As part of my series of posts dedicated to easy exercises for beginners, I don’t want to forget about great exercises to tone those hard to develop areas.
We all know what they are. The belly, the thighs, the butt… really when you’re out of shape it’s most of the body.
And I was out of shape in more ways than one. Just about any suggestion to get in shape would help.
If there was an award for most developed couch potato I’d win it. And when I say developed, I mean the shape of a potato.
It was difficult to walk a flight of stairs without getting winded or cramping up and my energy level was terrible.
But I found out the real secret is you can completely change the direction your health is going by getting off your butt and moving for a few minutes a day.
Even better news is that there are tons of great exercises to tone your body and get into shape.
Especially if you are looking for easy exercises for beginners and I’m going to pass them along to you.
If you haven’t exercised in a long time or never at all (I hope that’s not the case) it’s always a good idea to check with your family doctor to make sure these exercises are right for you.
Are you ready? LET’S GET STARTED!
When I’m looking at exercises to tone the body, I like movements that get the blood pumping and warm up the muscles.
Especially good are compound exercises. Those are movements that involve several muscles and joints working together at the same time.
That’s why sitting around all day is so bad for you. You’re hardly working any muscles and joints at all!
So allow me to introduce you to the classic…
Jumping Jack
Jumping jacks are one of my favorite exercises that I started out doing when I was a beginner to physical fitness and I still do today.
It is fantastic! It’s a great part of any workout routine and also acts as a great warm up movement.
So if you’ve never tried it, here’s how you do it.
Stand up straight with your arms relaxed by your sides.
Jump straight up into the air.
As you jump, allow your feet to come apart until they’re approximately shoulder width apart.
While your feet come apart, raise your arms straight out to your sides.
As you come back down, land with your feet shoulder width apart, and continue raising your arms out to the sides and up over your head.
So when you land, your legs are apart and your arms are straight up over your head.
Then jump up again and do the entire movement in reverse.
So, you bring your feet back together and your arms come back down to your sides.
This way when you land back on the ground you’re back in the starting position.
Don’t worry, I’ll show you how it’s done.
The movement is a great compound exercise. It gets your whole body in on the action.
Related Article: One Of The Best Exercises To Tone Your Whole Body
It’ll get your heart pumping and is one of the great exercises to tone every muscle in your legs.
Also, it happens to be amazing for building endurance and coordination.
Try doing about 5 to 10 repetitions. Remember, it’s not a full jumping jack until you return to the starting position.
Here’s a great demo I found for the jumping jack from Rachel Buschert Vaziralli at Howcast.com.
Pretty amazing right?
I especially like the toned down version if you’re really just getting started with exercise and need something a little easier.
And great advice on going easy with the impact.
You’re going to feel this one, but it’s going to get you warmed up.
It’s great for cardio and will help you strengthen your muscles as you’re starting to develop a workout routine.
If you’re a little wiped out, don’t worry about it. Especially if you’ve never really exercised before. Just getting started is amazing.
However, if that got you going and you’re feeling energized, here’s another one of the great exercises to tone your arms and it will give you a chance to catch your breath…
Arm Circles
The movement is exactly as it sounds and really easy to complete.
Start off by standing up straight, feet slightly apart with your knees a little bent. Raise your arms straight out to your sides.
Start making little circles in the air with your arms, keeping them pointing out to the sides, rotating forwards
Gradually allow the circles to get a little larger until they’re about the size of a beach ball.
If you don’t know what a beach ball looks like you can’t google it, I want you to go out and meet some people.
Then rotate them in reverse until they’re back to the starting position. Try and make at least 5 rotations in each direction.
Try completing about 3 sets of the forward and backwards rotations.
Now this is one of the many exercises to tone and shape your shoulders and upper arms.
Related Article: How To Build A Strong Upper Body For Beginners
It will help build strength and muscle endurance as well. You can feel it right away.
Arm circles will also be great a little later down the road when your fitness level starts to go up, to use as a warm up before other arm exercises.
But for now try and enjoy them. If that’s possible.
I found this great demonstration of how to do arm circles from InstructorLive.com. Take a look.
Those are some amazing tips!
Especially with how to hold your hands in order to engage your upper arms.
You can maintain small circles as she demonstrates are work out to larger ones as I suggest above.
Try mixing it up and see which gives you the better workout. You can also vary your hand position as long as you continue to engage the arms properly.
They’re going to be a valuable addition to your arsenal for building upper body strength and they’re probably a nice break after the jumping jacks.
Now. If you feel like you’ve had enough, that’s OK. You’re just getting started and you’ve done great. Tomorrow is another day.
However, if you feel like you’ve got a little left in the tank, I’ve got one more easy beginner exercise to tone your lower body that you can try…
The Forward Lunge
This one is also a lot like it sounds and easy to get started.
Start off by standing up straight with your hands on your hips.
You feel like champion of the world right now, don’t you?
Now you’re going to take a big step forward with only one foot so that your thigh is almost parallel to the floor as your foot comes down flat.
Your other foot stays where it is but your heel comes off the ground so only your toe is touching. Your back leg should also be bent with your shin almost touching the floor.
After you complete the lunge, step back into the starting position and repeat the movement with your other leg going forward and then returning to the starting position.
Related Article: Beginner Workout Builds Powerful Lower Body In Minutes
That wasn’t so bad was it.
Now if it’s difficult to get the full stretch for the lunge right now, don’t worry about it. Just step out as far as you can go.
You can gradually work towards completing a full lunge as you get stronger. And trust me, you will get stronger.
Take your time with this exercise. It’s amazing for building strength all through your legs and your butt.
Try and do about 5 repetitions with each leg.
You can make it even more effective if you engage your core muscles while you do it. But remember to breathe. Out as you step forward and in as you press back up.
Here is a great demo of the forward lunge from Holly Perkins over at Women’s Health. Have a look.
Pretty great stuff!
Don’t forget the tip about landing and pressing off the heel.
And don’t think this move is just for women. It’s awesome for guys as well.
The lunge will help you build endurance, strength and is incredible for improving your balance.
This is another movement that you are sure to be including in your regular workouts. I know that I sure do.
Now if you were able to complete the lunges after doing both the jumping jacks and arm circles, that is amazing. Way to go!
Let’s take a quick look at what you did:
- 5-10 Jumping Jacks
- 5 Arm Circles in each direction 3 times
- 5 Lunges with each leg
For somebody who never really exercised before, you just had a great workout!
If you’re still feeling strong, try doing another set of each. You may be in better shape than you thought!
All of these are great exercises to tone various parts of your body and will get you started on the road to physical fitness.
Keep coming back because I’m going to post several more of these really easy beginner workouts for your whole body so you can continue with your fitness journey and gradually move along to even more challenging workouts.
Stay healthy!
