Gyms and fitness studios reopening are a sigh of relief and now you can get back to working on your health and fitness. Hopefully, you have been working out at home to stay active, which will help you ease your way back into a gym routine post-lockdown. You might have lost mobility and fitness in addition to having gained some weight or fat. That’s completely fine since the lockdown is over and now you can focus on losing weight and burning fat.
However, you still need to take some precautions while gyms and fitness centers in quarantined areas will remain closed. Whenever restarting a fitness routine after a while, you must take it easy and gradually work your way up. Start with basic gym workouts to avoid injuries that are not out of the question for want of resistance training for the past 6 months. Do not start spending 2 hours at the gym on the first day. Even a 45-minute low or medium-intensity routine is enough. Start visiting your favorite gyms and fitness centers with FITPASS once again!
Having well-defined abs is not just about good looks. They define your core strength, which then defines your shoulders and hips strength. A strong core ensures better lower and upper body coordination. Core exercises are important for athletic movement and body stability. The dead bug exercise improves overall core stability and limb engagement, which allows you to keep your core stable and back protected while using opposing limbs.
- Lie on your back on a yoga mat
- Raise your arms straight up toward the ceiling and the legs at a right angle – knees directly above the hips
- Next, lower your left arm backward while extending your right leg in front of you. Keep the right arm and left leg in the original position
- Slowly bring the limbs back and repeat with the other set of limbs
- Do 3 sets of 15 repetitions. You may hold lightweight dumbbells in your hands and leg weights to increase the intensity
The Dumbbell Floor Press is a versatile exercise to work your chest and triceps along with the shoulders. It is a comparatively simpler exercise than the barbell bench for which it opens up the respective muscles. If you haven’t practiced weightlifting for a while, this is the exercise for you. Doing it with dumbbells is helpful for those with shoulder problems or even beginners. Plus, dumbbells move independently and this will help you stabilize any muscular asymmetries by trying to work them in coordination.
- Lie on your back on a yoga mat with a dumbbell each in your hands
- Position your hands in front of your shoulders with the elbows on the ground at the angle
- Tuck in your pelvis and engage the core
- Slowly push the dumbbells over the chest and bring them closer together so that they are almost touching each other at maximum stretch
- Lower down slowly and repeat 10 times. Do 3 sets
You may increase weights with each set
The addition of dumbbells to this important exercise – lunges – increases intensity. It is a great exercise to burn your glutes, hips, hamstrings, and quads. Lunges also build your calf muscles as well as the abs. The movement of this exercise demands balance, which is what it builds. It trains one side of your body at once, which stabilizes individual muscles. Moreover, taking a step forward or backward increases hip mobility, which is very important in daily functions as well as sports performance.
- Hold lightweight dumbbells in each hand and stand with your feet at shoulder-width
- Keep your back straight and arms relaxed at your sides
- Lift your right leg and take a big step forward
- Bend your knee till your thigh is parallel to the floor. The calf of your left leg should also be parallel to the floor. Make sure that the right knee does not extend beyond the toes
- Hold the position for a second before coming back and doing the same with the left leg
The Russian Twist is a simple yet effective exercise to work the shoulders and hips along with the core. It tones the mid-section by burning the fat in your “love handles” while increasing core strength. This, in turn, improves your balance, posture, and movement.
- Sit on a yoga mat with your ankles together and your knees bent. Your knees should make a V shape from your toes to you pelvis
- Hold a dumbbell with both hands and twist your arms to one side. Keep your core engaged and your back straight
- Let the dumbbell go as far as almost touching the floor and then do the same on the other side
- Do 3 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions
This exercise is great for building strength in the legs as well as the lower back. It boosts lower body strength in addition to helping you develop a proper form for other exercises like the squat. It is a good exercise to increase glute and hamstring muscle mass while also improving hip functionality. You can improve your walking, running, and jumping ability by building strength and endurance in hips with this basic gym exercise.
- Hold dumbbells in both hands and stand with feet at shoulder-width apart
- Keep your back straight and knees slightly bent. Your core should be tight
- Hinge at the hips to bend forward keeping the dumbbells close to the legs
- Bend till the dumbbells are just below your knees
- Hold for a couple of seconds before coming back up
Do 10 repetitions. You may increase weight in the next set(s)
