by Andy Bell
These simple exercises will keep your body fit whether you perform them at home or the office.
Keeping fit is a great way of living a happy and healthy life. One way of achieving this is by doing regular exercises.
Regular exercises in the morning will make you look and feel better throughout the day. In addition, it will reduce your chances of getting medical problems like diabetes, hypertension, heart attack, and high cholesterol.
Simple exercises combined with other methods will enhance your chances of staying fit and healthy. A good example is taking a glass of smoothie mixed with a 1/4 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and garcinia cambogia and powder routinely after exercises. This practice will boost your chances of losing weight.
Top 12 Simple Exercises to Keep Your Body Fit
In order to burn calories and keep your body strong, it is recommended to do at least a 10-minute workout every day and combine it with a proper calorie burning technique. A pair of dumbbells will provide you a proper calorie burning technique for your workouts. The following are the 12 simple exercises you can do at home:
1) Cardiovascular Workouts
This is a good exercise to get your heart pumping. In addition, it will balance the food flow in your body and improve the intake of air. Burning fat is the main objective of carrying out cardiovascular workouts. These workouts also help in building your muscles and improving your overall health. Jogging, brisk walking, cycling, and aerobics are some of the ways of doing cardiovascular workouts. Spot jogging can be done indoors especially if you can’t go outside for warm-up. Dancing to your favorite song is another way of achieving this objective.
2) Jump Squats
This is a good exercise for most starters as it doesn’t require the use of the dumbbells. All you are required to do is to push yourself up from a squat position by jumping. As you land back on your feet, ensure you lower yourself back into the squad position. To get a good balance, ensure you hold your fists tightly in front of you.
3) Pile Squats
This is a version of squat exercises that can be performed using a dumbbell. This exercise strengthens the gluten, leg, and abdominal muscles. To do pile squats, follow the following procedure:
- a) Start off by placing the feet 2 to 4 inches wider than the shoulders while the toes are pointed at a 45-degree angle.
- b) Use both hands to grab onto the dumbbell located at the center of your body. Ensure your back remains straight while your knees are slightly bent.
- c) Squat down in a way like you are going to sit on a chair. Ensure your thighs are in a parallel position to the floor.
- d) Return to the starting position in a controlled movement.
- e) Repeat the process as many times as you can.
4) Bicep Curl and Stair climb
Climbing stairs can keep your body healthy and active by toning your legs. Bicep curl on the other hand will keep you healthy by strengthening your arms. To do this exercise effectively, ensure you have a flight of stairs in front of you. You then hold the dumbbells and climb the stairs while doing the bicep curls along the way. Repeat the process a number of times. You should be able to feel the burning effect in your arms and legs as you do these exercises.
5) Hip extension
This exercise stretches your hip so as to improve your balance. It also strengthens your legs, shoulders, lower, mid, and upper back. To do this exercise:
- a) Stand straight while your hands are holding the dumbbells.
- b) You then extend your right leg backwards while placing your toe on the floor.
- c) Using your hips, you then lean to the front while lifting the right leg behind you.
- d) Stretch your arms out while bringing your chest towards the floor to form a T with the shoulders. Ensure the head and the neck remains straight.
- e) Repeat the exercise at least 10 times for each leg.
6) The Plank
This exercise doesn’t require the use of dumbbells. In doing this exercise, you will require to lie face-down on the floor. You then put the elbows on the floor and use them as support to lift yourself up. Ensure the body remains in a straight position from the head to the ankles. Pull inside the abdominal muscles as tight as you can and remain in that position for about one minute.
7) Jackknife
This exercise is meant to increase your flexibility within the core area. To do a jackknife exercise:
- a) Lie flat on your back having a rolled-up towel at the lower end for support.
- b) Tighten your abdominal muscles while stretching out the arms above your head.
- c) You then lift up the legs and try to touch the stretched arms above the body.
- d) Lower both the legs and the arms and repeat the exercise.
Placing the legs straight above the body and touching them using your hands may make this exercise much easier.
8) Push-up and Side Plank
You can do a regular push-up by placing your hands wider than the shoulders and straightening the legs behind you. As you continue with the push-ups, ensure your body remains in a straight line and your abdominal muscles are pulled in. Finish each push-up with a side plank.
9) Lunges With Chest Flies
You will require dumbbells to do this exercise. Hold the dumbbells in each hand and place the right leg slightly forward. With your right leg knee bend, drop the left leg until the knee almost gets to the ground. As you do this, ensure your arms are stretched to the sides. For the chest fly, restore the body into the standing position and then press your hands to the front. Continue the lunge and the chest fly for about a minute. Repeat the process using the other leg.
10) Lunges with Triceps Kickback
Having done the lunges with chest flies, you can move to this exercise. In this exercise, you will stand in a straight position while holding dumbbells in your hands. You then put the right leg behind and bend the knee to almost touching the floor. The next thing is to bend the left knee in front and place the elbows close to the body while your arms are bent. For the triceps kickback, you straighten the arms behind as you leave the lunge position. You then return to the starting position and repeat the process for about a minute.
11) Lunges and Back Row
This exercise enhances posture and strengthens the muscles in the arms, legs, shoulders, mid and upper back while toning them. It also improves hip flexibility. To do this exercise, put yourself in a lunge position while holding your dumbbells. You then lower the chest towards the thighs while stretching your arms downwards. Ensure you avoid hunching and your back remains straight. You then move the elbows backward while straightening your front feet and squeezing in your shoulder blade. Repeat the process at least 10 times for each leg.
12) Push-ups with Hips Extensions
This exercise will strengthen your shoulders and core muscles. It also helps in shrinking and toning your arms. In this exercise, you will do a regular push-up but using your hands and knees as opposed to using your feet. This can be done by lifting up the right leg to the back and stretching it out as much as possible. As you do this, pull the belly button in so as to tighten the core muscles. You then lower the chest to the ground until both elbows come to an angle of 90 degrees. You then push yourself back to the starting position and repeat the exercise at least 10 times per leg.
We have shared 12 simple exercises that can keep your body fit and healthy without necessarily going to the gym. As a start, you can choose three to four days in a week to do these exercises. As the body begins to adapt, you will increase the number of days until you are able to do them on a daily basis. Ensure you enjoy your exercises as this will motivate you to work even harder.
Learn more about bodyweight exercises that build strong muscles in each of the muscle groups in the human body. All these exercises can be done from home without any expensive gym equipment which so many people erroneously believe is the only way to grow muscle.