Fit Feb: 5 Basic Exercises to Incorporate into Any Routine

The most popular New Year’s Resolutions have to do with beginning and maintaining a healthier lifestyle, but 49% of people will not succeed at or consistently keep up with these resolutions. Busy schedules often disrupt the desire to be more active or eat healthier, so not exercising or choosing to go through the drive-thru seem like the best option to save time. It won’t benefit you in the long run. Make one simple change to your daily routine by incorporating these 5 basic exercises that will engage your whole body. You don’t even need a gym to complete them!

Tricep Dips

Targeting the back of your arms, this exercise can be done so long as you have a table, chair, or ledge around you. Start by facing away from the furniture and placing your hands on the edge. With your hands facing the same direction as you, lower yourself to where your arms create a 90 degree angle. Push yourself back up using only your arm strength.

Push Ups

Many people dread these, but they are great because they target most areas of your body including shoulders, arms, abs, and legs. Keeping good form during push-ups, as with all exercises, is the key to success. Be sure your body is parallel to the ground and your hands are directly beneath your shoulders. Lower your entire body as close to the ground as possible and push back up. That counts as one rep. Feel like that’s too easy? Try commando push-ups, which require going from push-up position, down to plank, and back up to push up.

Squats

If you want a great lower body workout, squats are the exercise for you. There are many different variations of the squat, including regular, sumo, and jump squats, which all help develop stronger legs and glutes. To complete a regular squat, stand with feet shoulder width apart, lower your body as if you’re going to sit in a chair, then stand back up. Sumo squats include the same motions but with feet wider apart. Jump squats also include the same motion, but require a jump straight up instead of standing back up.

Planks

Similar to the pushup, the plank targets all areas of the body. The plank can either be held in the pushup position or with elbows on the floor, but you must remember to keep your back flat and core squeezed. Try holding a plank for one minute then slowly increase time as the days go on.

Burpees

The ultimate combination of push-ups, planks, and jump squats, this is one of the best exercises you can do! It targets all areas of your body and doubles as a cardio exercise. Start in a stand position, reach your hands to the ground and jump your feet back to a push-up position. Complete one push-up, jump your feet back to your hands and then jump straight up.

Try adding in a few of these basic exercises 3-5 times a week. And remember that Juice Plus+ is also a great nutrition hack if you’re short on time. Juice Plus+ can help fill the gap when you’re on-the-go and not getting your daily serving of fruits and vegetables. How do you maintain a healthy lifestyle when you’re busy?  

References:

http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13415/5-reasons-to-do-burpees-every-day.html

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/top-5-home-workouts-from-forum.html