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 | | IMAGES: JENNY SATHNGAM FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | | |
| | | 5 weeks of exercises for you to get strong and stay that way all year long | | |
| Welcome! I'm Jen Murphy, and I'll be your guide through five weeks of exercises that focus on becoming stronger and, importantly, staying that way. The goal of this email challenge is to get you excited about exercise and make it a habit. | | |
| As a former personal trainer and yoga instructor, exercise is my fountain of youth. It helps me destress and sleep better, boosts my mood and keeps me strong for snowboarding and surfing. But I fall into workout ruts like everyone else. A fresh routine helps keep us motivated and teaches our bodies to move in new ways. I enlisted Samantha Campbell, owner of Deep Relief // Peak Performance Athletic Training Center on Maui, Hawaii, to develop the program. Samantha trains pro athletes, including big-wave surfers Paige Alms and Ian Walsh and pro snowboarder Travis Rice, as well as non-professionals. She is a master at designing programs that are functional and fun for people at all levels of fitness. The point of this email challenge is to give you a workout you can stick to all year long. 📅 Here's how it will work: - Every week, you will receive a new six-exercise workout aimed at improving your performance—no equipment required, other than a step (a sidewalk curb or staircase works). A mirror and watch are helpful but not necessary. Exercises include adjustments for your age and fitness level, and Samantha and some special guest stars will model the workout each week.
- Each exercise takes about one minute to complete. With the warm-up and cooldown, the entire workout lasts around 30 minutes.
- Charting your progress is an important part of staying motivated. You will test in with three exercises that target balance, cardio, core strength and upper-body mobility and stability. The test-in should take around 10 minutes.
- You should do each workout two to three days a week. After Week Five, you will retest. Set a goal: It could be improving your scores or graduating to a more difficult variation of an exercise. By the program's end, you will see strength and mobility gains and have lots of new exercises to mix into your routine.
I'll be doing the challenge along with you, and sharing my test-in score, as well as those of other participants. —Jen Murphy | |
| | Get Started and Test In With Samantha | | |
| For all of these workouts, you'll activate your muscles with a dynamic warm-up, five to six exercises for one minute each. Here's an example. If any of these drills feels too challenging, march in place instead. Test One: 20 seconds of plank shoulder taps | |
 | | Samantha demonstrates the advanced version of plank shoulder taps. | | |
| Choose one level
Beginner: Place your hands flat on a wall, arms straight. Step your feet behind you so your body forms an angle that feels challenging for you. Tap your left hand to your right shoulder, and then your right hand to your left shoulder. Each tap is one rep.
Intermediate: Perform with your hands resting on the edge of a low table or countertop.
Advanced: Perform from high plank pose.
Pro: Place your feet on a chair while in a high plank. | |
| Tip: Your feet should be shoulder-width apart. Hands should align with shoulders for all levels. Avoid letting your hips dip side to side. | | |
| Test Two: 20 seconds of step toe taps | |
 | | Samantha demonstrates step toe taps. | | |
| Choose a step height you feel comfortable with. I'll be using a 6-inch high aerobic step, but you can also use a curb or stair. Start with your feet on the floor. See how many times you can tap each foot atop the step, your toes just barely touching the surface. Each tap counts as one rep. Keep weight on the bottom foot while you tap the top foot. Try this drill a few times to find a pace before timing yourself. Test Three: Wall-facing V | |
 | | Samantha demonstrates a wall-facing V. | | |
| Stand facing a wall with your arms in a W shape. Your toes, hips and nose will touch the wall. Raise your hands along the wall toward a narrow V-shape. Your thumbs will point behind you, palms facing each other. Mark or note how high up the wall your arms can reach without discomfort or pain. The goal is to have straight arms and your elbows close to your ears without letting your shoulders rise up to your ears. (I've got some work to do!) Score this exercise on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning your elbows are very bent and shoulders are hunched and uncomfortable. A 5 means you have straight arms, shoulders remain down the back and you feel no discomfort. Record your scores and don't skip your cooldown. ✏️ Samantha is a certified athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist. For the past two decades, she has worked with athletes from the U.S. Ski Team, Triathlon Canada, Red Bull and other high-performance programs. Some of her clients, including adaptive athletes, pro surfers and an 83-year-old professor, will be joining us for the challenge and demonstrating the workouts. | |
| You'll receive your first email tomorrow. We can't wait to get started with you. Good luck and have fun! This series was originally published in January 2024. | |
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| By participating in this workout challenge, you acknowledge that the workout could be strenuous. You should consult a physician before proceeding. By submitting photographs, video, text, or other material ("Content") to Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, you agree that Dow Jones has the perpetual right to use, publish, and modify the Content in any medium now known or hereinafter developed and that Dow Jones can credit you by name if it publishes your Content. You represent and warrant that (a) you own the rights to the Content you submit, (b) the Content does not infringe any third party's rights, (c) the Content has not been altered and does not convey a false impression, and (d) any information you submit about the Content is accurate. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Subscriber Agreement and Terms of Use. | |
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