Fundamental exercise routines for everyone

A workout routine does not require you to be a gym enthusiast. We recognize that many of us intend to exercise but may not be able to carve out the time we would like to devote to our regimen due to our daily schedules. As a result, we'll recommend exercises that won't take up a lot of your time and can even be done daily. 
 

Planks

The easiest or hardest exercise in the routine depends on how you see it. The simplicity of the posture is juxtaposed with its excruciating

 agony. Seriously, a plank makes 10 seconds feel like an eternity but the best part is, you can dictate how long you want to hold the position. 

You start by lying down on your stomach with your elbows underneath your shoulders and your palms down. You then try to get your stomach and hips together and try to keep your body in a straight line for as long as you can. 

You can gradually increase the duration of your planks as you get better at it. This simple move can have huge implications as it increases your core strengths, boosts metabolism, gives you a good posture, and basically just builds a good foundation for more intense routines. 

Brisk walking 

No routine is complete without some cardio and as we want this routine to consume as little time as possible from your day, we wanted to include something which you inevitably do every day anyway — walk. A brisk walk simply amps up the intensity a bit. 

It's low-risk and cost-effective exercising at its finest where basically all you need to do is walk at a speed of at least 3mph. Now, you do not have to achieve this exact speed at the beginning, simply walking at a faster pace should suffice and you can build from there. Be it in the streets, in a park, or just inside your home, brisk walking for 10 minutes a day works wonders for you. 

Chair squats

Squats are actually one of the best workouts for people in all facets of life as it strengthens the legs and the core and is super simple to do. The chair squat makes it even easier. What you need to do is basically do a squat in front of a chair and instead of going all the way down like we used to back in the day, you simply go until you are fully seated in the chair. It is essentially getting up from your chair and sitting back down and you can do this anywhere you want. 

Bicycle crunches

Shedding some abdominal fat is always at the back of our mind and while all of the exercises on this list will do that for you, your routine needs something dedicated entirely to your abdomen. It's pretty much like regular crunches except while raising your upper body, you will need to connect your right elbow to your left knee while keeping your right leg straight and then repeat the same for your left elbow. 

Speeding up this motion not only looks like you are riding a bicycle but also gives you a similar workout. The best part is, you can do this in bed and squeeze in a few reps before bed or after waking up.