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Coming off a month of fun, Olympic-inspired workouts, we’re going to keep the momentum going with a 31-day walking and full-body strength training challenge.
This plan is designed to provide a balanced approach to exercise, ensuring that all major muscle groups are engaged with basic strength-training exercises that are great for beginners. It’s a fantastic way to boost your fitness level and overall health while building muscle.
The upper-body workouts will focus on building strength in your arms, shoulders, chest and back, while the lower-body exercises will target your legs, glutes and core. By integrating walking into your routine, you will improve cardiovascular health, increase endurance, and enjoy the benefits of low-impact aerobic exercise.
You can also add the strength workouts to any cardio routine you already have in place, so if you’d rather bike, swim, run or take a HIIT class — go for it!
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A 31-day walking and strength-training plan for beginners
>>Download a printable calendar here
Each week will feature a mix of targeted strength-training exercises and cardio sessions, helping to create variety in your daily routine. By the end of the month, you’ll not only see physical improvements, but also feel a sense of accomplishment and motivation to continue your fitness journey.
New to Start TODAY? Start by making walking a habit with this 30-day plan.
The benefits of strength training
Many people assume the main reason to incorporate strength training into their routine is to tone the body. While strength training does increase muscle mass that can lead to tighter, toned muscles, it’s far from the only benefit.
Strength-training exercises improve bone density and increase flexibility in the joints. Building strength in your muscles also helps improve balance, speed up the metabolism and burn calories. Muscle mass decreases naturally with age, so as you get older, incorporating strength-training workouts into your regimen becomes even more important. Strength training has also been largely associated with preventing injury.
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The health benefits of walking — and why you should mix it up
In addition to strength training, we’ll also continue with our walks to help with cardiovascular health and mobility. This month, I encourage you to up the ante from our typical 20-minute walks and vary your walking times.
Varying the lengths of your walks not only keeps them more interesting and challenging, but also encourages your cardiovascular and muscular system to work in different ways.
Changing it up and keeping your body guessing can help with weight loss (if that’s one of your goals) and improves muscle endurance, stamina and cardiovascular health. Your usual 20 minutes may start to feel easier, and a longer walk may become your new norm, which will burn more calories, speed up your metabolism and improve your circulation.
If walking for 30 or 45 minutes is too much physically, or your schedule doesn’t allow for it, you can break it up throughout the day. Three, ten- or 15-minute bursts is equally as effective as one longer walk. Whether you break it up or do it all in one shot, the point is to increase your time or distance to get in more steps, combat a sedentary lifestyle and speed up your metabolism.
Strength-training routine for beginners
The strength-training plan features five upper-body exercises with dumbbells and five lower-body exercises done using your bodyweight. Perform 10 repetitions of each exercise and then repeat for a total of three rounds. For example, on upper-body days, you’ll do every exercise 10 times, and then once you’ve finished one round, you’ll complete two more rounds.
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If you don’t have dumbbells for the upper-body exercises, you can grab water bottles or soup cans. I recommend starting with 3-pound dumbbells, unless you’ve used weights before and feel comfortable with 5- or 7-pound weights. For upper body and core, start with 10 repetitions. Then, to make things more challenging after a couple of weeks, increase to 15 repetitions.
For lower body, I’ve provided modifications for every exercise. If any of the moves bother your knees, stick with the modifications!
Upper body strength workout
Bicep curl
Grab your dumbbells and start with your arms hanging by your sides. Hug your elbows in toward the side of your body, and then curl the weights up toward your shoulders. Slowly lower them back down. Keep pressing the elbows in toward your side, and be careful not to let your arms swing. If your arms are swinging, your weights may be too heavy.
Overhead press
Stand with your feet as wide as the shoulders and hold one dumbbell in each hand. Bring the dumbbells up to a goal post position at shoulder height. Press the weights up toward the ceiling, so that they are slightly in front of your head (just enough so you can see the weights with your eyes without looking up with your neck). Relax the neck and keep your shoulders down away from the ears. Bring the weights back to the goal post position.
Tricep kickbacks
Holding a weight in each hand, hinge forward at the hips with a flat back. Hug your elbows in toward your sides, and kick the weight toward the back of the room by moving the arm below the elbow only. Feel the back of your arm tighten as you press the arm back, and then release it back to the starting position.
Hug a tree
Hold the weights out to your sides at shoulder height, parallel to the floor. Relax the shoulders down, and then pull the arms toward the front of you as if you’re hugging a tree. Keep the elbows level with your arms — don’t let them dip down — and be conscious of the shoulders starting to raise up. If this happens, it means the weight is too heavy or you’re too fatigued, so you can either perform less reps or decrease the weights.
Serve a platter
Start with your arms at your sides. Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle so that the weights are out in front of you. Reach the arms straight forward, as if you’re serving a platter, and then pull them back in toward you. Keep the palms facing up the entire time.
Lower-body strength workout
Side lunge
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and then step your right foot a few feet to the right as you bend the right knee. Keep the left leg straight, and sink back into your right glute. Press down through the right heel to come up to the starting position. Repeat 10 times and then switch sides.
Modification: Standing side leg raises
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and step the right foot to the right so that your toe is resting on the ground and your weight is in the left foot. Point the foot and engage the quad. Lift the leg up as high as the hip, and lower it down. Repeat 10 times, and then switch to the left leg.
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Stationary lunge
Stand with your feet as wide as your hips and your hands on your hips. Step your left foot back a few feet. This is your starting position. Bend the right knee so that it is over the right ankle, and bend your left knee so that the knee reaches down toward the ground. Look in the mirror and make sure your spine stays straight up and down and that you’re not leaning forward. Press down through the front heel to come up to the starting position. Repeat this 10 times then switch sides.
Modification: Standing leg lifts
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Point your right foot in front of you and squeeze the quad. Lift the leg up almost as high as your hip, and then lower it down. Repeat 10 times and then switch to the left leg.
Squat
Begin standing with your feet as wide as the shoulders, toes pointing forward. Bend at the hips and knees while keeping your heels and toes on the floor. Slowly sit back into a squat position with your chest up, your shoulders back and abs in. Make sure that your knees are not crossing over your toes, and that you are as close to a 90-degree angle as possible. Straighten your legs by pressing into your heels to stand back up. Squeeze your glutes at the top, tilting your pelvis forward.
Modification: Modified squat
Holding onto a counter, chair or table with one hand for balance, step the feet out as wide as the shoulders. Sit your glutes back and bend your knees to lower into a half squat. Keep the knees over the toes and pull the abs in. Press down through the heels to stand back up.
Calf raises (all levels)
Stand with your feet as wide as your hips. Come up onto the toes to lift the heels off of the ground. Then lower the heels down. Repeat 10 times.
Curtsy lunge
Standing on your feet with your feet as wide as your shoulders, step your right foot back behind your left and to the left of your left foot. Bend both knees as you lower down into a lunge in this curtsy position. Then press down through your left heel to bring your right leg back to center.
Modification: Standing with your feet as wide as your hips, balance on your left foot as you bring the right knee up toward your waist in front of you. Lower the foot down.
RHINELADER (WJFW) – Everyone knows exercising is good for you, but it can be intimidating to know where to start. A Rhinelander gym recently celebrated one year of motivating people of all shapes and sizes.
Resident Melissa Bayne-Allison wanted a workout space that was safe and fun, so that exercising was not something to dread but to look forward to.
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“I wanted to create a space that was fun and that was exciting and would create,” said Bayne-Allison, “it would create consistency for people and make sure that they continued to show up for themselves.”
She started Club Vybz just over a year ago out of her home in Rhinelander, but it wasn’t quite meeting her goal.
“My husband and I drove past here and there was a for rent sign in the window and I had kind of been contemplating opening a space like this,” she said, “but I just didn’t know how to get that going.”
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Despite that initial hesitancy, the new space has welcomed in many more people.
Bayne-Allison said, “people really come together, they joke around, they share things with people, you know people come in here and because this is a vulnerable position to be in, working out people do tend to share more about their lives in that and with that comes community and that’s really what this place is about.”
Club Vybz has 40 active members. Since opening, Bayne-Allison has seen how it helps people outside of the club.
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She said, “some people come in here and their confidence might be low and coming in here and accomplishing a workout that they maybe didn’t think that they could do is really rewarding for them and that is a confidence booster and it does really help them go out into the community and do more for themselves.”
There’s one more thing she wants the community to know about Club Vybz.
“The hardest part of the workout is walking through the door, just show up for yourself, if you’re scared, come in, check it out, if the green light is on and the blue door is open, I’m here.”
Club Vybz Fitness is located in Rhinelander on Courtney Street. Hours for exercise classes are posted on the Club Vybz Facebook page.
A model was left red-faced after almost nearly climaxing in her Pilates class while engaging her core.
Fitness model Sarah Lloyd is no stranger to intense training, having competed in ultramarathons and being an avid gymgoer.
The 25-year-old, who hits the gym every day without fail, normally loves working out — but during a recent group session, she “panicked” after a specific ab exercise saw her oxytocin levels rise as she fought back an orgasm.
Sarah Lloyd says she learned she can’t do a specific ab exercise in public after nearly having a “coregasm.” Jam Press/@sarahxlloyd
Lloyd was so “freaked out” by the experience that she is now too afraid to try the same exercise again.
“I found out about my magic orgasm technique by accident,” said the influencer, who has 131,000 Instagram followers.
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“I work out every day; normally, I’ll just hit the gym, but occasionally I’ll take a group class.”
It was at a group class that things started to go a bit different.
“We were doing leg raises and after doing about 10 of them, I started to feel a tingle in my body,” she said. “I thought, ‘Surely that’s not how it’s meant to feel?’
“I was sweating and could feel a similar sensation to what I’d normally experience in bed. As I noticed the climax building, I panicked and had to stop. I don’t know if my heavy breathing gave me away.
“Obviously it felt good — but not right for ab exercises in a gym!”
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“I found out about my magic orgasm technique by accident,” said the influencer, 25. Jam Press/@sarahxlloyd
Coregasms
Nicknamed “coregasms,” exercise-induced orgasms are fairly rare — but certainly not unheard of. Debby Herbenick, a sex researcher and author of “The Coregasm Workout,” estimates that roughly 10% of people have them.
“They generally feel similar to orgasms from vaginal intercourse, but they tend to be more dull, less intense and more tingly,” she told Self.
“They seem to last about the same length of time as orgasms during sex. They occur from exercises that heavily engage the core abdominal muscles.”
Exercise-induced orgasms are fairly rare — about 10% of people have them. Jam Press/@sarahxlloyd
People don’t usually have one on the “third or fourth crunch,” she said, but rather when they fatigue their core muscles.
According to Healthline, the most common exercises to cause them are crunches, leg lifts, knee lifts, hip thrusts, squats and hanging straight leg raises. Situps, weightlifting, climbing, pullups and chinups may also work for men.
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Passing on Pilates
Lloyd, from the Gold Coast, Australia, now has to avoid certain classes to ensure she doesn’t accidentally enjoy herself a little too much during a workout.
“The worst is if I’m in a Pilates class,” she said. “They’ll say to do leg raises but I just have to refuse. I can’t do them or I will literally orgasm.
“None of the instructors have questioned me on it yet and I really hope they don’t.”
Lloyd confided about what happened to a friend who was “baffled” by the confession.
“I’ve never seen her look so shocked,” she said. “My friend had never heard of anything like it and neither had I before I discovered the skill myself.
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“The worst is if I’m in a Pilates class,” said Lloyd. “They’ll say to do leg raises but I just have to refuse. I can’t do them or I will literally orgasm.” Jam Press/@sarahxlloyd
“We don’t know anyone else that can do it — or maybe they’re just too afraid to tell us.”
As for her new challenge — avoiding orgasm — Lloyd can “laugh” about what happened in the class but now carefully structures her workouts to avoid triggering the reaction.
“I’m very structured with my training now, so I know exactly what I’m doing each session. I stick to a routine that works for me and avoids any awkward situations,” she said.
“I always do cardio, followed by two leg days and one arm day. Plus, I’m really in tune with my body after years of intense training. It’s just one of those strange things that you discover about your body.
“You don’t expect surprises like that from ab exercises, but here we are. I can laugh about it now.”
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Lloyd has taken part in six ultramarathons, but she was forced to stop doing them due to a stress fracture in her back.
“I’ve always been into fitness and it is a huge passion of mine,” she said. “Ultramarathons are super hard, hilly and you have to be quite fit to handle them. A lot of them are also on trails, so that makes it harder.”
For years, fitness goals have been narrowly defined by the number on the scale – smaller waists, fewer inches, and a thinner appearance often taking centre stage. But chasing thinness alone can come at a cost, leaving the body weaker, low on energy, and more vulnerable to illness. True fitness is less about how little you weigh and far more about how well your body functions – your strength, stamina, vitality, and ability to perform everyday life with ease.
Dr Chopra offers a refreshing take on fitness! (Unsplash)
Also Read | Cardiologist with 40 years of experience shares practical guide to going gluten-free: ‘Indian food is already 80%…’
Dr Alok Chopra, founder-director and consultant cardiologist at Aashlok Hospital with over 40 years of experience, has offered a refreshingly grounded perspective on what fitness should truly prioritise in 2026. Urging a shift away from superficial goals, he says, “Don’t aim to be thinner. Aim to be fitter!” – a message that reframes fitness as strength, resilience, and long-term well-being rather than mere weight loss.
In an Instagram post shared on January 6, the cardiologist highlights, “2026 isn’t about becoming smaller. It’s about becoming stronger, steadier, and more capable. This year, shift the focus from appearance to vitality, from quick fixes to sustainable strength. Because feeling strong will always matter more than looking thin.”
Health isn’t a size, it’s a state
According to Dr Chopra, the number on the weighing scale tells only part of the story – broader markers such as BMI and overall body health are just as important in assessing true well-being. He states, “The number on the scale does not tell you the whole story. Look at your BMI and overall body health instead.”
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Measure progress in energy, not inches
Most people on their fitness journeys fixate on inches lost, rather than aiming for real fitness – one that also accounts for how strong, fresh, and energised you actually feel. The cardiologist points out, “Are you waking up refreshed and active? Support your body, take your supplements diligently.”
Less shrinking, more strengthening
Fitness should be about building strength and making your muscles more efficient – not simply shrinking your waistline. Dr Chopra raises the important question, “Can your body support your daily life comfortably and efficiently?”
Strong feels better than small
The cardiologist stresses that exercise should be viewed as an act of self-care – a way to strengthen the body and lower disease risk – rather than as a tool for restriction or self-punishment through extreme workouts. Exercising without adequate nourishment may make you thinner, but it also strips away strength, leaving the body weaker in the long run. He states, “Exercise is self-care, not a penalty for eating.”
Choose vitality over vanity
Dr Chopra emphasises the importance of prioritising long-term fitness over quick fixes, noting that short-term weight loss is often unsustainable – leaving you weaker and far more likely to regain the weight just as quickly. He highlights, “Sustainable habits will always be better than crash diets and short-term fixes.”
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. It is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
