Maintaining fitness and nutrition habits can be a taxing process if you’re embarking on these changes alone. If you struggle with self-discipline or feel that you can accomplish more, then a workout challenge might be the lifestyle boost you need. The F45 Challenge is more than a fitness and nutrition plan, it’s about keeping you accountable and motivated so that you can forge long-term habits that benefit your overall health and wellbeing. With the assistance of world-class trainers, the F45 Challenge is about rewiring your approach to fitness and helping you set achievable goals with clear progress markers. If you’re toying with the idea of joining your first F45 Challenge or you want to learn how you can maximise your next one, explore our guide below.
What is included in the F45 fitness challenge?
The F45 Challenge is a guided 45-day program that combines F45 group workouts with nutrient-rich meal plans. You can think of the F45 Challenge as your personal fitness motivator, equipping you with the knowledge and tools to build a sustainable workout routine and holistically improve your health. The F45 Challenge includes:
- Functional resistance, cardio, hybrid and recovery F45 workouts from highly passionate, qualified instructors
- Daily customised meal plans with auto-generated shopping lists
- Nutrition guidance and macro-balanced recipes with meat, vegan and vegetarian options
- Fitness and goal tracking via the F45 Challenge App.
How to prepare for the F45 Challenge
The key to preparing for the F45 Challenge is to kickstart the program with a positive attitude, an open mindset and realistic expectations. It’s important to recognise that every workout, weight loss or weight loss maintenance plan requires consistency and a balance of healthy habits, including strength training and holistic nutrition. Remember that you can lean on the support of your F45 community if your motivation wanes across the 45 days. For now, our F45 experts have shared their top tips to help you get the most out of your fitness challenge:
- Make nutrition and strength training a priority
- Be ready to make sustainable lifestyle adjustments
- Ask your trainers questions along the way
- Be patient, don’t expect results all at once
- Plan and track your health goals
- Engage with other F45 Challengers
Let’s dive into these tips in a little more detail.
Prioritise nutrition
At F45, we know that good nutrition requires balance. In fact, restrictive diets can ultimately prove counterintuitive to your health plan¹. Before embarking on your challenge, it’s important to have a good grasp on what is fact vs fiction when it comes to nutrition. Instead of eliminating food groups, the F45 Challenge focuses on incorporating a variety of nutrients, vitamins and minerals into your diet. Our aim is to foster a positive relationship with food that gives you energy and sets you up for long-term health and success.
Make lifestyle adjustments
We like to think of our fitness challenge as a blueprint for future habits like muscle gain and healthy food intake, rather than a crash course in fitness and nutrition. To get the most out of the F45 Challenge, our trainers recommend 4-5 workouts per week. Government health officials recommend 2 days of strength training to help build lean muscle mass and 2.5-5 hours of moderate exercise. Alternatively, you can perform 1.25-2.5 hours of high-intensity exercise (or an equivalent combination) in conjunction with your resistance training. These health- recommended exercise plans are ideally to be accumulated over the week.² Since F45 workouts are 45-minutes long, you can easily cover these hours with a combination of resistance training, cardio and recovery.
Seek out guidance from trainers
Your F45 trainers are here to guide you through your workout challenges. Before and during the F45 Challenge, discuss your goals with your trainer at your F45 studio. For instance, if your goal is to build more lean muscle mass, you might want to prioritise more resistance workouts. If your objective is to improve your physical endurance and stamina, you can make cardio a larger focus of your 45-day challenge.
Monitor your goals
Goal setting is often used as a strategy to encourage physical activity. What’s more, goals tend to be most effective when they are self-set within realistic parameters by the individual.³ F45 recommends following the SMART goal method when crafting your specific goals. Being able to track your goal progression and receive positive feedback throughout the program will help you persevere through the 45-day challenge and establish healthy lifestyle habits post-challenge. The F45 training app allows you to monitor your challenge journey, including F45 meals, water intake, sleep and workouts so that you can stay motivated outside of your group training.
Be patient with yourself
Consistency and patience are essential to the success of any fitness challenge. If it’s your first challenge or you’re pushing yourself with another one, be patient because there will be tough patches. F45 are big believers in celebrating the small wins – whether that’s nailing your meal prep with F45 meal recipes, hitting a personal record or showing up for a class when you felt like putting it off. We don’t drag our feet to the finish line, we savour every little victory across the 45 days.
Socialise with other F45 challengers
A major F45 ethos is fostering a sense of community between members and trainers, particularly during workout challenges. We encourage you to view your F45 gym as your team – and teammates encourage and motivate each other. F45 Challenges are built around group training and coaching, allowing you to mingle with other F45 Challengers. Studies show that social support can increase your enjoyment of physical exercise and thereby promote greater engagement, physical output and feelings of achievement.4 Stay connected outside of group workouts with the F45 app so you can share progress updates and success markers with your F45 community.
Stay consistent, stay motivated: Steffi’s expert advice
Okay, we know what you’re thinking: ‘Staying motivated is easy said than done!’
So, to help, we’ve chatted to F45 trainer Steffi Alexander for her top tips and strategies on how to stay motivated throughout your F45 Challenge journey:
Lean on the support of your F45 coaches
“To stay consistent and motivated throughout the F45 Challenge and achieve the best results, rely on the support of your coaches and utilise the tools provided to track your goals and daily progress. This integrated support system equips you with the knowledge to maintain your results, even after the Challenge ends – and so makes it easier to commit to the healthy lifestyle you want.
Plan, plan, plan!
“Plan your meals for the week in advance,” Steffi adds, “and create a shopping list to stay prepared and on track. Share your meals and experiences with your fellow F45 community members to stay engaged and motivated.
“Don’t just plan your meals, either – plan your workouts. By using a calendar to schedule your workouts, you’ll know exactly how your day is looking, which makes it easier to stay focused on your goals.”
Utilise the F45 Challenge app
“The Challenge app allows you to personalise your experience: providing tailored recommendations based on your body type, weekly session frequency, daily activity, and personal goals. The app will also equip you with customised meal plans that offer multiple options that align with your nutritional objectives.
“You’ll also find insightful articles and guidance on the app, to help you as you take on the F45 Challenge. Remember, knowledge is power!”
If you’re looking for additional motivation between F45 Challenges, explore our guide to building a sustainable workout routine.
1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7538029/
2 www.health.gov.au/topics/physical-activity-and-exercise/physical-activity-and-exercise-guidelines-for-all-australians
3 https://eudl.eu/pdf/10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2012.248691
4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8443045/
