Getting started to get back in shape is not difficult.
You must have some knowledge to make your experience effective and enjoyable.
The human body has the ability to adapt and even thrive when faced with different stresses. Thus, continued exposure to any situation leads to adaptation, such as it happens with exercise and shaping your body.
At a muscular and skeletal level, the same phenomena happens. Muscular stress equals hypertrophy (muscle growth). The same happens with exercise, the more you exercise the more you adapt to it. So, for example, if you started running, on day one you would reach X amount of miles, and you’d be exhausted. A week later goes by, only to find you can run for a longer period and be less exhausted.
So, how to gain muscle, lose fat and get back in shape?
Any sort of physical activity will lead to bettering your physical state.
Especially if you perform resistance training, such as weight lifting, calisthenics or body weight exercises. An increase in muscle size and density can be achieved through these adaptations. With exposure to strength and conditioning, over time, your body will adapt and change.
Once this adaptation period happens, you’ll need to change your routine, up your weights, increase your reps or sets, or introduce any sort of novelty to your tanning regime. That is how you keep progressing and avoid a plateau.
However, you must forget that the only way to gain muscle is by going to the gym. Though it is true that weight lifting is specific to gaining muscle relatively faster, you will also have to improve your diet to see better results.
There are plenty of exercises that you can start implementing right away to get back in shape. Today, we are going to be looking a few exercises that can work your whole body and that you should be performing at the gym or at home. These exercises can be performed anywhere as you only need a pair of dumbbells. But before we jump into the exercises…
Warm up
One of the most important parts of training is the warm-up, as it is essential to avoid injuries, and it allows the muscles to develop to their maximum potential. By warming up, we are progressively preparing our body for physical exercise. However, despite its importance, the warm-up is often forgotten in training sessions.
No matter how hurried you are, never skip the warm-up before your workout. Warming up will help you to be better, faster and more efficient, which means that you will achieve better results. Warming up is also important to avoid stiffness and muscle aches.
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Here Are 5 Exercises To Help You Get Back In Shape
5. Squats
Squats are a great exercise to work your entire legs, including your quads, your hamstrings, your glutes, your calves, and even your core. This exercise not only improves strength in your lower body, but it also promotes stability and greater mobility.
To perform this exercise simply grab a dumbbell and place it in front of you, right in front of your chest, to add some resistance.
Then with your spine neutral and your legs open slightly wider than shoulders, squat down with your spine neutral on your head neutral too. Stop at the bottom of the movement for a few seconds before coming back up.
4. Deadlifts
The deadlift is one of the main moves that every fitness coach includes in everyone’s training routine. It is a must, and it is an incredible exercise that works your entire body.
To perform this exercise, grab a pair of dumbbells (or better, a bar). With your feet shoulder width apart squat down with your spine neutral and the dumbbells or bar in front of you, as if you were lifting them up from the ground. Make sure that when you come to the top of the movement stand with your chest nice and proud whilst you squeeze your glutes.
Before lifting the weight off the ground, make sure to roll your shoulders backwards and keep your chest lifted and your head and spine neutral throughout the whole movement. The movement you need to aim at is a hinge of hips to lift the weight off the ground with the force of your legs and glutes.
3. Tricep Dips
As the name of this exercise implies, this exercise works your triceps. But, it also hits your shoulders and your core, increasing the strength in your arms. And it can be performed anywhere!
Simply grab yourself onto a chair or a bench, making sure you don’t fall off. Place your feet on the ground, forming an L with the chair. Then lower yourself down whilst holding onto the chair and working your triceps to lift yourself back up.
2. Planks
A plank is a great exercise to work and strengthen your core, especially the TVA muscle or transverse abdominis, which is not easily worked with other exercises for the abs. The TVA is the muscle that is located right below the six-pack, it acts as a natural corset, keeping our organs in place.
The plank also works your lower back, so if you do it well, it will reduce lower back pain. If you do it wrong, it could be the opposite.
1. Push-ups
This exercise is wonderful for your chest, your core, and your arms. It is a total must in your routine, and even if you can’t perform it properly at first, with time and practice you’ll be able to perform it perfectly and reap its benefits.
Simply lie down on the floor facing the floor, and put your arms on the side. Use your arms to lift yourself up from the floor making sure that most of the strength comes from your chest. Your elbows are facing upwards, and your palms are at the chest height.
With a neutral spine simply lift yourself up and then lower yourself back down without going all the way down.
Stretching
Just as the warm-up, never skip stretching.
It won’t take you longer than 10 minutes, and it is super important to avoid stiffness and prevent injuries. Stretching allows you to relax the muscles and cool down as you release the tension generated by training.
Final takeaways
There are no miraculous exercises, it all comes down to how often and how hard you train.
You can perform all of these exercises once a week and see almost no results, or go from 3 to 5 times a times and notice great results. Of course, over time, you need to keep adding weight, sets and reps, as well as changing your routine to maximize your results. These are just 5 moves that should always be on your list!
