Simple and Easy At-Home Exercises

And by “simple and easy” I’m referring to exercises that require no equipment. That’s right, no treadmill, stationary bike with an online trainer screaming at you, weights, stair climber, or Bowflex required. All you might need is a yoga mat and water bottle and they’re not mandatory.

As for the resistance required for that workout burn, that will be provided by your body weight and you have that with you at all times. In other words, all the exercises are referred to as body weight resistance exercises. Leave the weights for the gym rats, body builders and professional wrestlers. If you perform the following exercises on a regular basis (2-3 times per week), along with some cardio (such as walking or hiking) your body will be very grateful.

With the following exercises or workouts, please check with your doctor prior to starting. Also, since we’re all individuals of varying sizes and capabilities, start slowly by keeping the reps and times low. A good rule of thumb to follow is, “better too low than too high.” If, after a few times, the reps and times seem easy, then adjust them upward slowly until you’re challenged, but not to the point of soreness. Train, don’t strain.

• Planks come in numerous varieties and can involve holding a stationary position or various movements while in a plank position. Some of the simplest ones are the basic, elbow (or forearm) and side planks. No matter what type you use, they all serve to strengthen the all-important core muscles, to include abs, obliques, glutes, and hip flexors. As mentioned previously, if you’re new to planks, start with the simple stationary planks and hold the position for a short period of time, take a break, and repeat three to five times. Over time, increase the amount of time you hold the plank and gradually introduce movements once you feel ready. For more on planks, to include types with pictures, visit here.
• Squats, like planks, come in a number of varieties from simple to complex. Squats also focus on core muscles, especially the glutes, quads and hamstrings. So, if you’re looking for a J Lo (Jennifer Lopez) butt, this is the exercise for you. If there’s any exercise that will make you sore should you overdo it, this is the one. That being the case, start extra slow with these. If you only can do three sets of three basic squats, that’s fine. Just remember not to perform squats on a daily basis, every third day should be perfect. Keep the sets and reps low! Here’s a great sitefor different types of squats with videos.
• Sit ups are a necessary evil even if your “six pack” days are long behind you. The reason for this that as we age, our core muscles become more important as they assist us in the performance of numerous daily functions and aid in balance maintenance which is another way to say they can prevent falls. Gone are the gym class days of someone holding your ankles while you sweated through 50 sit ups. There are now dozens of types that target various ab muscles, from lower to upper. It’s a good idea to vary which sit ups you perform workout to workout as your body adjusts better variety. Also, since your abs are a small muscle group, sit ups can be performed more frequently than squats or planks (5-6 days per week). Here’s a site with sit up variations with videos.
• Push ups are a great bodyweight exercise that helps maintain muscle mass as we age. Known as sarcopenia, age related muscles loss can rob us of 3%-5% of our muscle mass per decade after age 30. However, that’s if you do nothing to prevent it and push ups are a form of sarcopenia prevention. As with the other exercises mentioned, push ups come in a large variety and should be respected as they can cause some serious chest and triceps soreness if too many are done too soon. Also, only do 2-3 pushup workouts per week. Here’s a listof 20 push up varieties with videos.

As a wise person once said, “variety is the spice of life,” and this certainly applies to workouts. Vary the type of planks, squats, sit ups and push-ups you perform as much as possible and while you might not get biceps or pecs like Schwarzenegger in his prime, these exercises will help maintain muscle mass and mobility.

If some of these exercises are too difficult for you, MagicKitchen.com has a set of exercise videos for seniors.