A 30-day walking and core challenge that will motivate you to exercise daily

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It's hard to believe it's already September: The unofficial kickoff to fall when we wave goodbye to lazy schedules and fun in the sun for a return back to our normal routine. With a little more structure to our days, this is a great time to recommit to healthy habits (and make fitness a priority again if it was put on the backburner this summer).

Making real progress with your health is all about consistency, so this month we’re going on a walking and core streak to make activity part of your daily routine. The goal? Walk and complete a 5-minute core routine every single day.

30-day walking and core streak challenge

>>Download a printable calendar here

The length of the daily walk is up to you! Some days you may only have time for a walk around the block, whil others you’re able to get out for a solid 30 minutes. What matters is that you set aside some chunk of time to get deliberate steps in.

Your core is one area of the body that you can work every single day — so that’s exactly what we’ll be doing. Five minutes may not seem like a big deal, but the goal is to make moving a habit! By lowering the barrier to getting it done, it will be easier to commit to consistently. (We can all find five minutes, right?) And, it will have a ripple effect: As you build strength, your body will start to crave more. Five minutes will turn into 10 and 10 into 20.

With these accessible workouts, we will ease our way into making movement a daily habit, while tapping our internal reward system to find motivation. You will see how satisfying it is to check off those marks every day! Plus, as your steak grows longer, the non-scale victories will start to rack up.

Tracking progress with non-scale victories (NSVs) 

In addition to checking off your workout every day, I encourage you to track your progress with non-scale victories or NSVs — a tactic that has helped hundreds of our Start TODAY members see real change and stay motivated, without having to step on a scale.

What are NSVs, you may be wondering? Here are some of the many non-scale wins shared by members in our Facebook group:

• Increased energy levels

• Better sleep

• Reduced cravings for unhealthy food

• Better mood

• Spending less money on takeout

• Clothes fitting better/needing smaller sizes

• More confidence and self love

• Improved endurance and stamina

• Reduced joint pain

• Increased strength

• More flexibility

• Improved digestion

• Lower blood pressure

• Lower cholesterol levels

• Reduced blood-sugar levels

• Less shortness of breath

• Improved balance and coordination

• Less bloating

• Better concentration and focus

• Increased water intake

• Reduced stress levels

5-minute standing core workout

This simple standing ab routine will work the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis and obliques. Repeat each exercise 10 times. Initially, it may take about 60 seconds to perform each exercise, but as you master the form, you may be able to complete the circuit two times through in five minutes.

Standing cat and cow

Stand with your feet as wide as your hips. Reach your arms up toward the ceiling as wide as your shoulders. Begin to arch your back and reach back behind you as you breathe in. Then, exhale as you round your back, pull your naval in toward your spine, and reach your arms forward expanding between your shoulder blades for a stretch in your upper back. Think about hollowing out your midsection, or making your stomach concave by pulling your abs in. Then, inhale and reach back up into the arch and stretch. Repeat 10 times.

High-knees marches

Stand with your feet as wide as your hips and your hands on your hips. Exhale as you use your abdominals to bring your right knee up to a 90-degree angle. Inhale as you step the right foot down. Exhale to bring the left knee up to hip height. Inhale to lower it down. Repeat 10 times per side.

Forward knee lift with arm pull

This is a progression from high-knee marches. Start with your feet hips-distance apart and your right foot forward. Reach your arms up toward the ceiling. Exhale to lift the right foot up and bring the right knee in toward your chest as you pull the arms down in front of you. Use your lower abdominals to lift the leg and your upper abdominals to pull the arms down. Then, extend the arms up as you keep the core engaged, and reach the right leg back down and out to the starting position. Repeat 10 times, and then switch to the other side.

Standing oblique twist

Stand with your feet wider than your hips and balance on your right leg. Shift your weight to your right leg and reach your arms above your head on a slight diagonal. Exhale as you bring the knee across the midline of your body and reach your arms so that your hands touch your knee in the center of your torso. Then inhale to bring the leg and arms back to the starting position. Work the obliques here as you repeat 10 times, and then switch sides.

Standing side crunch

Stand with your feet as wide as your hips. Place your hands behind your head with elbows out to the sides. Bend your right knee out to the side and lift it up as you crunch your right elbow down toward your right knee, engaging the right side waist. Exhale as you crunch, and inhale to come up to center. Repeat 10 times, then switch sides.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com