Sometimes we tend to overcomplicate things! We all know exercise has incredible mental and physical health benefits and makes us look and feel great. And yet it can be challenging to incorporate it into our daily lives.
We want to keep things simple for you and remind you that any exercise that gets you up and about, is GREAT exercise! You don’t even need heaps of fancy equipment—or any equipment at all really—other than your own bodyweight.
And if conventional exercise isn’t your thing, that’s cool too. You can opt for kitchen discos, chasing the kids around the house or home renovations to get the heart pumping in other ways that you find fun and enjoyable!
Here’s a few easy at-home exercises we’ve put together for you to get you started, and keep you motivated to enjoy active workouts in the comfort of your own home.
Push ups – Using your own bodyweight, start off in a plank position. Then lower down at a controlled and steady pace (count down from 3 seconds) and stop before your torso touches the ground. Hold here for 1 second then use those guns to slowly push yourself back up to plank position (count up to 3 seconds). If this is too difficult, that’s perfectly ok. You can opt for assisted push ups by lowering the knees to the ground as you follow the same sequence.
Stationary Lunges – Place your hands on your hips and take a big step forward with your right leg. Ensure both your feet are flat onto the ground and that you feel balanced. Keeping your torso and spine nice and straight, bend your front knee and lower down into a lunge where your front knee should at 90 degrees. Complete the lunge by straightening your front leg back and continuing this motion for around 12-15 repetitions per side.
Squats – Bring the feet to a wider stance so they’re roughly hip distance apart. Keeping the spine nice and straight, bend your knees and push your butt outward, as if you’re about to sit on chair. Your arms can either sit on your hips, out in front of you or for a greater muscle workout you can hold onto a house-hold item for added weight loading. With plenty of items around the house for inspiration you can use cartons of milk, pot plants or even books to get more of that joyous burn in those legs.
Jumping Jacks – This one ought to get the blood flowing. From a neutral standing position with your feet shoulder width apart and arms by your side, jump and land your feet out to the sides of your body, simultaneously raising your arms up above your head. Then jump back to neutral position. This exercise is designed to be a quick movement to activate your cardiovascular system and increase oxygen and blood flow through the body. The amount of jumping jacks you can do will depend on your fitness levels so perhaps start with 12 consecutive jumps and see how you feel from there.
Plank – Come onto your hands and knees on the floor, gently place your forearms on the ground roughly shoulder width apart, and interlace your fingers. Once you feel stable, lift off your knees and onto your toes to form a straight line with your body – and hold. Your butt should not be sticking out or sitting too high, try and keep a straight spine and line with your body. Keep your abdomen activated and pull up slightly from your belly button for added stability and support for your spine. Try and hold this anywhere from 30seconds to a minutes for the ultimate ab workout.
