30-Day Fitness Challenge, Day 17: Cardio + Flexibility

30 day fitness challenge
Daniel Fishel/Thrillist
Daniel Fishel/Thrillist
You're on Day 17 of the 30-Day Gym-Free Fitness Challenge. To return to the main challenge page, click here.

As with all your midweek cardio routines, today you get options. The first option is similar to your week one walk/jog routine, but with a little more jogging and a little less walking. Your cardiovascular fitness should be improving, so you may be surprised at how much continuous jogging you can do.  

The second option continues this week's theme of AMRAPs, using basic bodyweight exercises you can perform inside, combining them into a simple rounds-for-time program. You'll perform two separate 12-minute AMRAPs. You'll finish your cardio in 30 minutes or less, leaving plenty of time for your standard 10-minute stretching routine.

Option #1: 30-minute walk/jog sequence

Enjoy 30 total minutes of walking and jogging, alternating between two minutes of jogging and one minute of walking for the full 30 minutes. If jogging is completely out of the question, alternate between two minutes of speed walking and one minute of walking at a moderate pace.
 

Option #2: AMRAP bodyweight cardio pyramid


Remember the pyramid workouts from week two, where you started with a certain number of repetitions per exercise, then reduced the number of repetitions by one on each subsequent round? That's how this AMRAP is going to work. You'll set your timer for 12 minutes, and start each exercise with 10 reps, working your way down the pyramid as far as you can before time expires. Make note of what round you make it to. You'll rest for two minutes, then start the second 10-minute AMRAP, again starting with 10 reps for each exercise.

AMRAP #1

See how many rounds of all three exercises you can make it through following pyramid repetitions -- do 10 reps of each exercise, then nine of each, going through the circuit counting down until you reach one. You have 12 minutes to get through as many rounds as you can.

burpee
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ski swings
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skaters
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AMRAP #2

See how many rounds of all three exercises you can make it through following the pyramid repetitions detailed above. You have 12 minutes to get through as many rounds as you can.

mountain climbers
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jumping jacks
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twisting marching twist
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Post-cardio 10-minute stretch

Stretch it... stretch it real good. 
 

triceps stretch
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Triceps stretch, 30 seconds per side

shoulder stretch
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Shoulder stretch, 30 seconds per side

chest stretch
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Chest stretch, 30 seconds per side

quad stretch
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Quad stretch, 30 seconds per side

forward fold
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Forward fold, 60 seconds

hip flexor stretch
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Hip flexor stretch, 30 seconds per side

standing calf stretch
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Standing calf stretch, 30 seconds per side

seated hamstring stretch
DANIEL FISHEL/Thrillist

Seated hamstring stretch, 30 seconds per side

supine figure 4 stretch
Daniel Fishel/Thrillist

Supine figure-4 stretch, 30 seconds per side

seated hamstring stretch
DANIEL FISHEL/Thrillist

Butterfly stretch, 60 seconds

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