I’m amazed to have stuck with a challenge for this long, but it was only when I’d started to do my leg raises first thing in the day, as part of my morning routine, that I started to feel any real accomplishment. Emma Storey-Gordon, coach and founder of ESG Fitness, sheds some light on that feeling, explaining: “Starting your day with a positive is so simple and underrated. It impacts every decision you make for the rest of the day.”

She goes on to explain: “The benefit of a morning routine has nothing to do with the specifics and everything to do with simply starting your day in a positive way. That, in itself, will influence the rest of your day.”

As for how I benefited physically from 30 days of leg raises? Well, my core strength has definitely got better, judging not just from the improvement when performing this particular move, but also when doing other abdominal-focused exercises. I’ve also noticed a better range of flexibility in my hip flexors and, it might just be my imagination, but I’m pretty sure my glutes have reaped some rewards too. One added benefit that I definitely hadn’t anticipated is a reduction in the amount of bloating I experience. I frequently suffer from a distended stomach as the result of IBS, so I’m now a total leg-raise convert.

“I tried a 30-day leg raise challenge – here’s how much stronger my core got in one month”