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Discover What's The Best Exercise For You
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Discover What's The Best Exercise For You
Regular physical activity is really, truly good for you. Tons of research-based evidence can be found everywhere you look. At all ages and stages of life, exercising plays an important role in the development and maintenance of good physical and mental health. Besides the obvious benefits associated with the maintenance of a healthy weight, working out can help you reduce stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms, strengthen your cardiovascular system (and prevent conditions like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease), lessen respiratory conditions like allergies and asthma, build strong bones and improve your self-esteem and confidence.
The question is, what is the right exercise for you? The reality is that you don’t have to be an athlete and run marathons to be in good shape. You don’t even need to go to the gym to maintain or improve your health and fit better in your clothes. Some of the best physical activities for your body can be done using only your body weight. Even the best equipment and most sophisticated gyms only produce results when used regularly and supported by a balanced and nutritious diet. And with today’s technology, the alternatives for doing your workouts from the comfort of your home are endless. It all depends on your goals, preferences, and fitness level.
Following are some of the best exercises for your specific fitness goals:
Exercises For Weight Loss
Surprisingly for many of us, one of the best exercises for calorie burning is your playground past, jumping rope. It requires minimal equipment, space, and can be a lot of fun. Skipping burns more calories than the next best calorie-burning exercise, sprinting.
Sprinting means alternating short intervals of running at maximal effort, followed by recovery periods at half the intensity but double the time. It can be done with or without equipment.
If you are not a jumping or sprinting lover, the next best alternatives are biking, jogging, or running and weight training. Cycling can achieve the same, or even better weight loss than running, depending on the terrain and speed. However, running is easier to incorporate into your everyday life and can be done with or without equipment. Jogging at least 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week will make more of an impact on your weight than you think.
Weight training is also a fantastic way to lose weight. In addition to building muscle, your body continues burning calories hours after finishing your workout, increasing the number of calories your body burns at rest.
Lastly, if you are looking for lower impact exercises, the 2 best alternatives are walking and yoga. They are both considered great options for low-intensity methods to melt body fat. By making your walks brisker, you can easily increase the calorie-burning rate. In the case of yoga, on top of increasing flexibility and overall mobility, it improves emotional and mental state, which can help you resist overeating and unhealthy foods. This is the reason why even gentle and restorative yoga aids with weight loss. More importantly, you can do it with a group of people or from the comfort of your own home.
Exercises For Belly Fat
The best way to lose belly fat and to shrink fat cells overall is to lose weight, which is mainly achieved with balanced and healthy nutrition.
In general, exercises that combine cardio, strength, and core work will ultimately help you reduce belly fat. Moreover, all the exercises that help with weight loss will be equally effective at burning the unwanted belt around your abdomen.
However, certain movements and positions can be of great support to boost your metabolism and reduce inches around your waist. Burpees (I know, I hate them too, but they are so good for you), mountain climbers, and jogging are specific exercises that can help you to reduce belly fat; all of which can be done with minimum equipment.
More exercises include Russian twists, running on an incline, weight training, rowing, and yoga, which should be done with some equipment for best results.
Exercises For Back Pain
This is a tricky one because typically the first approach to back pain is to take it easy and rest. However, extended periods of rest can slow down recovery or even worsen the symptoms of back pain.
In general, exercising helps with strengthening the lower back and can help alleviate and prevent lower back pain. It also increases blood flow to the lower back area, which may reduce stiffness or soreness in the area. The key here is to exercise in a controlled and progressive way, making emphasis on movements that remove pressure from the pain area, improving mobility, and reducing stiffness.
Some basic exercises that specifically work on the back muscles are bridges, knee-to-chest stretches, lower back stretches, and back extensions like supermans. All these exercises can be done from home with minimum equipment. In terms of aerobic options, swimming would be your best bet, since water will support your body.
People with lower back pain should also pay attention to their posture and how they carry heavy objects, either of which may be contributing to their pain. Some exercises may not be recommended depending on the cause and severity of the pain. Before engaging in any physical activity, consult your health care provider.
Exercises For Stress
To some extent, stress and anxiety are a normal part of life. However, disorders associated with stress are becoming more common in our society. Stress can be the culprit behind both long-term conditions like depression, heart disease, and diabetes, as well as everyday physical or emotional pain ranging from headaches and back pain to insomnia, anxiety, and anger.
Some studies have indicated that regular physical activity can be as effective as medication to lessen anxiety and depression symptoms in some people. The best part is that the beneficial effects can also be long-lasting.
Any exercise in general that gets the blood pumping also gets us to breathe deeper, triggering the body’s relaxation response, but some exercises are more helpful than others when it comes to stress reduction. The top 3 exercises for alleviating symptoms of stress, anxiety, or even depression are running, hiking and yoga.
These activities have proven to improve your mood and have a meditative effect on your brain. That being said, doing something you love and make you happy is the ultimate goal, so do what you need to do to achieve that!
Exercises For the Immune System
This is another tricky one. The right intensity and amount of exercise can benefit your immune system by increasing blood flow (making white blood cells travel faster and fight infections better), helping clear pathogens away from your airways, strengthening antibodies, and reducing stress. Furthermore, as people age, regular exercise will help keep their immune systems healthy and functioning.
However, prolonged workouts of high intensity can make your immune system weaker, at least temporarily. That is because your body will interpret that kind of workout as a stressor, increasing the levels of stress hormones. So how much is too much? It will depend on your fitness level. One study concluded that fast pace, long-distance running, cycling, or swimming for about 90 minutes can lower immune response in athletes for up to 72 hours after the workout session.
The answer is balance and moderation, so listening to your body is crucial to prevent overexercising. Also, making sure that you are giving your body the proper recovery time between workouts is equally important.
The most recommended exercises to boost your immune system are aerobic activities, like walking, running, or cycling. Some other exercises like strength training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) have less research but are likely to be beneficial for your immune response. These exercises will not only help you protect your body from viruses and unwanted intruders, but they will also make you feel energized and happier!
Exercises For Longevity
Like Ashley Montagu said: “The idea is to die young as late as possible.” So what’s the best physical activity for healthy longevity? The answer is the things you enjoy the most and can also easily incorporate into your daily schedule. The type of exercise isn’t really as important as rigorously moving and working all your body parts to the point of sweating and rapid breathing. However, not to the point of overworking your body. Instead, here are the best exercises to maximize health and longevity: jogging or walking decently fast, biking, running, or swimming, and any other activities that move all your muscles.
The Bottom Line
Getting off the couch and doing some exercise is always better than doing no exercise at all. If you are a beginner, start with low intensity and go slow. Aim for doing some exercise 2-3 days per week for 20-30 minutes and build up from there. You don’t need to do the entire session at once. Breaking up into small daily goals can help you to stay consistent. Walking every day for 15-20 minutes will give you better results than doing a long 2-hour workout on the weekend. Lots of scientific data suggest that frequency is the most important factor.
Also, it is a good idea to mix up the types of exercises, so that your body doesn’t get used to the same routine and you work different muscle groups in your body. Additionally, try to incorporate more movement into your routine. Simple things like taking the stairs or parking further away will add up to whatever exercise routine you choose. Always check with your doctor before engaging in any new physical activity or trying new exercises, especially if there is a pre-existing condition or if you haven’t exercised in a long time.
| Fitness Goal | Best Exercises – High Impact | Best Exercises – Low Impact |
| Weight Loss | Jumping Rope and Sprinting | Walking and Yoga |
| Belly Fat Reduction | Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Jogging | Walking and Yoga |
| Back Pain Control | Bridges, Lower Back Stretches, Supermans | Swimming |
| Stress Management | Running and Hiking | Yoga |
| Immune System Strengthening | Running, Cycling, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) | Walking |
| Longevity | Running, Biking | Brisk walking, Swimming |
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