Massive digitization has made our life a lot easier as we can now do almost everything with just a few clicks on our devices. But as with everything else in the world, it has its negative impact as well. And one of them is, it has made people lazy(at least in terms of physical movement) and secluded. Most people and alarmingly young people spend most of their time in front of a screen, be it for professional needs or leisure. And after the pandemic made working from home a norm, things have gotten worse. People now stay cooped up in their homes almost all the time without much movement.
Staying cooped up in the home secluded from the world all the time has a lot of negative effects on a person, one of them being worsening health because of little to no exercise. So you must prevent such situations by doing regular exercise even if it's just for a 10 minutes cardio workout. If you are reluctant to visit gyms or invest in fancy equipment, then no worries! You can stay fit and healthy by just practicing a few free-hand exercises at home as well. You would just need a mat to get started on a productive workout session.
-
Push-ups:
How to do:
-
Put your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor and assume the plank posture.
-
Stand straight and cinch your stomach.
-
Bend your elbows outward to bring your body down.
-
Avoid touching your knees to the floor and keep your back straight.
-
Raise your body from the ground by putting pressure on the floor.
-
Repeat the above-mentioned process 10 to 20 times more
-
Push-ups can be done in the beginning with the assistance of a wall
Benefits of Push-ups:
-
They burn calories
-
They prevent injuries to the lower back and shoulder
-
They enhance Flexibility
-
Improve posture and ability to balance well
-
Push-ups engage a lot of muscles including the chest, arm, leg, hip, and abdominal
-
Plank:
How to do:
-
By getting down on your knees, place your forearm on the ground.
-
Put your feet together and tuck your toes in.
-
Next, lift your body weight.
-
Relaxing the head, look down at the floor
-
Keep your torso tight and upright, and cinch your belly.
-
Your body should remain straight. Do not sag or bend.
-
Take deep breaths and stay in this position as long as you can.
-
Start by maintaining the position for 10 to 15 seconds. Increase this duration over time.
Benefits of Plank:
-
You learn to adopt a healthy posture.
-
You learn better coordination and the ability to balance
-
It helps to build core strength
-
Helps to align the body
-
Improves focus
-
It helps increase flexibility and metabolism rate
-
Jump Rope:
You may think that it is weird to be included in the free-hand exercise list. But jump rope can be converted into a free-hand exercise easily. The effects may not be 100% the same, but you will get a good cardio burn from it.
How to do:
-
Maintain a straight posture and fist your hands as if you have a skipping rope in hand
-
Start skipping using a fictitious skipping rope.
-
In the beginning, keep the skipping sessions for 30 seconds, and then eventually increase the timing further.
Benefits of skipping:
-
Improves fitness
-
Good for whole-body cardio burn
-
Improves balance
-
Increases metabolism rate
-
Strengthens bones
-
Squats:
How to do:
-
Your feet should be flat on the floor while you sit.
-
Keep your thighs parallel to the floor and avoid bending your knees past your feet.
-
Set your entire weight on your feet.
-
Start by doing ten squats. Following that, you can gradually increase the number of reps by performing three sets of 10 squats each.
Benefits of squats:
-
Squats help strengthen lower body muscles
-
They also increase core strength
-
Engages hip, calves, hamstrings, and obliques for an intense workout
-
Burns calories to lose weight
-
Prevents injuries to knee and ankles
-
Squats strengthen bones and ligaments.
-
Burpee:
How to do:
-
Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, bending your knees, and keeping your back straight.
-
Place your hands on the floor in front of you, inside the soles of your feet.
-
Kick your feet back, assuming the pushup position while standing on your hands and toes and bearing your weight with your hands.
-
Keep your body straight and do one push-up. Don't slouch or stick your butt up in the air, please.
-
To execute a frog kick, spring your feet back to their starting position.
-
Put your hands up above your head while standing.
-
Leap into the air quickly so you land where you started.
-
As soon as you land, stoop and kneel.
Benefits of burpees:
-
Helps in intense calorie burn, especially targeting the abdomen area
-
Improves cardiovascular functions
-
Improves the flow of blood
-
Helps prevent diabetes and heart ailments
-
Improves functions of the brain
-
Lowers cholesterol level
-
Abdominal Crunches:
How to do:
-
Your hands should be behind your head or across your chest as you recline on the floor with your knees bent. Tighten your core.
-
Utilizing your abdominal muscles to begin and complete the movement, crunch your ribs toward your pelvis.
-
As you stand up, exhale while maintaining a straight, upturned neck.
-
For a few seconds, hold the action at its peak while breathing constantly.
-
Retract slightly, but don't completely let go.
-
With each repetition with flawless form, repeat 15 to 20 times.
Benefits of Ab crunches:
-
Ab crunches are great to build core strength
-
It helps you find your balance and posture
-
It strengthens the back muscles
-
Prevents back pain and injuries
-
Improves the state of the spinal cord and pelvic area.
-
Jumping Jacks:
How to do:
-
Legs should be straight and your arms should be by your sides.
-
Jump with a modest knee bend.
-
Stretch your arms out over your head so they almost look like clapping as you jump, keeping your legs about shoulder-width apart.
-
Return your arms and legs to how you started after another jump.
Benefits of jumping jacks:
-
It helps with the full-body cardio burn
-
Improves cardiovascular fitness
-
Enhances blood flow
-
Improves metabolism
-
Increases mobility
-
Strengthens bones and joints