The Safe Exercises You Can Do Anytime

Got a gym membership you’ve been avoiding for a while? Relatable. But every now and then—usually after having an eventful weekend—we get inspired to incorporate more healthy habits in our everyday lives. From starting a meditation routine to enrolling in online exercise classes, we start looking for ways to improve our physical and mental health. 

Coming up with a new self-care routine and practicing yoga for stress-relief aren’t the only ways to cleanse our bodies from negativity—exercising is always an option. For those dreading the gym, you can always try safe exercises within your comfort zone. Whether you’re motivated to do full-body workouts at home or merely safe shoulder exercises to fix your posture, all you need is a little bit of encouragement to get you going.  So clear out some space in your living room, and try these safe exercises you can do anytime.

Safe Ab Exercises

Crunches 

Muscles involved: Abdominals

Equipment required: Yoga mat

1. Lie on your back on the floor, with your legs bent and your arms supporting your head.
2. Breathe in and bring your chest up until your lower back isn’t touching the ground anymore.
3. Breathe out and bring your body back to its original position.

Bent Knee Leg Raises

Muscles involved: Abdominals

Equipment required: Yoga mat

1. Lie on your back on the floor, with your arms by your side and legs fully extended.
2. Breathe in, bend your knees, and bring them towards your chest while keeping them together.
3. Don’t raise your legs further if your hips leave the ground.
4. Breathe out and lower your knees flat back on the floor.

Russian Twists

Muscles involved: Abdominals

Equipment required: Yoga mat

1. Lie on the floor face-up, with your hands by your sides and legs slightly bent.
2. Raise your upper body and legs enough so that they’re both off the ground, creating a V-shape and bending your knees. 
3. Reach your arms out in front of you, interlacing your fingers or clasping your hands.
4. Keep your legs off the floor bent as you use your abdominals to twist to the left, back to center, and then to the right. When twisting, rotate your torso enough to get your forearms as close to the ground as possible.

Unilateral Leg Raises

Muscles involved: Abdominals

Equipment required: Yoga mat

1. Lie on the floor on your back, with your arms by your sides and legs fully extended.
2. Breathe in and raise your right leg upwards to your abs.
3. Stop raising it once your knee bends.
4. Breathe out and lower your leg back to the ground flat.
5. Repeat with your left leg.

Safe Squats

Prisoner Jump Squats

Muscles involved: Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, calves

Equipment required: None

1. Stand straight with your arms behind your head, your feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart, and your toes pointing forward.
2. Bend at your hips and knees while maintaining a flat back, entering a squat position with your thighs parallel with the ground.
3. Generate as much power as you can through your feet, and push upwards to jump mid-air.
4. Maintain straight legs until the highest point of your jump.
5. While descending, bend at your knees to land in a partial squatting position.

Kang Squat 

Muscles involved: Back, glutes, hamstrings

Equipment required: None

1. Stand straight with your feet slightly more than hip-width apart and your toes pointing in front of you. 
2. Position your hands behind your head.
3. Keeping your legs straight, bend your torso down until your upper body is parallel with the ground.
4. Maintaining your torso, bend at the knees until your thighs are aligned with the ground.
5. Channel strength from your heels and gradually return to a standing position.

Lateral Step-Out Squat

Muscles involved: Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, hip adductors, calves

Equipment required: Resistance band

1. Stand straight with a resistance band wrapped right below your knees.
2. Clasp your hands together in front of your chest.
3. Take a step to your right and bend your knees, sit back, and lower your body until your thighs are parallel with the ground.
4. Channel strength from your glutes and heels and return to the starting position.
5. Repeat on the other side.

Split Squat Stretch

Muscles involved: Abdominals, glutes, quadriceps, calves

Equipment required: None

1. Start with your back straight, your hands on your hips, and your feet about hip-width apart with your toes facing front.
2. Place your right leg forward, and lean into it by bending your knee and lowering your body to the floor.
3. Continue leaning to your maximum—until you can’t keep your back leg on the ground.
4. Maintain the position for a few seconds.
5. Return to the original position and repeat with the other leg.

Squat and Reach

Muscles involved: Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, rhomboids, trapezius

Equipment required: None

1. Start with your back straight, your hands on your hips, and your feet about hip-width apart with your toes facing front.
2. Squat down until you’re able to grab the tips of your feet with both hands.
3. While grabbing the tips of your feet, maintain the position without removing your feet off the ground.
4. While holding the position, rotate your head and torso and raise one arm in the direction you’re rotating.
5. Squeeze your shoulder blades together tightly while rotating and maintaining the position.
6. Lower your arm back to your foot and face forward.
7. Repeat with the other arm.

Swimmer

Muscles involved: Quadriceps

Equipment required: Yoga mat

1. Lie on the floor on your stomach, with your arms extended forward, legs extended straight behind you, and feet pointed.
2. Lift your head, chest, and all four limbs to hover off the floor. Keep your chin tucked so you’re looking down at the floor.
3. Lift your left arm up away from the floor while simultaneously lifting your right leg off the floor. As you lower your left arm, lift your right arm. Similarly for the legs, as you lower the right leg, lift your left in a controlled, swimming-like motion. 
4. Repeat for a few seconds.

Bird-Dog Row

Muscles involved: Erector spinae, rectus abdominis, glutes

Equipment required: Yoga mat, dumbbell

1. Start with both your knees and hands on the ground—wrists directly beneath your shoulders and knees beneath your hips.
2. Place a dumbbell in your right hand.
3. Brace your core, and lift your right hand until the dumbbell is at your chest and extend your left leg until it is parallel with the ground. Make sure to maintain a flat spine. 
4. Lower both your hand and leg to the starting position. 
5. Repeat elbow movement multiple times and alternate sides.

Safe Stretches

Standing Quad Stretch

Muscles involved: Quadriceps

Equipment required: None

1. Stand up straight with your arms by your sides and your feet about shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend one leg back, grabbing the ankle with the arm of the same side.
3. Bend the knee back further, until you feel a stretch.
4. Maintain the position for a few seconds and repeat with the other arm.

Lying Glute Stretch

Muscles involved: Glutes

Equipment required: Yoga mat

1. Lie on the floor on your back.
2. Bend your right leg and raise it up toward your abdomen while keeping your upper back and other leg on the ground.
3. Grab your raised knee with both of your hands or arms, and pull it closer to your abdomen—do not allow it to rotate outwards.
4.  Maintain the position for a few seconds before returning to the starting position and repeating with the other leg.

Snake Stretch

Muscles involved: Abdominals

Equipment required: Yoga mat

1. Lie on the floor face-down, with your arms bent at your sides below shoulder level and your legs fully extended.
2. Fully extend your arms and push your upper body towards the ceiling, mainly focusing on driving your back upwards.
3. Continue pushing until your upper thighs and the bottom of your hips can no longer maintain contact with the ground.
4. Hold the position for a few seconds.
5. Come back to the starting position.

Standing Shoulder Stretch

Muscles involved: Triceps brachii, latissimus dorsi

Equipment required: None

1. Stand up straight with your arms by your sides and your feet about shoulder-width apart.
2. Laterally raise one arm and bend your elbow so your arm is positioned behind your upper back.
3. Use your other arm to grab the elbow of your bent arm.
4. Gently push down on your bent arm.
5. Maintain the position for a few seconds and repeat with the other arm.

Once you’ve mastered safe exercises at home, outdoor workouts await you. The Golden State has plenty of picturesque cycling roads and breathtaking off-the-beaten-path hiking trails at your disposal. Let the introvert in you discover the outdoors while preserving your physical and mental health.