Whether she’s working with clients at Third Space, speaking at a public wellness event or just scrolling through her DMs on Instagram, there’s one question Alice always gets asked.
And, no, it has nothing to do with shredded abs, shedding pounds or even building strength. ‘The common thread that crops up constantly is, “I really want to exercise, but I don’t know where to start,”’ she says.
So, because she's just the best, Alice designed a 28-day fitness challenge to help people grow in confidence while building strength and becoming more familiar with basic strength training movements.
Alice Liveing's 28-day fitness challenge
This kickstart isn’t about sweating yourself silly seven days a week – it’s about building healthy, sustainable habits, a better understanding of your body and, of course, improved fitness, strength and mobility.
‘The workouts are built on simple key movements but will encourage you to break out of your comfort zone to find ways of moving that you enjoy,’ Alice says.
You don't need any equipment –all of the sessions can be performed with your own body weight, or two filled reusable water bottles instead of dumbbells.
Your full challenge schedule
Each week, you’ll complete three workouts as well as one mobility session. On the days you’re not doing a workout, you’ll find daily movement goals, such as taking a walk or trying a new class.
Save this handy infographic to keep track of what you should be doing each day.
1. Upper body and core
This upper body and core workout is structured in a similar way to the lower body and core workout – you'll be performing four supersets (two exercises repeated immediately after each other) with a 60-second rest in between each set.
Superset 1:
- Slow eccentric push-ups (10 reps)
- Bent over row (10 reps)
Superset 2:
- Tall kneeling shoulder press (10 reps)
- Tricep extension (10 reps)
Superset 3:
- Bicep curls (10 reps)
- Shoulder taps (20 reps)
Superset 4:
- Supine toe taps (20 reps)
- Russian twists (20 reps)
2. HIIT workout
This beginner HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout is based on intervals that have you working hard during the 'on' periods and taking some much-needed rest afterwards.
There are 5 exercises in this workout. You'll do each exercise for 30 seconds, rest for 20 seconds and then move onto the next exercise. When you've completed the entire circuit, take a 60-second rest and then repeat the entire circuit again four more times. You do the circuit five times in total.
The exercises:
- Squat jumps
- Shoulder taps
- Bear crawls
- Glute bridge marches
- Side plank (switch to the other side halfway through the 30 seconds)
3. Lower body and core
This beginner lower body and core workout is split into three supersets (two exercises repeated back to back with a 60-second rest in between) repeated three times each with one tri-set (three exercises repeated immediately after each other with a rest at the end) to finish the session off.
So, you'll perform the first superset three times through with a 60-second rest after each round. Once you've performed three rounds, you'll move onto the second superset and so on and so forth until the workout is done!
Superset 1:
- Goblet Squat (10 reps)
- Good Morning (10 reps)
Superset 2:
- Reverse Lunge (10 reps on each side)
- Water Bottle RDLs (10 reps)
Superset 3:
- Glute Bridge Marches (20 reps)
- Side-lying Clams (10 reps each side)
Tri-set finisher:
- Frog Pumps (20 reps)
- RKC Plank (30 seconds)
- Dead bugs (20 reps)
4. Mobility
Not familiar with mobility? All good – we can give you a quick refresher before you jump into the session.
Basically, where flexibility is about how stretchy the muscle is – e.g. how long you can hold your leg out in front of you with your hands – mobility is about how well the joint can move through the range of motion and requires strength.
So, on the days Alice asks you to complete a mobility sesh, work through these simple but effective moves that reverse the effects of overcompensation.
1. Knee-to-wall drill
Targets: Ankles
Do: 8-10 reps in each direction
a) Place your hands on a wall, standing with one foot in front of the other. Rock your front knee forward and back towards the wall, keeping the heel in contact with the floor.
b) Once you’ve done 8-10 reps forwards, rock the knee 8-10 times to the left, then 8-10 times to the right. Now switch legs.
2. Wall slide
Targets: Upper back and shoulders
Do: 8-10 reps
a) Stand with your back and arms against a wall, with your elbows at shoulder height, bent at right angles.
b) Slide your hands up the wall, pressing gently into the wall with the forearms. Go to the point of discomfort and then return to the starting position and repeat.
3. Quadruped Thoracic rotation
Targets: Back
Do: 5 reps on each side
a) Assume a tabletop position on your hands and knees. Bend one arm so that the hand rests just behind your neck. Exhale and rotate your torso as far as you can towards the ceiling.
b) As you inhale, rotate back down towards the floor and through towards the opposite hand.
4. 90/90 rotation
Targets: Hips
Do: 6-8 reps
a) Sit on the floor with both legs bent at 90°, your right leg out to the front and your left out to the side. Stretch your arms out in front of you.
b) Keeping your feet in contact with the floor, peel up your knees and slowly rotate to create the same position on the other side. Repeat in slow and controlled reps
Can the challenge be adjusted to different fitness level?
While this plan was designed for beginners, it’ll work for studio addicts and experienced lifters, too.
‘All the exercises can be made more difficult simply by adding more load,’ says Alice.‘You could be a complete beginner who uses their body weight, or someone quite experienced, like me, who can use weights and still get so much from it.’
How do I make the HIIT workout harder?
Nice! If you're an intermediate or advanced exerciser, you can make the HIIT session tougher, Alice says. 'Less rest, more reps and increasing the amount of time you're working for (so adding more sets).'
If you find it tricky to follow Alice during the HIIT workout video, try writing down or taking a screenshot of a list of the moves (scroll up, they're there) to work from. The original workout calls for 30 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest but you can adapt this with your own timer.
Can I do these workouts at the gym?
Absolutely! The beauty of the workouts is that you can do them anywhere, with or without equipment. If you're fortunate enough to be sweating away gym-style, opt for small or light weights if you're a beginner or medium dumbbells if you're used to exercising.
The rest stays the same – prop your phone up, roll out a mat and get going!
Can I do the workouts if I'm pregnant or just had a baby?
This programme was not designed as a pre-or post-natal plan. 'I would be hesitant to fully recommend this to those that are pregnant,' says Alice. 'We haven't currently offered pregnancy regressions but if someone feels comfortable to regress the exercise they're unable to do then that should be fine.'
For more advice, read Pregnancy exercises: 11 dos and don'ts of prenatal workouts. If you've just given birth, ask your doctor at your six-week check-up.
Shop the best yoga mats for home workouts
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