So, I made it to the last week of the Jen Selter Challenge. I didn’t miss any of the workout plans, which I’m honestly very proud of, and I even added an extra cardio day each week. After a full month, I still think that the challenge was simpler overall than I was expecting going into it, but maybe that’s just my former-athlete-self missing the crazy workouts of my past.
Day 22
Monday was yet another circuit workout. Week 4 has a new warm-up that is generally a more advanced version of the one from Week 3. The warm-up includes 25 high-knees, 20 air squats and 6 push-ups, repeated three more times. I actually found this warm-up to be a really fun way to kick off each day.
The Monday circuit itself was a solid workout as well. That said, I was super stressed and pressed for time, so maybe I just needed it to go well after some of my initial disappointment with Selter’s program in earlier weeks.
For this circuit, run in place for a minute (or do a minute of jumping jacks), then do 20 burpees, 20 goblet squats, 20 crunches, 30-second leg lifts, and a 30-second plank, and repeat the whole set 5 times. The leg lifts are super hard on my hips, so I replaced them with 30-second side planks on each side.
Day 23
Tuesday’s workout was short and not that challenging, but similar to the warm-up for the week, it was fun to complete. I did the new warm-up and then set a timer for 12 minutes for Part A. On the odd minutes, Selter asks you to do 10 push-ups. The even minutes are for putting in maximum effort on Russian twists. The push-ups don’t take the whole minute, so you have a little bit of rest time built in. That makes doing the full minute of Russian twists that much more important for feeling the burn.
For Part B, set a 10-minute timer and do power air squats on the odd minutes and lateral arm raises on the evens. And always remember to follow up every workout with some stretching.
Day 24
Wednesday is for cardio—my designated ArcTrainer day. There are tons of other great cardio machines out there, and in my regular workout schedule (when I’m doing 3 to 4 days of cardio), I switch it up. The ArcTrainer is my personal favorite, though, and for the sake of being consistent throughout this challenge, I decided to stick with it.
Day 25
I loved this day’s workout plan. It was definitely my favorite of the entire challenge, and I think it’s because it provided a little bit of both cardio and weight training, lasted a little longer, and made me feel sufficiently exhausted afterward. I began with the week 4 warm-up, then Part A of the workout: a mile of jogging. I ran on the treadmill at a 6.6 mph pace, which translates to a 9 min per mile jog.
This was followed by Part B, which focused on strength. This section consisted of 20 reps of each of the following exercises: tricep extensions, alternating bicep curls (each arm), reverse lunges, step-ups, donkey kicks (both legs), burpees, Russian twists (2 sides count as one rep), jumping jacks and sit-ups.
Unlike most of the other days, this workout had a Part C. It was a half-mile run, which I chose to do at the 7 mph pace (about 8.5 minute mile). This brought my heart rate back up and was a satisfying way to end a workout. Including stretching, this day’s workout was about 45 minutes, which I definitely preferred to the usual shorter workouts in this challenge.
Day 26
Friday was an odd workout plan, which was disappointing as this was my last official day of Selter’s challenge (because Saturday would be my rest day, and Sunday would be for cardio).
I began with the week 4 warm-up, which I’d come to appreciate, and then I tackled the 10 rounds of Part A. The plan calls for 10 fire hydrants (each leg), 10 mountain climbers, 12 alternating jump lunges, 10 glute bridges, 10 seconds of one-leg glute bridge holds (both sides) and 10 power squats.
Yes, repeat that 10 times. Selter finishes this day off with Part B, which is 2 minutes of push-ups and 2 minutes of sit-ups.
Day 27
I took Saturday as my off day, but I did go back and forth on whether I actually needed the break. It’s important to let your body rest and recover, but I wasn’t feeling too beat at this point. I did get some compliments on my legs looking stronger, though, so that’s a plus.
Day 28
The last day of the challenge was my final push for cardio on the ArcTrainer.
After the month-long commitment, I found Selter’s famous workout schedule to be kind of confusing. I enjoyed trying it out, but some workout plans didn’t push me at all, while others were great and sufficiently challenging. Moving forward, I will probably try to incorporate some of the Selter workout routines into my own, but I do not plan to adopt it entirely.
The point of the challenge isn’t necessarily to implement Selter’s workouts every day following completion, but I do think Selter could do better to make the routines more enticing. I was satisfied with the program overall, but with some more consistency and higher intensity, Jen could’ve made a killer workout challenge instead of a simply acceptable one.