Day 28 is the last lighter day of the program, and it goes back to the position where these days began. The circuit is alternating arm and leg raises, knee-to-elbow, back arches and back extensions - 30 seconds each, three of them on all fours and the last face down. Four weeks of core work sit behind this card, and this is the one that has been paying for them.
Every panel here works the back of your torso. Alternating arm and leg raises hold the trunk still while opposite limbs reach long, training the stability that every plank in this program has been drawing on. Knee-to-elbow adds movement to that same base, folding the extended arm and leg together underneath the body before reaching them long again. Back arches take the spine through its full round-and-hollow range, which is exactly what four weeks of flexion work makes valuable. Back extensions close it face down, strengthening the long muscles either side of the spine - the exercise this program has come back to more often than any other, and the reason your lower back has survived a month of daily abs work.
In the arm and leg raises, reach away rather than up and keep the hips level. In knee-to-elbow, extend fully before you fold; the reach is half the exercise. Take the back arches slowly and let each part of your spine move in turn. In back extensions, keep the lift modest, hold briefly at the top and let your neck follow the line of your spine.
The last of the lighter days - and the reason the other twenty-two were possible.
Make it Harder: Save it for tomorrow; today, make every position bigger and more deliberate rather than heavier.
Make it Easier: Split the alternating arm and leg raises - arm only for the first half, leg only for the second.
