If you haven’t yet been exposed to the 30 Day Squat Challenge hype which seems to be all the rage these days, then hello and welcome to the 30 Day Squat Challenge à la Jolie.
The ‘standard’ 30 Day Squat Challenge is exactly what the name sounds like; a challenging 30 days of squats, starting with 50 on the first day and building up to 250 by the end of the 30 days.
I was initially planning to come up with a re-hash of this program for the Better Butt Challenge site, but during my research was a little put off after reading this article about why the 30 Day Squat Challenge might not be the greatest.
I must say that I agree with some of the points made in Kathleen’s article. I haven’t actually tried the original 30 day squat challenge yet which is why I wanted to test it out and then tweak to make my own version.
Today I trialed Day 1 which is 50 squats and I must say, it is a lot harder than it looks on paper! It is definitely a cardio work out, though you wouldn’t think it. Initially I thought it was not too difficult – being only body-weight squats. However, once I got to about 20 squats and my knee joints started to pipe up with their discontent, I could already see myself starting to agree with Kathleen in some aspects – 50 squats with poor form could be destroying to a body.
So I’ve re-hashed the squat challenge to the below – still similar to the original but more focused on correct form than number of repetitions. I hope you enjoy it.
Jolie’s 30 Day Squat Challenge
Your first 3 days should involve researching and experimenting with your squat form to ensure it is optimal, and can be carried out with no pain or discomfort. Watching your form in a mirror is absolutely necessary.
Read these articles first:
The Program -Have You Got What it Takes to Spend 30 Days to a Better Butt?
Day 1 5
Day 2 10
Day 3 15
Day 4 Rest
Day 5 15
Day 6 20
Day 7 30
Day 8 Rest
Day 9 30
Day 10 40
Day 11 50
Day 12 Rest
Day 13 50
Day 14 50
Day 15 60
Day 16 Rest
Day 17 60
Day 18 60
Day 19 70
Day 20 Rest
Day 21 70
Day 22 70
Day 23 80
Day 24 Rest
Day 25 80
Day 26 80
Day 27 90
Day 28 Rest
Day 29 90
Day 30 100
Hi Jolie,
Are these meant to be done all in one set each day? I can’t imagine doing 100 squats, let alone 50 (!!) without a break! Ouch :/ although I guess that’s why they call it a challenge.
Personally I usually do a couple sets of 20 squats and call it a day, but I haven’t paid much attention to proper form previously due to lack of access to a suitable mirror. I’ll definitely have to check out the articles you linked to for more on that.
Great post by the way!
Angie
I’ve been doing squats for a while now and it doesn’t really change if you do 50 here and another 50 there but what helps me is to do 25 and then turn around and start counting up to 25 again because it really just our minds being like oh that’s big number I should be tired but trust me you can do it in no time! In the beginning I could do 160 in one round
Hey Becky, I love this tip!! Thanks heaps for sharing it! Now that you mention it, I have occassionally done this exact thing (without realizing it) in the past, and you’re totally right – it makes it so much easier to hit those big numbers without the ol’ brain kicking in and telling you that you’ve done quite enough and you should be feeling tired and/or stop. 160 squats in the first round sounds like heaps (you go girl!), but breaking it down into smaller chunks is perfect. Cheers!