How To Prepare For The 4-Week Sweat Challenge

So you’ve decided to join thousands of women around the world for the 4-Week Sweat Challenge? Amazing. We’re SO glad to have you here and can’t wait to get started on Monday 12 January 2026.

No matter where you’re at on your fitness journey, the Sweat Challenge is the perfect opportunity to have some fun, commit to your health and fitness goals, nourish your body and launch into 2026 feeling confident, empowered and strong.

This time you've got five Sweat Challenge programs to choose from, and they're all created with your goals in mind, whether you want to get strong, fit, run-ready, feel more balanced, or simply get started.

Before the Sweat Challenge begins, here are a few things that might help you as you get ready to smash the four weeks ahead. Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be nervous about. Your chosen trainer and the Sweat Community will be cheering you on and sweating alongside you every step of the way. You’ve got this!

Register and select your program

If you haven’t already, make sure you’ve registered for the Sweat Challenge in the Sweat app and selected your program. There are five programs to choose from based on your fitness goal:

• Get strong: Ultimate Strength with Kayla Itsines

• Get fit: The Body Burner 2.0 (it's had a refresh!) with Kayla Itsines

• Get run ready: The Run Up 2.0 (another refresh!) with Katie Martin

• Get started: The Baseline with Britany Williams

• Get balanced: The Pulse with Katie Martin

You can find out more about all of the programs here, but if you want to try before you decide, we’ve got you. In the lead-up to the Sweat Challenge, a selection of workouts will be featured at the top of the On Demand section so you can have a sneak peek or try them out to find your perfect fit.

Get familiar with the Sweat app

If you’re new to Sweat, take a look through the different tabs to get familiar with how to use the app and figure out which features will help you the most. The Planner tool is going to be especially helpful for planning your weekly workouts and recovery days around your other commitments, or you might use the exercise substitution feature to make easy swaps. The Activity tab is helpful for an intuitive, easy glance at how you’re progressing each day and week.

If being a part of the Sweat Community is your top priority, head over to the Community tab - it’s an awesome place to be part of the Sweat Community discussions in the Forum and be in to win prizes!

Equip yourself!

Make sure you’ve got everything you need for your training and recovery, such as workout clothes, shoes, a drink bottle and headphones. 

If you’re working out at home, you might need a few pieces of equipment like dumbbells, a yoga mat, a resistance band or skipping rope depending on your Sweat Challenge program. If you’re going to complete your program in the gym, check out these gym bag essentials, make sure your membership is ready to go and get familiar with the facilities so you can hit the ground running. 

Here’s a breakdown of the equipment you’ll need for each Sweat Challenge program:

• Ultimate Strength with Kayla: Train in the gym using machines and free weights OR at home with dumbbells, a bench, booty band, long resistance band, barbell, plate, and two steps.

• The Body Burner 2.0 with Kayla: Dumbbells, a resistance band, a skipping rope and a bench.

• The Baseline with Britany: Dumbbells, bench, chair, resistance bands

• The Run Up 2.0 with Katie: Dumbbells, barbell and weight plates, booty band, bench, kettlebell, Swiss ball, box.

• The Pulse with Katie: Dumbbells, long resistance band, booty band and Pilates ball (or rolled-up towel).

Connect with the Sweat Community

As well as engaging in the forum, you can follow @Sweat and your trainer on Instagram for tips, videos, encouragement and laughs, or to connect with other women from around the world. You can also use the #SweatChallenge tag to find and follow other women who are doing the Sweat Challenge!

Let your goals lead the way

Every Sweat Challenge program is designed to help you smash a specific fitness goal, but we also encourage you to think about what YOU want to get out of the Sweat Challenge. How do you want to feel at the end of the four weeks? Are there specific things you want to achieve by the end? On days when you've got no motivation, what will keep you going?

After all, so much of your fitness progress and wins along the way aren’t about how you look, but how you feel.

Nutrition is key

Fueling your body with nutritious foods plays a big part in helping you achieve your health and fitness goals, and during the Sweat Challenge, you’re going to have more energy for your workouts and improve your recovery if you’re keeping your body nourished and hydrated.

As part of the Sweat Challenge, we have three meal plans available to help you power your progress - a standard option for meat-eaters, plus vegetarian and vegan versions. Our meal plans can take the guesswork out of cooking and shopping, so feel free to use them as much or as little as you like.

Everyone has different preferences, budgets and time available, so decide what will help set YOU up each week to fuel your body and do what you can to get ready for the next week, whether that’s a weekly food shop, choosing recipes in the app or doing some meal prep.

We know the cost of living crisis is having an impact on our grocery bills, so take a look at these hacks to help you save at the supermarket checkout.

Find your support crew

Creating new healthy habits is exciting and feels great, but it can be tough at times. Find someone encouraging and let them know you're doing the Sweat Challenge, what your goal is, and how you might need their support during the six weeks. 

If being held accountable is a big motivator for you, you could ask them to send you a weekly message checking how many workouts you’ve completed or how you’re tracking towards your goals. If you find it hard to stay motivated, maybe a few encouraging texts throughout the week would keep you feeling driven.

Even better - get someone (in person or in spirit) to do the Sweat Challenge with you (or get them to do it with you!).  Having a workout buddy is a great way to create some accountability and make your workouts more fun.

Know the signs of improvement

When you’re participating in the Sweat Challenge, it’s normal to want to see progress or results, and those changes can often be a big motivator. But we've said it before, and we'll say it again; so many improvements worth celebrating aren't visible in a mirror. Even if you're chasing physical changes, don't forget to look for other signs, like improved sleep, better energy or mood, feeling stronger, reduced stress, or even enjoying healthy meals more.

This guide can also give you an idea of how long different elements of fitness progress can take!

Time to get moving

Whether you’re no stranger to the Sweat Challenge or this is your first time working out in a while, it’s a good idea to get your body moving in the days or weeks leading up to the start of the Sweat Challenge. This could be your usual workout routine if you’re a long-term Sweat member, trying a few workouts from the On Demand section, or something more gentle like walking, cycling, jogging and stretching to prepare your body for the regular movement to come.