We Did It! Highlights From The Sweat Challenge

Congratulations, Sweat Community! Over the last six weeks we started the second half of the 2023 strong, set our fitness goals and came together to Sweat. Through the ups and downs, you supported each other and completed the Sweat Challenge!

Be proud of what you’ve achieved!

From July 17 almost 60,000 of us participated in the Sweat Challenge! There were members of the Sweat Community from 184 countries who completed almost 500,000 workouts! Alongside your trainer, you completed rep after rep, sharing your struggles and go-to tips for digging deep and achieving your goals as we got stronger together.

We came together and committed

When you first signed up for the Sweat Challenge, six weeks might have seemed like a long time to commit to your fitness goals, but you challenged yourself and pushed through each week! 

For some of you, this was the first challenge you’ve completed and we applaud you. You were patient and persistent, and you made the promise to keep showing up. 

For trainer Brit Williams, who recently became a mum and is finding her new fitness groove again with baby Blake to juggle, it was important to remind herself and her community about the importance of ditching perfectionism. 

“I know so many of you can relate to the feeling that if your workout isn’t perfect or if it isn’t hard or you didn’t sweat buckets that you aren’t good enough or you feel guilty. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realised nothing ever goes to plan and nothing really ever is perfect, especially when it comes to workouts.”

“Each day, instead of having this ideal of what it’s going to look or feel like, show up with what you have and then just be happy with the result. Consistency is most important in working out. Try to move more days than you don’t and stop worrying about the actual result of the individual workout. If you’re putting in your best effort, whatever that looks like, you’re still going to get the most out of your fitness routine.”

We found discipline and challenged ourselves

It was sometimes hard to find the motivation to exercise after work, after the family were all asleep, or simply on those days when you’re feeling the fatigue that can come with getting back into a consistent routine, but you did it! Some of you even got your families and friends involved with at-home or virtual workouts. 

You pushed yourselves, smashed your weekly sessions and inspired the Sweat Community! 

Three weeks into the Sweat Challenge, Sharon shared about how proud she was, given she had restarted her fitness journey only a couple of weeks before the challenge began. 

“I am pretty damn proud that I can now say I’ve worked out six weeks in a row three or more times each week. At the end of this 6-week challenge I’ll be able to say I did nine weeks straight!” 

Ale came down with pneumonia a week before the challenge began - the setback of all setbacks - but took it in her stride as an opportunity to reframe her fitness journey and her relationship with her body.

“Now that I am recovering from pneumonia, my goals are totally different,” she explained. “I would like to keep feeling good to complete the challenge, start taking some rest days to recover, and listen to my body every time.”

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We learned from each other

During the Sweat Challenge, you could follow your favourite trainers on Instagram for updates, exercise demos and all sorts of motivational talks and tips through their Sweat Challenge broadcast channels to help you feel motivated, informed and ready to achieve your goals. 

“Every day during the challenge I am PUSHING myself to make better decisions for my health,” Kayla shared. “Some days are easy, some days are hard, some days life happens and it is a complete disaster… But I am doing my best and that’s all we can ever do.”

Kelsey Wells shared her single most important tip for personal growth and success - getting your mindset right and fostering a growth mindset. 

“Like I always say— your perspective is the most formative force in your life. You need to foster a growth mindset if you want to see success in any area of your life— and that starts with actually believing that you can, that growth and change and reaching your goals is real and possible.”

Something Katie Martin was often asked was how to know when to increase your weights, and she had the workout wisdom to make it easy. 

“When you’re doing a higher number of reps and your weights start to feel easy and you feel like you could go on to do another five or seven reps, your weights are too light. That’s when I want you to increase your weight. Even if it’s only two or three kilograms - it doesn’t have to be crazy - increase your weights so that your exertion level continues to feel about seven out of 10! This is absolutely paramount to your success and progression with strength training.”

Brit also shared an important reminder that this challenge is about so much more than what you achieve physically.

“The mental transformation is just as important as the physical one - if not MORE,” she says. 

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We supported each other

Whether you experienced moments of self-doubt, got sick or missed part of the challenge for any other reason, the Sweat Community supported and encouraged each other. 

You were patient and took your health seriously, caring for your body so you could get back into your workouts because you know you’re in this for the long game. 

You recognised that healthy habits are about so much more than how you train, sharing everything from meal prep ideas to motivation hacks with each other as we finished the challenge strong!

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We celebrated our wins together 

For those who’ve been with Sweat for a while, we loved to see you sharing your progress and celebrating your wins with the community! 

Whether you’ve tried a new training style, started a new habit or discovered motivation you didn’t know you had, your achievements are amplified when you share them with women going through a similar journey!

“I am feeling happy, strong and confident I will not only finish this but achieve the goal of making fitness part of my life again,” Sharon shared, reflecting on the power of community to keep you going. “I love following the weekly threads in the Sweat Forum and seeing hundreds of women cheering each other on - it’s so empowering!”

Throughout the entire challenge, the Forum was buzzing with members sharing their stories, wins and challenges, asking questions and supporting each other, and we gave away Aje Athetica vouchers every week to the value of $500 and $1000. Nothing like fresh workout gear to keep your motivation high!

We will keep going strong together

Now that this Sweat Challenge is over, you don’t have to wait for the next challenge to continue your training. You can keep going towards your health and fitness goals (or set new ones!) and build on your progress. You've got this!

What to do after the Sweat Challenge

Before you even think about the next step in your fitness journey, take a moment to feel proud of how far you’ve come and take some rest if you need it. This is the time to celebrate your achievements!

When you’re ready to continue, you’ve got a few options for how to Sweat next. For the first time ever, all four of the new challenge programs are remaining in the app after the challenge ends, as well as having six new weeks of workouts added! This means you can choose from:

• Repeating your Sweat Challenge program from the beginning
• Continuing your Sweat Challenge program from week seven
• Pick up with your previous Sweat program where you left off
• Choose a completely different program 

For those of you who are new to Sweat and want to keep going with your Sweat Challenge trainer or a similar training style, take a look at these programs.

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Kayla’s programs: 

• OG Kayla
• Low Impact with Kayla Itsines
• High Intensity Zero Equipment with Kayla Itsines
• High Intensity with Kayla Itsines
• High Intensity Strength with Kayla Itsines
• Kayla's Post-Pregnancy
• HIIT Cardio & Abs with Kayla Itsines
• Energy Boost Challenge with Kayla
• Ab Burn Challenge with Kayla
• Dynamic High Intensity with Kayla Itsines

Kelsey’s programs: 

• Low Impact Strength with Kelsey Wells
• PWR Zero Equipment
• PWR
• PWR at Home
• PWR Post-Pregnancy
• Strong Glutes Challenge with Kelsey
• Redefine Fitness: Strength and Mindfulness with Kelsey

• PWR Express

Katie's programs: 

• Strength & Sculpt
• Strength & Pilates

Britany's programs: 

• Barre with Britany
• High Intensity Barre with Britany Williams
• Ignite Strength
• Strength & Barre

Remember that you can always change your program at any time in the Sweat app by tapping your profile and ‘Manage My Program’. If you like to mix up your training style, you can access thousands of workouts in the On Demand tab.

And if you have any questions or concerns, the Sweat team is here to help!

Join the community to keep your momentum going!

If you haven’t already started using the Sweat Forum we’d love to have you join in. Here you can share your fitness journey, ask or reply to questions, and connect with women training all over the world.  

It’s been so amazing to have all of you join us for the 6-week Sweat Challenge and we hope you take some time to celebrate your achievements! We would love to know, what are you planning on next?