Fitness doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t require a college degree, certifications, gym memberships, personal trainers, or expensive equipment. Overall health and general fitness, doesn’t and shouldn’t require breaking the bank or over complicated an already hectic lifestyle. A large threshold to break through is when starting a fitness or health related goal. It is intimidating to walk into a gym or a sports supplier gazing upon equipment with hefty price tags. None of it is needed, it just helps reach very specific goals. These are three exercises that don’t cost a thing other than some time during the day. They can be done every day and anywhere that a human body can comfortably stand and reach out. No need for bodybuilding splits, percentage charts, Olympic movements, or machines that look weird and uncomfortable.
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Crawling
The most primal exercise out there. All that is needed is a body and something to crawl on. It works about every muscle in the body and is adaptable to any level of strength. The traditional crawling exercise is the bear crawl where hands and feet are the points that are connected to the ground. It can be further adapted to baby crawling, on hands and knees or army crawling, on elbows and knees. To make it more difficult, crawl up a hill backwards. It costs nothing to crawl around on the floor. An easy way to add crawling into everyday life, crawl to play around with the kids or dogs. Five minutes of crawling every day is enough to make a huge impact towards any fitness or health goal.
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Carry
Just carry anything for an extended period of time. Heavy and awkward are the best objects to carry but anything will do. Depending on how and what is carried, it can change what is being specifically challenged. Carrying, loads the whole body causing it to stabilize the skeleton preventing it from collapsing. But then moving engages all the muscles that are not stabilizing. All the benefits of walking but with added challenge. Carrying is not limited by just carrying groceries or dumbbells. Go for a ruck (hike with a bag) walk with a log, or load up heavy groceries in each arm. Carry any household item and when it gets easy, get something heavier, go longer, or further. Go for one minute every day of deliberate carrying seeing how much distance can be traveled with a heavy object. Choose an object suitable for fitness level or goals.
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Get-Up
The final exercise is the get-up. No weights are necessary or coaching to become proficient and gain the benefits of the get-up. It is the simplest exercise to perform, sit or lay on the floor and then get up off the floor. Getting up and down from the floor has practical implications and being efficient at this exercise is essential for survival. Being able to recover from a fall could save a life. It sounds simple and it is but it can be extremely taxing. Transform it into a burpee or to make it easier by using anyway needed to stand up. Limiting what limbs can be used adds a bit of fun and can be a playful activity to do with kids, teens, friends, or family. Getting up off the ground five times deliberately from a laying down position is a great place to start.
Fitness and health don’t require hours at the gym or machines. All it requires is movement and these three exercises accomplish just that. About seven minutes a day is all that is needed to start a fitness or health journey. Combine all three exercises. If there a time crunch or add them throughout the day. Just move and these exercises are part of the best investment that can be made into health and it doesn’t cost a thing just seven minutes a day.
Kyle Estep
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