Hey everyone and welcome to AbsSoFruitly!
My name is Hannah Boyl; fitness enthusiast, dancer and student. I’m so excited to finally have a place to share all of my thoughts and ideas on health and fitness. You can read more about myself on the About page. I was going to start off with just an introduction post, talk about me, talk about the blog and all that fun stuff, then I felt like I was repeating my About page too much. But please feel free to e-mail me or comment if you have any questions!

I decided, that to kick things off, I wanted to challenge you all to get moving!

What if I told you that at the end of this 5-day challenge you will have completed 500 squats and 500 push-ups? You might call me crazy. Both of these exercises are simple and incredibly efficient.

If I just told you to try to accomplish 500 push-ups and squats in 5 days how would you go about it? Would try to do as many reps as possible at one time, rest, and repeat that process until you accomplished enough for the day? Take into consideration the quality and how well you are performing these exercises, especially the last few reps. There’s a better way to see improvement.

Focus on the quality of the exercise you are doing. Maintaining proper form will make each movement more beneficial for the body. A modification done correctly does more good than an advanced version with poor form.

Below is how I would approach this challenge of 500 push-ups and squats, as well as a few different modifications. Choose the version of each exercise that best suits you and allows for the best quality.

The best part about this program is that it will take less than 20 minutes out of your day. You’ll perform the 9-10 minute round described below two times throughout the day.

500 Squats; 500 Push-ups; 5 Days

• Start your timer and immediately perform 5 push-ups and 5 squats
• Rest until your timer reaches 1 minutes then again perform 5 push-ups and 5 squats
• Your last set will be when you hit 9 minutes…and that’s it! 50 push-ups and 50 squats done.

One set done, one to go. Pick another time in your day to do the second set and you’ve got your 100 push-ups and 100 squats for the day.

Correct Form and Modifications

I can’t stress enough how important perfect reps are. You’ll see the most improvement (and least amount of injury) by doing each rep completely and correctly. The modifications are there to make the exercise benefit you most. Remember, you’ll be doing 50 of each exercise at a time and 100 in a day; choose the variation that will allow you the best quality of movement. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when performing each exercise.

Push-ups

• Your hands should be positioned just outside your shoulders
• Lower yourself slowly, don’t let your entire body fall to the floor
• At the bottom of your push-up your chest should touch the surface you are pushing against
• Make sure your body stays in a straight position. Your head, neck, spine, hips, legs and ankles should all be in a straight line at all times
• Modification
  • Use an table, couch or other elevated surface instead of pushing off the floor

Chest to the floor, not falling to the floor. If it is uncomfortable to have your face down alternate looking side to side.

Here’s the modified version:

Squats

• Your feet should be shoulder width apart and pointing forward
• Keep your hips back
• Keep your knees over your toes, don’t let them fall inward
• Your weight should be in your heels, don’t let them lift off the floor
• Modification
  • Don’t go as low into the squat
  • Add arms (in front of you, above the head)

Try to keep this up through Friday. Soreness may occur, but by the last day you should be feeling stronger and the movements should be easier.

I want to know what you think about this challenge and the approach. Let me know how the week goes and any thoughts that come up along the way.

Have a happy Monday everyone!