Challenges

A challenge is a plan with a start date and a shared pace. You begin on the same day as everyone else taking part and move through the stages in parallel. For a lot of people it is the date in the calendar, and knowing they are not doing it alone, that decides whether they finish — the plan itself may be identical and the outcome is not.

Challenges differ in length and intent. Some are short, a few days, meant to break a plateau or get back into rhythm after a holiday; others are multi-week transformations with every day laid out. Each states who it is for, how long it runs, what it asks of you and what level it expects.

Before signing up, check the start date and whether that stretch of time looks realistic for you. A challenge begun in a week with three trips away tends to end on day three, and does more to put you off than to help.

If you would rather start whenever you like and go at your own pace without watching the calendar, some of these programmes are also available as training plans.