Fall Pull Up Challenge: Week 4

We’ve made it to the last week of the 12 Minute Athlete Fall Pull Up Challenge!

If you haven’t started yet or haven’t seen our announcement post for the challenge, be sure to go back and read it here, and make sure to check out Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 of the challenge. This challenge is mostly meant for absolute beginners who can’t do pull ups yet—if you can already do a few and have plateaued or need ideas on how to keep progressing, you’ll find our pull up course helpful.

During the next four weeks, we’ll be focusing specifically on upper body and core strength. Both are crucial for getting your first pull up or chin up.

Work hard and have fun!

During week four, we’re going to work on activating the shoulder blades and continuing to build strength.

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5-Day Summer Jump Rope Challenge: Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of the 12 Minute Athlete 5-Day Summer Jump Rope Challenge!

Are you excited to learn some new skills and challenge yourself with some awesome workouts this week? We sure hope so!

During this challenge, we’ll be learning a new jump rope style each day. Then we’ll give you guys a HIIT workout that will include your brand new skill.

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Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge – Week 6: Chest, Arms, and Shoulders

At the beginning of July, we started a brand new 12 Minute Athlete Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge

If you missed the introduction post where we talked about the importance of flexibility and how to incorporate stretching exercises into your workout routine, make sure to check it out here

Throughout the flexibility challenge, we’ll be focusing on one or two muscle groups each week. We’ll talk about why these areas of your body get tight in the first place, why you should be working on loosening them up, and also show you some of the best stretches that help you to increase your flexibility and get bendy.

Do these stretches any time after your workout. To warm up before your workout, use dynamic movements like the ones here and here.

We’re about to start Week 6, but if you’re joining us just now, don’t forget to check out the previous weeks: Week 1: stretching hamstrings and calves, Week 2: quadriceps and hips, Week 3: lower back, Week 4: upper back and shoulders, and Week 5: abs and obliques.

 

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Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge – Week 5: Abs and Obliques

At the beginning of July, we started a brand new 12 Minute Athlete Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge

If you missed the introduction post where we talked about the importance of flexibility and how to incorporate stretching exercises into your workout routine, make sure to check it out here

Throughout the flexibility challenge, we’ll be focusing on one or two muscle groups each week. We’ll talk about why these areas of your body get tight in the first place, why you should be working on loosening them up, and also show you some of the best stretches that help you to increase your flexibility and get bendy.

Do these stretches any time after your workout. To warm up before your workout, use dynamic movements like the ones here and here.

We’re about to start Week 5, but if you’re joining us just now, don’t forget to check out the previous weeks: Week 1: stretching hamstrings and calves, Week 2: quadriceps and hips, Week 3: lower back, and Week 4: upper back and shoulders. 

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Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge – Week 4: Upper Back & Shoulders

At the beginning of July, we started a brand new 12 Minute Athlete Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge

If you missed the introduction post where we talked about the importance of flexibility and how to incorporate stretching exercises into your workout routine, make sure to check it out here

Throughout the flexibility challenge, we’ll be focusing on one or two muscle groups each week. We’ll talk about why these areas of your body get tight in the first place, why you should be working on loosening them up, and also show you some of the best stretches that help you to increase your flexibility and get bendy.

Do these stretches any time after your workout. To warm up before your workout, use dynamic movements like the ones here and here.

We’re about to start Week 4, but if you’re joining us just now, don’t forget to check out Week 1 where we talked about stretching hamstrings and calves, Week 2, where we focused on quadriceps and hips, and Week 3, where we paid special attention to lower back.

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Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge – Week 3: Lower Back

At the beginning of July, we started a brand new 12 Minute Athlete Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge

If you missed the introduction post where we talked about the importance of flexibility and how to incorporate stretching exercises into your workout routine, make sure to check it out here

Throughout the flexibility challenge, we’ll be focusing on one or two muscle groups each week. We’ll talk about why these areas of your body get tight in the first place, why you should be working on loosening them up, and also show you some of the best stretches that help you to increase your flexibility and get bendy.

Do these stretches any time after your workout. To warm up before your workout, use dynamic movements like the ones here and here.

We’re about to start Week 3, but if you’re joining us just now, don’t forget to check out Week 1 where we talked about stretching hamstrings and calves and Week 2 where we focused on quadriceps and hips.

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Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge – Week 2: Hips & Quads

At the beginning of July, we started a brand new 12 Minute Athlete Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge

If you missed the introduction post where we talked about the importance of flexibility and how to incorporate stretching exercises into your workout routine, make sure to check it out here.

Throughout the flexibility challenge, we’ll be focusing on one or two muscle groups each week. We’ll talk about why these areas of your body get tight in the first place, why you should be working on loosening them up, and also show you some of the best stretches that help you to increase your flexibility and get bendy.

Do these stretches any time after your workout. To warm up before your workout, use dynamic movements like the ones here and here.

We’re about to start Week 2, but if you’re joining us just now, don’t forget to check out Week 1 where we talked about stretching hamstrings and calves.

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Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge – Week 1: Hamstrings & Calves

The brand new 12 Minute Athlete Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge is here! If you missed the introduction post where we talked about the importance of flexibility and how to incorporate stretching exercises into your workout routine, make sure to check it out here

Throughout the flexibility challenge, we’ll be focusing on one or two muscle groups each week. We’ll talk about why these areas of your body get tight in the first place, why you should be working on loosening them up, and also show you some of the best stretches that help you to increase your flexibility and get bendy.

Do these stretches any time after your workout. To warm up before your workout, use dynamic movements like the ones here and here.

For Week One of the challenge, our focus will be working on our hamstrings and calves. 

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The Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge Is Here!

July is nearly here, which means that it’s time for another 6 Week Challenge! This summer, we’ll be focusing on improving our flexibility. Let’s get bendy!

If you’ve always given priority to your workouts and mostly avoided any form of focused stretching, I can completely relate. As athletes, we all want to become as strong as possible and kick butt in our workouts, PR our 100 Burpee Challenge times, and bust out handstands, pull ups, and other cool skills. No wonder that stretching often takes the backseat to our workout routine.

Because we’re all pressed for time, we tend to think that we’re good as long as we get our workout done, right?

…Wrong. Here’s why you should start finally paying attention to your flexibility and join us in the Get Bendy 6-Week Flexibility Challenge this summer:

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Handstand Challenge Week 6: Freestanding Handstands

At the beginning of April, we started a brand new 6-Week Handstand Challenge.

During the few weeks, we’re going to be working on different exercises you can do to help you build up to doing a freestanding handstand. Don’t be too intimidated—it doesn’t matter if you’ve been practicing handstands for a while now or you’ve never even tried to do one, this handstand challenge is for you.

During Week 1, we focused on building strength and endurance with wall handstands. Week 2 was all about protecting our wrists and avoiding injuries. During Week 3 we focused on our shoulder and hip positioning with pike rolls. During Week 4 we started working on our balance with handstand wall splits. Week 5 was all about building up our core strength for a better handstand line.

We’re about to start Week 6, but if you’re new to this challenge, no worries, you can still jump right in! To get the most out of this handstand challenge, make sure to join our private Facebook group where you can share your experience and get in touch with fellow members of the 12 Minute Athlete Community.

For Week 6 of the challenge, we’re going to be working on our freestanding handstands.

I’ll be totally honest with you guys: if you’re still pretty new to handstands, it may not be the best use of your time to spend too much time on freestanding handstands just yet.

Freestanding handstands can be incredibly frustrating so if you’re still struggling to build up your handstand endurance and still find drills like the wall handstand splits we did in Week 4 pretty challenging, I’d recommend you mostly keep working on those skills for now until you’re feeling more comfortable with them.

But if you’re feeling more and more comfortable upside down and think you’re ready to try a few freestanding handstands, let’s give it a shot!

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