Simple Exercises to do at Home

Exercising is very important to maintain one's physical and mental well-being. Incorporating exercises in our everyday routine helps us to stay in shape and makes our body strong. Researches have shown that people who exercise everyday are less likely to get diseases and health problems than those who have a sedentary lifestyle. However, to maintain a regular exercise routine requires a lot of effort and will power on the part of a person. Plus, looking at the busy lives which most of us lead today, taking out time to go to a gym or a health club for exercising, might seem impossible too. So, the best alternative lies in making one's own routine of exercises, which can be done at home. Below is a list of some simple exercises which you can consider when planning your own exercise program.

Walking
One of the simplest exercises to lose weight and to maintain the health of the heart is walking. It is said that if a person walks ten thousand steps everyday, it is more than enough to keep him healthy and in shape. Walking is a very low impact exercise and the best for someone who is just starting an exercise routine. Initially one can walk for a few minutes and then gradually increase the walking time.

Jogging
Jogging is one step ahead of walking as far as its impact on the body as well as the stress it puts on it is concerned. A person planning to include jogging in his exercise routine, should start with fast walking initially and after some days when his stamina has improved a bit, should move on to jogging.

Stretches
Stretches are very important warm up exercises before doing any strenuous exercise, to avoid injuries.

• Start the stretches by rotating your arms, first in clockwise and then in anti-clockwise direction.
• Keep your hands on the side of your hips and move your shoulders up, hold on for five seconds and then come back to the normal position. Repeat this five times.
• Stand facing a wall and keep your hands on it. Move your left leg back, keeping your foot flat on the floor. Hold for a few seconds and then come back to normal. Repeat this exercise five times and then do the same with the right leg.
• Move your arms above your head and stretch them as much as you can, keeping them straight. Next, bend your waist a bit and move your entire upper body towards the left while keeping the legs straight. Come back to the normal position. Now, repeat the same on the right side.
• For stretching your neck, feet and hands, simply rotate them in circles, in clockwise and anti clockwise direction, five times each.

Leg Exercises
One of the most effective yet simple exercises for toning the legs is squats. Start with keeping your feet shoulder width apart. Next, keeping your upper body straight and your lower back slightly arched, bend your knees. Ideally, you should go up to a point till the thighs are parallel to the ground. But initially, bend down only till where you are comfortable. Come back to the normal position. Repeat this leg exercise ten times.

Abdominal Exercises
Crunches are the best among all abdominal exercises to tone up the abdominal muscles. To do them, lie down on your back, with your knees bent and the feet flat on the floor. Keep both your hands behind the head or folded across the chest. Start the crunches by lifting your shoulders and chest up, towards the ceiling, while pushing the lower back on to the floor. Hold for five seconds and then come back to the normal position. Repeat this exercise ten times.

Chest Exercises
To do push-ups on the wall, stand with your feet about two feet away from the wall. Place your hands, shoulder width apart, on the wall. Next, bend your elbows and keeping your body straight, move towards the wall. After that, come back to the normal position. Repeat this chest exercise ten times.

Exercises, such as the ones mentioned above, can be easily done everyday provided a person is serious about his fitness. Although it is not necessary that exercising has to be always tedious and monotonous. The day someone is not in a mood to exercise, he can simply play a CD and dance on the music, as dancing too is a great workout. The whole idea behind exercising one's body is to keep oneself up and moving, what exercises or activities are chosen, is actually irrelevant, as long as they keep the person active and energetic.