Basic Exercises You Should do at the Gym and their Benefits

We know exercising daily is good for improving and maintaining health. But if you are just starting off, you might feel overwhelmed with so many options and limitless information available. Here are 10 basic exercises you can do to get the best results from working out. These can easily be combined to create a routine that is simple but effective and will keep you in shape. After 30 days — although you can also do them just twice a week — you should see improvements in your muscular strength, endurance, and balance.

Lunges: Lunges challenge your balance and are an essential part of an extensive exercise routine. Lunges also promote functional movement, which increases the strength of your legs and glutes. They also help develop thigh muscles and strengthen the hips. Though they are quite similar to squats, lunges get a wider range of motion and don’t stress out your muscles as much. Doing lunges is a good way to build thigh muscles and strengthen the hips. The movement in lunges is quite similar to that in squatting. However, lunges give you a wider range of motion and provide less stress on the muscles. Lunges may seem like a basic exercise, but they can give your body a good workout.

Pushups: Pushups are a classic go to when it comes to working out, but they are one of the most effective body-weight moves you can do due to how many muscles are required to perform them. In order for you to do a push-up, you need to stabilize your body to achieve perfect form, which means the muscles of your core, including your abs, obliques and lower back, are hard at work. If you are a beginner when it comes to working out, you can do push-ups against a wall, on a bench, and doing a traditional push-up on the floor with your knees on the ground to support some body weight. The push-up is a relatively simple exercise to perform, and also requires no gym membership, no expensive equipment, and can be done by everyone.

Squats: Squats increase lower body and core strength, help with the flexibility in your lower back and hips. Squats use some of the largest muscles in the body and help burn a lot of calories. Although squats are often regarded as an exercise for legs, they are actually beneficial for your entire body, including deep within your core.

Standing overhead dumbbell presses: Dumbbell shoulder press is a tough movement for beginners to grasp because it requires a certain degree of movement, body awareness, and strength. Those new to doing overhead presses should familiarize themselves with dumbbells. The biggest benefit of standing while doing an overhead press is that you use more core muscles in order to maintain your balance and control the weight. Dumbbells increase your range of motion and force each arm to work individually. Aside from obviously targeting your arms and shoulders, overhead presses help strengthen your hips and improve stability in your legs.

Dumbbell rows: One arm dumbbell rows build a strong back and strengthen your shoulders, upper arms, and core. When you have a strong back and core, you are able to walk and stand longer without having to deal with an aching back. Exercising major muscles helps improve blood flow and burns calories. Your body composition improves when you reduce fat and build muscle. Since this exercise is performed bent-over, the core muscles get heavily engaged in or to provide your body with support. It also allows you to focus your attention on the target muscle group, which is hard to do with two arm lifts since you can’t really focus on two sides of your body at once. The dumbbell row focuses on many muscles in the upper and middle back. When you know how to properly position your back and brace your abs, this can protect you from strains.

Single-leg deadlifts: The one-legged deadlift is challenging and requires good core strength as well as balance and coordination. Single-leg deadlifts need stability and leg strength in order to be performed. Single leg deadlifts use several muscles, including hamstrings, obliques, gluteus, trapezius, and forearm. You are probably going to feel soreness in your hamstrings and buttock muscles the most the next day following a workout.

Calf raises: This easy bodyweight exercise improves your lower legs and delivers many benefits. Calf raise can be performed just about anywhere. You can practice them while you brush your teeth, wash dishes, or stand in line at the store. One of the biggest benefits of calf raises is that they improve the muscular strength in your calves. The muscles in your calves are called the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. Your soleus is located beneath your gastrocnemius, starts at the top of your tibia in your lower leg, and is also attached to your Achilles tendon. Calf raises will strengthen these two muscles and define the muscles on your lower leg. Calf raises help increase ankle strength and stability. Weak ankles and calves can create a lot of issues and stability deficiencies when it comes running, standing, jumping, and even squatting.

Burpees: Burpees are an exercise a lot of people love to hate. They are a super effective full body exercise that great cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength. Burpees will have your body burning fat like crazy. There have been studies that show that high-intensity exercises like burpees, burn up to 50% more fat than moderate exercising. With each rep, you work your arms, chest, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and abs. Basically, burpees are a great way to get in shape quick and those they seem like they would be impossible to do, it’s all about pacing yourself.

Side Planks: Side planks work your core since you really have to use your stomach muscles in order to stay upright. You have your core really engaged in order to keep your hips from following toward the floor. Side planks require you to balance on one arm, which is great for strengthening your shoulders, wrists, and arms. Side planks aren’t easy to do for beginners, but it does in fact challenge you. It builds strength in your arms and wrists and can make easier to do other arm balances. And though it might not seem like it, it is actually a good way to develop your concentration skills.

Sit-ups: Although they are not everyone’s favorite, sit-ups are an effective way to target your abdominal muscles. If you have lower back problems, it is best to stick with a crunch, which only requires you to lift your upper back and shoulders. While both sit-ups and crunches require you to start out by lying flat on your back, sit-ups require you to lift your entire torso up, unlike crunches, which require you to lift just your shoulders and upper back off the ground. The core muscles and spine are worked when doing sit-ups, which is crucial for improving your ability to maintain balance and stability. Sit-ups not only help strengthen your core, but they also help increase flexibility, improve posture, reduce the risk of back pain and juries, and can easily be modified for beginners.

Glute bridge: The glute bridge works your total posterior chain, which is good for you and will help make your booty look perkier as well. When you spend most of your day sitting, your glute muscles may get weaker over time. Regularly practicing glute bridges help you target your glutes and your lower back muscles, which are meant to hold your body upright. Glute bridges help flatten your tummy, focus on the muscles in your abdomen, and work the obliques, which will help define your waistline. The bridge helps reduce lower-back pain and when you have stronger glutes, you can relieve spinal extension stress, help to fully extend the hips, and help stabilize and balance out the forces on the knee. There is no equipment required to do the glute bridge, though you can make them more challenging by adding weights.

When you do these fundamental exercises, it will do your body good and there is always room to challenge yourself. If you notice that you are getting through these exercises too easily, focus on progressive overload by making each move more challenging by adding more reps, adding more weight, and adding jumps to moves like squats and lunges. Bay Area Med Spas offers their patients other ways to Emsculpt is not necessarily a solution to weight loss but is a tool to help you along the way. The procedure will give you the advantage you need to get the results you desire – all without having to go under the knife. If you are interested in learning more about this treatment, give Bay Area Med Spas a call to schedule a consultation. One of our specialists will take the time to talk about your goals and figure out if Emsculpt would be the best solution to your fitness goals.