Listen, we know what it’s like to not have much time for yourself. Whether it’s working tirelessly at your job, looking after the kids, cleaning the house, or doing other kinds of errands, sometimes we just don’t have enough time to look after ourselves and our bodies.
However, that doesn’t mean we should be complacent with where we are. Our bodies need love and care too lest we become overweight, ridden with physical health conditions, or victim to mental health conditions.
Luckily, exercises don’t have to be the not easy 1-hour or 2-hour workouts you often see gym rats do. You can separate them into little bits and scatter them throughout the day! They all add up that by the end of the day, you’ll have reached the recommended amount of easy exercises needed for an average adult!
So, if you want to know what easy exercises you can squeeze into this time frame, then keep on reading. Even beginners can do these workouts!
Around-the-World Lunges
Sitting around all day can actually shorten your muscles. Since they’re not being used regularly, they eventually restrict until they are not as strong as the rest of the body. So, to get the back straighter, legs lengthier, and hips more flexible again, we highly recommend doing around-the-world lunges. These activate all the muscles in these areas, strengthen them, and improve your range of motion. They’re easy exercises you can do in less than five minutes.
How to Do Around-the-World Lunges
- Stand straight with your feet facing forward. They must be shoulder-width apart.
- To do a front lunge, take a huge step forward with your right foot. Then, bend both knees until they are at a 90-degree angle. Make sure the foot is right underneath your right knee to prevent injury. Stand up to the original position again.
- To do a side lunge, take a huge step sideward with your right foot. With the right knee facing forward, bend it until your left leg is straight. Stand up to the original position again.
- To do a reverse lunge, take your right foot and step backward. Bend both knees until they are at a 90-degree angle again, making sure the left knee is right underneath your left foot. Stand up to the original position again.
- Repeat the above steps with your left foot this time.
Squats
When people think of the classic squat, they think of making the butt bigger and plumper. While squats do help accomplish this, they actually also do loads more! They get the heart racing, the leg muscles stronger, and the back straighter!
And the best part is that squats can be done almost anywhere. You can do squats while you wait for something to cook. You can do squats while you’re watching TV. Heck, you can probably even do squats while you’re brushing your teeth or washing your hair in the shower! They’re very versatile and easy exercises.
How to Do Squats
- Stand up straight with feet facing forward and hip-width apart.
- Tuck your belly button in, engaging the core muscles around your belly.
- Push your hips backward, like you’re about to sit on a chair. Lower yourself down as far as you can.
- Make sure your chest is facing forward. They should not go farther than your knees.
- Make sure your feet are right below your knees. The feet should be firmly flat on the floor.
- Stand yourself straight again, then repeat.
Plank
If you just had one exercise to do within five minutes that’ll get your whole body screaming, then the plank would definitely be on top of the list. Indeed, we highly doubt many people can do this innocuous-looking move for five minutes straight without sweating their butts off!
They work out a lot of muscles in the body. They work out your shoulders and arms because you use your shoulders to hold yourself off the ground. They work out your back, core, and leg muscles as well because you engage all of them when you keep yourself in a straight position.
If you want even more muscle work, you can also modify the plank. You can do hip twists, burpees, plank jacks, and more.
How to Do a Plank
- Put yourself in a push-up position. The feet should be pointing downwards to the floor, and the wrists should be directly above your shoulders.
- Keep yourself in this position. Ensure your back is straight, neither curving upwards to the sky nor downwards to the floor. Your hips also need to be square and face the floor.
- If this position is difficult for your wrists to handle, you can lower yourself to your forearms. Palms should be face down and fingers pointing forwards. The back and hips should still be straight.
Bear Crawls
Speaking of plank variations, the bear crawl is one of them. Out of all the moves on this list, it is probably the most entertaining one. That’s because it involves a lot of movement—while the other three will have you exercising in place, you can go all over the place with the bear crawl. Not only that, but you move muscles all around the body too.
See how much of your living space you can cover by bear crawling!
How to Do Bear Crawls
- Put yourself in a tabletop position, where your hands are directly underneath your shoulders and your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle under your hips.
- Lift your knees slightly off the floor so that they’re hovering.
- Take one hand and the opposite foot and move forward about 12 to 16 inches. Make sure the rest of your body (e.g., back, neck, hips) are still in a tabletop position.
- Do the same thing with the other side until you’re crawling forward.
- For something different, try crawling backward.
