Habits Challenge
Thirty-day plans that start where you actually are. Every challenge here has a day-by-day chart, a version for people who can’t do the thing yet, rest days that are part of the plan, and an honest answer about what a month changes.
There are eighteen challenges here, in a few kinds: fitness plans built on one movement or a full-body rotation, cardio and distance goals you can do indoors or out, low-impact mat practices like Pilates and yoga, the 75 Hard family of rules-based programmes, and habit challenges where the thing you’re changing isn’t exercise at all.
Two things they have in common. Every plan is free and complete on the page — no email form between you and the chart — and every one of them tells you what it won’t do. A squat challenge doesn’t change your weight, a plank challenge doesn’t reveal abs, and a month of anything is a start rather than a finish. That’s the part most challenge pages leave out, and it’s the reason these ones are worth following.
Not sure where to start? If you want one plan that covers everything, take the 30-day workout challenge below. If you’d rather get properly good at one thing, pick the movement you most want to improve. If your goal isn’t really about exercise, skip to the habit challenges at the bottom.
Full programmes
30-day workout challenge
The one to pick if you want a complete month rather than a single skill. Lower body, upper body, cardio and core rotate across five training days a week, with one full rest day and one easy day. Two levels, no equipment, and day 30 is a test rather than a spike — do the same three tests on day 1 and the comparison is your result.
30-day calisthenics challenge
Bodyweight strength with no cardio day — it progresses by moving up a harder version of each movement rather than adding reps. Push, pull, legs and core across five days a week, with a progression ladder for every pattern and a sturdy table standing in for a pull-up bar.
One movement at a time
30-day squat challenge
20 squats on day 1, building to a test day, with a rest day every fourth day. Split the total into as many sets as you like — ten whenever you pass the kitchen counts.
30-day push-up challenge
Three levels, including one that starts from zero full push-ups — wall, knees or floor, all on the same chart. A self-test routes you, and day 14 is a re-test where you can change column.
30-day pull-up challenge
Two tracks — building toward a first pull-up, or adding reps — and it says up front that a first one often takes longer than 30 days. Fifteen sessions with a rest day between each, and a no-bar route using table rows.
30-day burpee challenge
Starts at five, not twenty, with seven rest days — burpees are the most demanding thing here and the charts that open high are why people quit on day three. Step-back and no-jump versions count as doing it.
Core strength
30-day plank challenge
One hold a day, 20 seconds to two and a half minutes, with one rule that outranks the clock: when your form breaks, the hold is over. A mistakes table covering what each error means and how to fix it.
30-day abs challenge
Five exercises introduced in stages rather than all at once, built on crunches and dead bugs — chosen because they’re gentler on the lower back than straight-leg raises. Straight about why ab work doesn’t reveal abs.
30-day sit-up challenge
10 to 85 reps over the month, in partial, assisted or full versions. Includes a straight sit-ups-versus-crunches comparison and an even-handed answer on whether sit-ups are bad for your back.
Cardio and distance
30-day treadmill challenge
Twenty-two sessions of walking, incline and short jog intervals, paced by the talk test rather than the display — so it works whatever your machine says. There’s a walk-only route all the way through, and the safety section covers the belt properly.
30 miles in 30 days
About 48 km over a month — roughly a mile a day, walked, run or any mix, indoors or out. Three ways to arrange it, a running total that keeps people going, and a metric version of the goal.
Mat practices
30-day Pilates challenge
A full mat Pilates plan, ungated — every exercise explained with the usual mistake and an easier version, and the hundred running from 50 beats to 100 across the month. Includes the osteoporosis caution most Pilates pages skip.
30-day yoga challenge for beginners
You don’t need to be flexible to start — that’s the result, not the entry fee. Weekly themes, props made normal (books, a belt, a wall), and a written plan so you don’t have to follow a video.
The hard and soft challenges
75 Hard challenge
Andy Frisella’s 75-day programme, with the rules checked against his own pages — including the three-hour gap between workouts that most summaries drop. A realistic daily schedule showing the two-to-three hour cost, the criticisms worth taking seriously, and gentler alternatives.
75 Soft challenge
The gentler cousin: one workout, eating reasonably, three litres of water, ten pages, a weekly rest day and no restart if you miss one. A community adaptation rather than an official programme, so the page says which version it describes and where the versions differ.
30-day hard challenge
There’s no official 30-day version, and the name is used for several different things — so this one runs both sets of real rules over 30 days instead of 75, with a four-way comparison table covering all of them side by side.
Habit challenges
30-day weight loss challenge at home
Habits rather than a diet: a daily walk that grows, water within reach, a consistent bedtime, more vegetables and protein. No calorie targets, no banned foods, and no promised number — it cites the CDC on pace and then declines to guess about you.
30-day no alcohol challenge
The rules worth settling in advance, what to order when everyone else is drinking, and a tracker for sleep, mood and money saved. Opens with who should speak to a doctor first, because stopping suddenly isn’t safe for everyone.
What’s coming
More challenges go up as they’re written, and only once each one has a plan worth following rather than a chart with numbers on it. Next up are a jump rope challenge and a no-sugar challenge.
If there’s a challenge you’ve looked for and couldn’t find an honest version of, the contact page is the place to say so — a fair few of these started as exactly that.
Looking for the rest of the site? Home & Living covers decluttering, minimalist decor and small-space organizing.