Google “30 day fitness challenge,” and you’ll find over a million hits promoting and villainizing them. And those sites that are promising you’ll “GET YOUR BEST BEACH BODY” and “DROP TWENTY POUNDS” in 30 days deserve to be villainized, for a whole bunch of reasons. So here’s the thing – Freestyle Fitness in Reno hosts several 30-day fitness challenges throughout the year, and we’re thisclose to kicking off In It Together, a 30-day fitness challenge for the whole crew. It starts April 7, and it’s absolutely worth your time. But not because you’ll get a beach body or lose twenty pounds. If you’re wondering, how effective is a 30-day fitness challenge, for real, this post is for you.

The Truth

It all boils down to expectations. Since we started, Freestyle Fitness has been focused on real-world, sustainable fitness. We aren’t the fitness center churning out bikini competitors, and that’s intentional. Our focus is on consistent, effective, mindful, functional training to help you stay strong and healthy physically and mentally. And our 30-day fitness challenges play right into that. The goal isn’t to lose tons of body fat or shred your abs. It’s to develop positive, healthy habits that will become your new normal. That’s the secret to fitness. Motivation doesn’t last. But in its place, you can develop discipline and habits that will keep you coming back from more.

With a 30-day fitness challenge like In It Together, you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck:

• A realistic timeframe that’s motivating and won’t overwhelm you. Because you can do anything for 30 days, right? And you’ll still enjoy a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when you hit that last day.
• Enough time to develop the kinds of healthy habits you want to maintain. And spoiler – one healthy habit begets another. Improving your diet is the only way to really see changes to your physique, and when you’re working your butt off three, four, five days a week, supporting that gym habit in the kitchen gets a littler easier.
• Lots of variation to keep things interesting. If you haven’t checked out our classes yet, you’re in for a treat. We offer classic cardio kickboxing, heavy bag kickboxing, boot camp, an MMA-style interval class, a fitness-yoga fusion class, and traditional vinyasa yoga. And during the challenge, your fitness attendance is unlimited, so you can pick and choose what suits your mood and your schedule.

the real key

No matter what you’re doing in class or at the gym, you won’t see the payoff of all your hard work unless you’re eating mindfully. The importance of cutting out traditional snack foods – the heavily processed junk that isn’t doing anyone any favors – and opting instead for whole, fresh fresh foods (lean meats, high-quality fats, and the right kind of carbs) can’t be overstated if your goal is to get leaner and show off those developing muscles.

So our 30-day fitness challenges help you out there, too. In challenges past, we’ve experimented with everything from strict meal plans to meal guides to macro calculations, with varying degrees of success. Because while we can tell challengers what and when to eat, we can’t make them follow through. That part is entirely on you. But we’ll be there to guide you and reward you for your successes, and that’s something.

So how effective is a 30-day challenge, for real? It depends on how fed up you are with your current habits, how much you’re willing to commit, and how serious you are about making real, lasting change. If any of that applies to you, sign up – and do it now. But first, get a group together. The focus of this challenge is the buddy system, and we’re excited to offer price breaks when you join with friends.

Change is coming, but you have to sign up to move forward.