You don’t need a gym membership to be fit. There are a whole lot of exercises that you can do at home to keep fit and in shape. Regular physical exercise is the best thing you can do for yourself to maintain your health. Being physically active can improve your brain health, help manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities.
Stretching and doing some simple exercises each day can help increase your life expectancy and make you active for the day. Below is our collection of the best beginner exercises to try at home, coupled with an explanation of what makes that move useful. If you’re struggling to put these moves into a workout routine, don’t worry. We’ve also included a selection of the best workouts for you to try.
Press Up
How to do it: Get down into a press-up position with your hands placed shoulder-width apart and back flat, so a straight line forms from your head to heels, via your glutes. Lower your body until your chest is an inch from the ground then explosively drive up by fully extending your arms.
Why: This move uses multiple muscle groups for maximum growth and strengthens your shoulder joints. Easily done as an exercise at home, this prepares you for progression to the more demanding shoulder exercises you’ll face in a gym, like an incline bench press.
Skipping
How to do it: Grab the rope at both ends. Use your wrists to flick it around your body, jumping to clear the rope as it hits the ground. Make the move more intense with double unders – letting the rope pass around your twice for every jump.
Why: The ultimate no-nonsense workout, the jumping rope could be the most efficient form of cardio. A study that found just 10 minutes a day with the rope was similar to 30 minutes of jogging.
Burpees
How to do it:
From a standing position squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor and place your palms on the floor. From there kick your feet back as far as you can while keeping your arms extended. As soon as your feet land jump them back in towards your hands, then jump up into the air. Land and immediately squat down to go into the next rep.
Why: When it comes to burning fat at home, few moves can do better than the burpee. Perfect for frying fat with zero equipment, work these into your home workout routine to ramp up your heart rate or set yourself daily challenges.
Plyometric, Jumping Lunges
How to do it: Lunge forward until your rear knee is almost touching the ground. Jump into the air, bringing your rear foot forward and the front foot back. Land in a lunge and repeat. Land on both feet simultaneously to cushion the impact on your joints.
Why: Just like burpees, these are perfect for building up your cardiovascular system, but will also help you build faster, more powerful quadriceps. Ideal if your leg day has taken a hit.
Spiderman Press Up
How to do it: Get into a traditional press-up position. Lower yourself toward the floor and bring your right knee to your right elbow, keeping it off the ground. Press back up and return your leg to the starting position. Repeat with the alternate leg.
Why: Perfect if you’re looking to get some mobility in before a workout or just want to switch up your chest routine, Spiderman press-ups are the perfect alternative if you are looking to scale things up.
You can start with these five for now, I’ll get part 2 ready soon. Take care!
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