7 Best Exercises To Do Everyday At Home To Stay Fit

What’s the one thing that can lower your risk of all kinds of chronic diseases, boost your sleep quality and energy levels, reduce your stress, and kick depression to the curb?

Yep, it’s EXERCISE!

But for exercise to work its magic, consistency is key. And that’s why you need a simple and effective daily exercise routine that needs no equipment and can be done anywhere, anytime.

In this blog, we’ll share with you the best 7 exercises to do everyday that’ll help you stay fit, maintain a healthy weight and keep your muscles and bones strong.

Play your favorite workout tunes and let’s get this everyday workout underway!

7 Exercises To Do Everyday

1. Push-ups

Push-ups rank high on the list of 7 exercises to do everyday as they are proven to be one of the best exercises to increase upper-body strength, power, and endurance.

The other benefits you stand to gain by including push-ups in your everyday workout routine are boosting your athletic performance and bone health, and improving your core stability and posture.

Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, shoulders, abs, quadriceps.

How to perform

• Lie on the floor with your chest facing down.
• Bring your hands even with your chest just below your shoulders. DO NOT flare them out to the sides. This is the starting position.
• Push through your heels and your hands and press up, bringing the torso, chest, and thighs off the ground as one unit. 
• Keep your core engaged and ensure your hips are not sagging down or protruding upward.
• Slowly lower yourself back to the starting position.
• Repeat for reps.

Tip

Look forward instead of looking down at the floor as you do your push-ups. This helps to keep your body in line.

2. Lunges

Lunges are a must-do daily exercise as they are proven to be one of the best exercises to fire up your glutes and hamstrings (even more than the squat!).

This everyday exercise also helps in improving your balance, coordination, and stability (since it is a unilateral movement) and shedding those excess pounds.

Muscles worked: Abs, back, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves.

How to perform

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your hands on your hips.
• Keep your chest lifted, shoulders relaxed, and core engaged.
• Begin by stepping your right foot a couple of feet in front of you.
• Now lower your body by bending both knees. Ensure that your right knee is directly above your ankle and doesn't extend beyond your toes.
• Pause for a moment and then push through your right heel to return to the starting position.
• Straighten both knees and bring your right foot back to meet your left foot.
• Now repeat the lunge with your left foot in front.
• Alternate between both sides for the desired number of reps.

Tip

Control your descent and ascent and avoid rushing through your lunges. This will help maintain balance and stability.

3. Squats

Squats are shown to be one of the best functional exercises for boosting your flexibility, mobility, and balance, thus making it one of the 7 exercises to do everyday.

Science also shows that this essential daily exercise enhances your knee stability and fortifies the connective tissue around your knees.

Muscles worked: Glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, adductor, hip flexors, calves, core, obliques.

How to perform

• Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart.
• Cross your arms in front of you, placing your right hand on your left shoulder and vice versa.
• Shift your weight to the balls of your feet.
• Now bend your knees and lower your body down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
• Pause for a moment and then push through your heels to return to the standing position.
• Repeat for reps.

Tip

As a beginner, you can place a chair behind you and perform a squat until your butt touches the chair. This is a test to check if you are doing your squats with the proper form.

4. Glute bridge

Want to wake up those muscles you’ve been sitting on all day? Try glute bridges!

Glute bridges help correct your posture, alleviate lower back and knee pain, and even run better, thus making it a must-do daily exercise.

Muscles worked: Glutes, hamstrings, core.

How to perform

• Lie on the ground with your knees bent at 45 degrees and your feet flat.
• Place your hands by your sides and engage your core.
• Now exhale and slowly raise your hips to create a straight line between your knees and shoulders.
• Hold this position for a few seconds and then slowly lower your butt back to the ground, as you inhale. Repeat for reps.

Tip

Focus on using your glutes to lift your hips rather than your lower back.

5. Forearm plank

Six-pack abs on your wish list? Then forearm planks deserve a place on your list of 7 exercises to do everyday!

Research suggests that forearm planks work your abs twice as much compared to exercises such as crunches or sit-ups!

Muscles worked: Abs, obliques, lats, hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes.

How to perform

• Kneel and place your forearms on the ground with your elbows directly under your shoulders. Your forearms should be parallel to each other, forming a 90-degree angle with your upper arms.
• Now extend your legs straight back, engage your core, and lift your body off the ground such that your forearms and toes are supporting your body weight.
• Your body should now form a straight line from your head to your heels.
• Ensure that you don’t lift your hips too high or let them sag.
• Maintain a neutral neck and gaze towards the floor, keeping your head aligned with your spine.
• Remain in this position for the desired amount of time and then lower your knees to the ground to come out of this position.

Tip

Breathe steadily throughout the exercise.

6. Superman

Supermans are one of the most effective daily exercises to strengthen your erector spinae muscles that support your spine. This everyday exercise also helps you run and swim better and improves your loaded squat and deadlift performance.

Muscles worked: Core, glutes, erector spinae, hamstrings, upper traps.

How to perform

• Lie down on the floor on your stomach and extend your arms straight out in front of you.
• Engaging your core and glutes, simultaneously raise your arms, head, and legs a few inches off the ground.
• Hold this position for a couple of seconds before lowering them back to the ground.
• Repeat for reps.

Tip

Avoid using momentum or jerking motions during the exercise.

8. Burpees

No list of 7 exercises to do everyday is complete without burpees! The perfect marriage of cardio and strength training, this essential daily exercise annihilates calories, melts fat, and strengthens your entire body.

Include burpees in your daily workout routine to enhance your balance, coordination, and mobility.

Muscles worked: Glutes, quads, core, calves, shoulders, chest, triceps.

How to perform

• Squat down and place your hands on the ground at about shoulder-width apart.
• Jump your legs back to a high plank position.
• Lower your chest and thighs to the ground in one fluid movement.
• Perform a push-up and get back into the high plank position.
• Now jump your feet back towards your hands, and as you stand, jump up with your arms extended overhead.
• Clap your hands together and then land softly to finish one rep.
• Repeat for reps.

Tips

If you’re a beginner or you find burpees too challenging for you, follow the below modifications.

• Step one foot followed by the other instead of jumping your feet back and forth from the high plank position.
• After you perform the push-up, stand up and raise your arms overhead, instead of jumping.

Tips to remember for your daily workout routine

Given below are a few tips to keep in mind for a simple and effective daily exercise routine.

1. Focus on form

While these 7 exercises to do everyday might look simple, you must get the form and technique right if you want to get the most out of them. So, follow the instructional videos given in this blog or get guidance from a professional trainer to ensure proper execution.

You might like: How Long Should I Work Out For?

2. Challenge yourself

As a beginner, you can do these 7 essential daily exercises using only your body weight. But as these exercises become easier to perform, ensure that you progressively overload by adding more reps, trying more complex variations (think one-legged squats, plank taps, decline push-ups, etc.), or performing these moves for a particular duration rather than a fixed number of reps – i.e. converting your routine to a time-under-tension workout.

You can also load up your movements by using equipment such as resistance bands and convertible dumbbells.

3. Pay attention to your body’s signals

If you experience any pain or discomfort while performing any of these 7 exercises to do everyday, take a breather. You could also try less-challenging variations if you need to, say a push-up on your knees.

4. Have a well-balanced exercise routine

Ensure that your workout routine consists of a mix of cardio, strength training, and flexibility exercises.

Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise and 2 strength training sessions per week. You could add a stretch session at the end of your workouts or maybe dedicate one day per week to your flexibility exercises.

Related: Do I Need To Work Out Every Day?

Conclusion

As you can see, you don’t need complicated gym equipment to get your daily workout in. All you need is your body weight, a bit of time, and tons of determination. (P.S. These highly motivating workout quotes can help too 😉)

Incorporate these 7 exercises to do everyday into your cardio,  HIIT or strength training routine and watch your body transform into a lean, mean machine!

Which of these 7 exercises for a healthier lifestyle is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!