5 Exercises You Should Be Doing

Whether you are new to working out or you’ve been working out for years and find yourself getting bored, there are a few basic exercises that you should be practicing. There are the exercises you should be doing, or working towards!

It’s easy to get drawn in to the complicated workouts posted on your favorite fitness accounts. But no matter your goal, or your fitness level, nailing these 5 exercises will help you make immediate and long-term progress in your appearance and performance.

Squats

Squats are the ultimate lower body builder. To perform a single squat, especially with weight on your back, your glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves play a major role in stabilizing, balancing and producing force. What’s more? It takes more than your legs to perform a squat. Squats engage your core as you work to stabilize your torso, so a single exercise gives you a total body workout.

Benefits of squats:

• Squats build total body strength. Yes, the emphasis is on your legs and glutes, but the reality is that squatting regularly increases overall strength and power too.
• Which in turn improves athletic performance.
• And decreases your risk of injury.
• Plus encourages aesthetic progress.
• And boosts functionality (think about how many times a day you sit down in a chair, get up from a chair, squat to pick something up…)

Push Ups

Push ups are a killer upper body workout, but don’t be fooled, this exercise will strengthen your whole body, no equipment needed. Using only body weight and the force of gravity, you actively tone and strengthen your chest, arms, core and shoulders. Meanwhile, your legs and butt hold steady to stabilize your lower half.

Why are push ups so hard?

• Push ups are, after all, a moving plank. They require a lot of core stability so if you don’t have a strong core, you’ll feel off balance from the get go. Don’t fret, holding that high plank and performing just a few reps will help.
• Most women neglect working their chest muscles. Pecs are such a bro muscle, amiright? Practice makes progress babes.
• That mental barrier is tough to break. “Push ups are hard”. YES! They are! So do more of them until they get a bit easier!
• Because most women have never won a push up contest. I promise you, it’s a huge motivator to keep doing push ups.

Pull Ups

I readily admit, for me, pull ups are one of the toughest exercise to get better at. Pull ups are all about pure upper body strength. Want to build a stronger, more defined back? Want to build shoulder and arm strength? Want a major, bad*** challenge? Pull ups.

Three steps to get better at pull ups:

• Passive hangs: step up onto a bench below the bar and grip the bar with an overhand grip, hands about shoulder-width apart. Step off the bench so that you are hanging with straight arms, stretching your upper body and testing your grip strength.
• Scapular pull ups: repeat above. From that full hang, draw your scapula down as if you were going to start a pull up, but don’t bend your arms. Relax and repeat.
• Negative pull ups: this is the “downward half” of the pull up. Start by using a tall enough bench so that you can pull your chest to the bar, chin just above it. Your shoulder blades should be down and back to engage your lats. Slowly lower your chest from the bar, controlling your descent until you are in a full hang. Repeat.

Dead Lifts

In my opinion, the dead lift takes a bit more technique than a squat (at least as a beginner), but it is just as beneficial and should be a major part of any woman’s exercise program. Another total body exercise, dead lifts recruit major muscle groups in your upper and lower body, as well as your core. As a result, you build more overall body strength, increase fat burn, and get stronger faster.

My favorite dead lift variations:

Barbell and Romanian Dead Lifts are tried and true, but if you ever need to shake it up a bit, here are some of my favorite variations.

• Single Leg Kettlebell Dead Lifts
• Sumo Dead Lifts
• B-Stance Dead Lifts

Overhead Presses

One of the most underrated muscle groups, as far as aesthetics go, are shoulders. Well rounded, toned shoulders looks great in any piece of clothing and give the illusion of a smaller waist #winwin.

Benefits of Overhead Presses for women:

• Another total body exercise for the win (are you sensing the theme?)! While yes, the primary movers for presses are your shoulders, you won’t be able to do them without a strong, stable core and lower body.
• Drive up your heart rate with heavier presses and push presses.
• You can do these standing, kneeling or seated. Use dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells and even cables to get it done!

Ready to get stronger, leaner, more confident and more toned? Set up a free Fitness Strategy call with yours truly and step into a program designed just for you. Book a free, 30 minute call today and start building your #fitgoals YOU.