Have you ever made a new year resolution to sweat it out at the gym daily that year- a fresh beginning and a refreshing start? But then you felt overwhelmed with the sheer amount of contradictory information and tips available online.
With each passing day, your motivation to work out kept dwindling until you slid back to your earlier routine.
Well, that’s just most of us. But, no sweat! Because, according to the guidelines by American Medical Association, half an hour of exercise daily is necessary to stay healthy.
But no need to worry if you are tight on schedule and can’t manage to travel to the gym. You can buy essential gym equipment online and start working out at home.
To make it easier for you, we have listed seven effective ways to stay fit. We have chosen a few rudimentary exercises that you can squeeze into your schedule even on your busiest day. These are a combination of aerobic exercise and strength training for the overall development of your muscles.
Lunges
Essentially a resistance exercise like lunges strengthens the lower part of your body. It has an overall effect on your glutes, calves, and hamstring. Lunges can be made in multiple ways and from multiple angles. Here is a simple guideline to do lunges properly-
- Stand up straight
- Bring one foot forward and stretch the other one. Keep your hands in a resting position on the waist. Then slowly lunge forward and try to bring your rear knee parallel to the ground.
- While doing that, keep in mind that your front knee should not cross the toe.
- Go back to the starting position and repeat with the other foot in the front.
While doing lunges, you can hold a dumbbell in each hand or do a walking lunge, side lunge to get more out of this simple exercise.
Squats
Rear back pain is a common problem for office workers. Working for longer hours stiffens the muscles at our back.
The squat is the perfect exercise for your lower body which involves most of the major muscles in that area. To do a squat, follow these steps-
- Position your feet slightly wider than your shoulder-width or hip-width, whichever suits better for you.
- Keep your chest up and torso straight. Then, push your hips backwards, parallel to the ground.
- If you can’t keep your balance at first, use a chair.
- Stay in that position for a few seconds and then get back to the starting position.
Pushups
Push-up is one of the most basic and most effective exercises. It engages the muscles of your chest, abdomen, and triceps areas.
- Balance yourself on your hands and toes. Keep your arms shoulder-width apart and your legs slightly wider than your hip-width.
- Breathing is essential while doing pushups. Inhale deeply while bending your elbows and lowering yourself towards the floor.
- While coming back to the starting position, exhale slowly.
- You must keep your elbows close to the torso all the while.
Dumbbell Rows
The dumbbell row is an essential muscle-building exercise. It requires just a dumbbell, the most basic gym equipment available online.
Pick any moderate weight dumbbell and follow these simple steps-
- Hold two dumbbell rows with a hammer grip and put your arms shoulder-width apart.
- Bend towards the ground until your torso is horizontal to the ground or at least at a 45-degree angle.
- Let the dumbbells hang from your side with your shoulders stretched towards the ground.
- Then pull up the weight by bending your elbow while engaging your torso too.
- Exhale while pulling the dumbbells up and inhale while putting them down.
- Once you get comfortable with this, you can do one arm Dumbbell rows while keeping the other arm on a flat bench.
Treadmill
Treadmills help burn calories faster than other types of aerobic exercises. It helps in weight loss and is suitable for your cardiovascular muscles. As you need to keep a steady heart rate throughout the exercise, it is especially beneficial for cardiovascular problems.
Using a treadmill has multiple benefits. For one, you are in full control of the speed, incline, and warm-up period. A treadmill with the latest technologies lets you design custom programs based on your comfort.
Furthermore, more than one user can set up their preferred routine. Most importantly, you can run on a treadmill while doing other things like watching the tv or listening to your favorite album.
Indoor Cycling
While cycling outdoors might be a preferable option for some, for others, lack of open space around their locality is a major problem.
Indoor cycling is also a more beneficial exercise for people living in humid areas. And like a treadmill, you can juggle between work while exercising.
According to a study, 150 minutes of indoor cycling can positively impact your body and mind. A lot of top-notch bikes are now available on the market. You can choose different types of spin-bikes with myriad facilities.
Clean and Jerk
Clean and Jerk is a dynamic exercise that involves the quads, back, shoulder, and core muscles of your body. It is undoubtedly not the easiest of all, but learning to do it properly pays a dividend.
For this, you will need a barbell, easily available gym equipment that you can buy online. To do a clean and jerk properly, follow these steps-
- Keep your feet slightly wider than hip-width. Stretch your arms at shoulder length so that your posture covers the length of the burble.
- During the first pull or the deadlift, you have to pull the barbell above your knee while keeping your spine in a neutral position and your torso slightly braced.
- Then pull the barbell above your hip level. Rotate your elbows into a front-rack position.
- Squat down to catch the barbel over your shoulder.
- Dip down a little bit to gain momentum and throw your body upward to drive the bar over your head.
While it might seem a bit intimidating at first, doing exercise regularly definitely eases the process. With modern gym equipment readily available online, it has become easier to work out at home at your leisure. These are just a few of the most basic routine workouts you can do at home. With time and effort, you can always take it to the next level.
