It’s the time of year when most people are focused on getting more exercise and setting new fitness goals.
Though exercise has always been linked to better health outcomes, recent research shows that regular physical activity may even lead to living a longer life and increasing vaccine effectiveness.
But the true difficulty lies in knowing how to start your fitness journey and finding time to make it to the gym.
Luckily for you, there are some exercises that you can do from just about anywhere, regardless of your level of expertise, according to Kollins Ezekh, a personal trainer who has trained Shay Mitchell from “Pretty Little Liars” and Mena Massoud from the live-action “Aladdin” movie.
16 exercises you can do from anywhere
To start a full-body workout, Ezekh encourages you to elevate your heart rate with cardio. “It would be very important, after starting with the cardio element, to activate your core,” says Ezekh.
After engaging your core, he suggests following up with lower body exercises, and ending off with upper body.
Cardio
- Jumping jacks
- Walk
- Jog
Core
- Planks (regular or side)
- Sit-ups
- Crunches
- Leg raises
- Bicycle crunches
Lower body
- Body-weight squats
- Squats with weights (considering using a gallon of water or holding your cat or dog if you don’t own weights)
- Lunges
- Glute bridges
- Donkey kicks
Upper body
- Push-ups
- Dips
Exercise tips from a celebrity personal trainer
“It’s very important to make sure you feel the muscle in the right place. For example, if you’re doing bicep curls, you need to feel it in your bicep versus feeling it in your shoulder and your back because you’re overcompensating,” he says.
Exercising in the mirror can help you to assess your form, says Ezekh. And remember to always stretch after your workout as well, he adds.
“I would always suggest exercising at least three times a week, so every other day. You do want to give your body rest in between to make sure you recover.”