Learn about the exercises to boost your health and use the links to view videos!
Exercise is extremely important to incorporate into one’s daily routine. It offers various physical, mental and emotional health benefits, which results in a better quality of life.
Before reading about the exercises, here are a few points to keep in mind:
- Exercise by itself can be very beneficial, and incorporating a balanced and healthy diet with it can make us even healthier. Eating unhealthy food can reduce the quality of exercise as your body needs the right fuel to support and restore your body while exercising and after.
- Incorporating all the exercises given below would be ideal to boost your health. But this may not be enjoyable for most of us. It’s important to enjoy the exercise you do and make it part of your daily life. Try doing at least two of the exercises given below every day.
- Rest days are equally important for our bodies. Take a day off from exercise when you feel physically exhausted. Just make sure that you do not take more than 3 days off in a week.
- The duration of exercise is also important. You want to make sure that your body is benefiting from these exercises. A time duration is written next to each of the exercises and this should be the minimum amount of time that you should do these exercises for. Try doing them for the minimum amount of time every day. And you can increase the duration when you’re comfortable.
Here are 6 exercises you can incorporate into your daily life:
1] Walking (30 minutes)
Walking is one of the human beings’ most basic activities. Walking was a core activity for humans for centuries before the invention of motorized vehicles. It was the most widely used mode of transport for the general population. The existing generations walk far less compared to our ancestors, to whom walking was a necessary part of daily life.
Walking should be made a part of everyday life since it’s a fundamental and essential movement for the human body. Walking is the most simple and accessible physical activity that we can do.
The benefits of regularly walking include: Reducing the risk of heart disease, Improving heart health, Burning calories and helping maintain a healthy weight, Lubricating and nourishing joints of the body, Strengthening the legs, Reducing stress, anxiety and depression, Helping manage blood sugar levels, Improving memory and attention span, Improves sleep, Improves digestion, and many more.
Walking regularly for 30 minutes a day should be a compulsory part of your exercise regime. You need not have to take breaks from walking as it’s a very low-impact activity that your body can recover from quickly. Prioritizing walking as the first exercise and subsequently selecting an additional exercise from this list to engage in regularly would be an optimal approach.
2] Yoga (10 minutes)
Yoga is the process of stretching the body and linking one’s breath with each stretch. Yoga, when practiced first thing in the morning can prepare your body to function well for the rest of the day.
Benefits of practising regular yoga include better mobility of the body and improves strength as many yoga poses involve staying in a difficult body position for a good amount of time, Helping improve body posture and prevent body injuries while performing other activities, Improving respiratory function, Increased circulation of blood and oxygen while performing the stretches and after, Relief from physical pain and many more.
Yoga also has many non-physical benefits like stress reduction, increasing attention, mind-body connection, mental clarity and focus, etc.
Yoga can be practised very easily at home. You can do yoga for as less as 10 minutes a day. Make sure you do it every day or at least 5 times a week to start seeing the benefits. You can find the links that will help you to start your yoga practice here: An Introduction To Yoga, Guided Yoga For 30 days.
Meditation when incorporated with a yoga session can tremendously enhance our mental and emotional wellbeing.
3] Cardiovascular Exercises (10 minutes)
The main purpose of cardiovascular or aerobic exercises is to increase the heart rate and breathing rate which leads to enhanced heart health and lung health.
Some of the main benefits of these exercises include Reducing heart-related disease, Increasing blood circulation, Increasing the oxygen content in the body while decreasing the carbon-di-oxide content, Enhancing metabolism which helps with weight management of the body, Reducing the risk of chronic disease, Enhancing bone health, Maintaining good cholesterol levels, etc.
Some of the best and easily accessible cardiovascular exercises are skipping rope, running, cycling, swimming and dancing. Learn how to do these exercises efficiently with the following links: Skipping For Beginners, Running For Beginners, Swimming Workout, Dancing For Health.
It would be good practice to do stretches before doing cardiovascular exercises to prevent injury and improve body function while doing the exercise.
4] Bodyweight Workouts (10 minutes)
Also known as callisthenics, bodyweight exercises are any exercise done by resisting the weight of one’s own body. Most bodyweight workouts don’t require equipment and can be done at home. It’s fairly simple but can be quite challenging because of its difficulty. It can be very difficult to do some of these exercises for beginners. But when it’s done regularly for just as less as 10 minutes, it will be much easier and enjoyable to do.
Bodyweight exercises are very rewarding, with benefits like Engaging multiple muscle groups simultaneously, Leading to overall functional strength, Improved joint health, Range of motion, and overall body flexibility, and Enhancing your ability to perform everyday tasks with ease as the exercise involves real-life movements, Lower risk of injury, Improved core strength and stability, Better body awareness and control.
As you become more proficient in bodyweight exercises, you can progressively increase the difficulty by adding variations, increasing repetitions, or adjusting the intensity of the movements.
Some of the best bodyweight workouts to do are Push-ups, Pull-ups, Squats, Planks and Lunges. Here are some links you can use to start your journey in callisthenics: Push-Ups for beginners, Learn to do Push-Ups with the right form, Squats for beginners, Learn to do Pull-Ups for beginners, Lunges for beginners, Planks for beginners.
Do these stretches before practising callisthenics.
5] Weight Training (20 minutes)
Weight Training Exercises include making certain movements using weights like dumbells to improve one’s strength, stability and endurance. Weight training can usually be seen in the gym where people are lifting a heavy weight for a certain amount of repetitions.
Weight training can be very useful for those trying to strengthen their body. The benefits include Increasing bone density, Reducing the risk of osteoporosis and fractures, especially in older individuals, Weight management and fat loss, Boosting energy levels and combating feelings of fatigue, Making daily activities easier to accomplish, Helping strengthen the muscles around your joints, Improving posture, Stimulating the release of hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone, which play a role in muscle growth, recovery, and overall well-being, Reducing stress, anxiety, and symptoms of depression.
It’s important to note that weight training is highly injury-prone and should be done with proper form. It’s recommended to do weight training at the gym where there are professional trainers who can help with exercises, problems and doubts that you may have.
These two videos can help you get a better understanding of bodyweight training: Complete Guide To Weight Training, Introduction To Resistance Training.
6] Sports Activities (30 minutes)
Any sport can be very beneficial to one’s physical and mental health. This can be the best option for most people as it doesn’t require much additional knowledge and can be very enjoyable. Pick a physical sport that you like to play and go at it for at least 30 minutes.
Sports activities help in Improving cardiovascular health, Enhancing strength and endurance, Weight Management, Increased Flexibility and Mobility, Better Coordination and Balance, Stress Relief, Improved Mood, etc.
The main criterion for being physically healthy is to move your body. And any sport will help you do this.
Do these stretches before playing any sports.
