this BCAA for the taste and the price! It also has several flavors to choose from.

How to do the Exercises for the 30 Day Challenge for Women Over 40

Heismans

Stand with your feet together and step or jump 2-3 feet, knee up, to the right, landing on the ball of your foot while holding your left knee up to your torso, slightly leaning into your knee. Repeat on the left side, moving from one side to the other every 2-3 seconds. Work on engaging your core muscles and keeping your balance.

In this video, the woman is holding a weight, but that is a more advanced move. If you are a beginner, don’t use the weight until you are ready.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Slower pace, use chairs for balance, don’t jump if you’re not ready.

Log Jumps

Start out by running in place for counting 1-2-3, then jump to the right, lifting your legs to “get over” an imaginary log, landing and running in place again for the 1-2-3 count, repeating moving to the left and repeating.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Slower pace, take out the jumps, raise single legs to step over the “log”.

Forward Lunge

Step forward with your right foot, dropping your left knee almost to the floor while keeping your right knee over your right foot. Stand up, and push back to your left foot standing up tall. Repeat on left leg and continue alternating.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Use chair for balance, lower as much as you can without injury.

Superman

Lie down on your stomach with your arms stretched out in front of you, legs straight, toes down. Lift your arms and legs at the same time, as high as you can and hold for 2 seconds, relax for 2 seconds and repeat. Be sure watch the video for beginner modifications if necessary.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Alternate raising arms and legs.

Left/Right Leg Stand

Stand with your right leg extended, toe pointed, leg at a 45 degree angle. Slow and controlled, lift as high as possible while keeping your torso upright, core muscles tight. Repeat on other leg after 15 seconds, doing each leg for 15 seconds each.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Use a chair for balance, raise to a comfortable level, no more than 45 degrees.

Modified push-ups

This video is great for demonstrating 4 different ways to modify a push up depending on your level. Choose one and work up to the more difficult ones in time.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Video below shows different modifications for push-ups.

Plank

Begin by getting in a regular push up position on the floor. Bend your elbows and place your forearms on the floor, keeping your body raised. Your body should be in a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders. Engage your core to keep your hips raised.

Tire Twists (Traveling Tire Twist)

Stand up, feet together. Hop and bring up right knee, while at the same time taking clutched hands or a small hand weight (2-5lbs) to the outside of the right thigh. Switch to the left knee up, moving your hands to the outside of the left thigh. Four steps up and four steps back.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Step instead of hopping, use same movements.

Hop Overs

Place a rolled hand towel or something about the same size on the floor. Standing on one side, hop over the object, keeping your feet together. Depending on your level, you can pause before jumping back over, or you can hop at a greater speed. Make sure you bend your knees upon landing and taking off to prevent injury.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Step instead of hopping. Use chair for balance if needed.

Reverse Lunge

Standing with feet together, step back with your right foot allowing that knee to drop to the floor. Make sure your left knee stays above your foot. Push off with your right foot to bring your feet together. Switch to left foot and repeat.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Use chair for balance, go as low as you feel comfortable.

High Knees

Run in place, keeping your chest up, chin down slightly and bringing your knees up as high as possible.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Slow the move down, raising one leg at a time bringing your opposite elbow to your knee as the knee is raised. Use a chair for balance as needed.

Banana

Lying flat on the floor, facing up, stretch out your arms and legs straight. In one motion, raise your arms together and legs together to form a banana like shape. Hold for 2 seconds, down for 2 seconds. Repeat. Higher levels can be holding form for longer in between rests.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Raise legs only, holding for 2 seconds, rest 2 seconds.

Tricep Dips

Sit on the floor with your knees bent. Place your hands on the floor behind you, fingers pointing towards you. Raise your hips and by bending your elbows, dip down and come back up, letting your triceps do the work. This video explains the different modifications very well.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Video shows modification.

Calf Raises

Standing, raise your heels up, hold for 1-2 seconds, stand flat and repeat. There are a few variations as shown in the video.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Use chair for balance, don’t use weights until you feel ready.

Basketball Jumps

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Pretend you have a basketball to pick up at about knee level – or higher depending on what you are comfortable with. Bend slightly, making sure you are bending in your knees, not only your back while reaching over beyond your knee to pick up that pretend basketball. Then, in one smooth move, stand and pivot slightly to jump to shoot the basketball to the opposite side you picked up the basketball. Repeat, switching sides every 5 shots.

30 Day Fitness Challenge modification: Alternatively, if jumping is difficult, alternating raising one leg at a time after the knee bend/squat can be beneficial also. Using something to stabilize yourself is acceptable as well.

The 30 Day Fitness Challenge is designed for an intermediate fitness level, but with modifications can be a very effective for beginners workout as well.

Print your 30 Day Fitness Challenge, refer back here for exercise details as needed! Comment below if you’re in!

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