Exercises for beginners

Yesterday I mentioned that push ups, deadlifts, lunges, squats and kickbacks were great exercises for beginners, particularly because you can get a total body workout by doing them, and you can do them just about anywhere and without any special equipement. If you have some light weights or even a couple soup cans on hand, you’re good to go. Let’s go through some of them starting with push ups and hopefully you’ll be motivated to start doing them yourself.

Push ups – Drop down and give me 20! The push up is probably one of my favorite exercises and has been since I was in junior high. While I’m no expert, I still like to challenge myself and do more and more push ups each time, although I won’t tell you how many that is because the number is pretty embarrassing for someone who’s been doing them for so long. There are quite a few variations to the push up. There’s even a video here on how to do a proper push up. Pay attention to the first comment by ‘login’ for some tips on how to move it up a notch and get more out of the push up once you get more advanced.

Deadlifts – When you picture a muscle man doing weights, you might be picturing him doing a deadlift. Essentially, a deadlift is when you squat down, pick up a barbell, then straighten yourself again while keeping your back straight the whole time. Again, there are variations to this move and not all of them require a barbell. You can find a few good ones here that I like to do. Deadlifts are a great lower back and lower body workout, although if you have a back problem you might want to skip this exercise.

Squats – Squats are another great lower body workout. You can do it with or without weights. When you get more advanced, you can do it with a barbell. If you want a tight butt, this is one exercise you should do. A few sets of squats a day will help keep the flabby bum away! I remember reading in a magazine once that Jennifer Aniston does squats to keep in shape by bending down and picking up a set of cards off the floor one card at a time. You can basically do them however you want as long as you keep your form perfect otherwise you won’t be getting any benefits out of this exercise and you may end up injuring your back. Here are 9 different versions of the squat to keep you busy.

Lunges – Lunges are yet another great lower body workout that can be done with or without dumb bells, or with a body ball (stability ball). I use a body ball and weights when I do lunges because it takes a bit of pressure off my knees while adding a bit of a workout to my core muscles. To do this, I just place the shin of my left leg on the body ball, then roll the ball behind me with my left leg until it’s straight while bending my right leg to a 90 degree angle at the same time (did that make sense?). You can hold weights in your hands to add to this workout. I hold them up to my shoulders to help engage my core muscles. Once again, there are quite a few ways to do lunges, so try a different variation each time to add variety to your workout. Here’s one example of a lunge.

Another exercise I like to do is the Tricep Bridge I learned from MommyWithoutPounds. Obviously, this one works out the triceps which can be a common problem area for many people. The tricep muscle is the one that runs along the back of your upper arm. To do the Tricep Bridge, sit on the floor placing your feet flat on the floor and your hands behind you. Your fingers should be pointing forward. Now straighten your arms and lift your bum off the floor. Dip down without actually letting your bum touch the floor 12-15 times for one set. If you can do 3 sets of these you’re doing awesome. You can also do the same thing while using a chair instead of the floor by placing your hands on the edge of a chair and dipping down.

I like to incorporate the body ball or stability ball into these workouts for a few different reasons. For one, it can really enhance your workout by helping you engage your muscles, especially your core center. Another reason is because it can take a lot of pressure off your joints, so it’s especially good for people who have arthritis. And finally, it’s fun! There are so many exercises you can do with the body ball alone. I even sit on mine and use it as a chair a lot of the time when I’m working at the computer. It helps me to keep good posture and my core muscles engaged.