For well-rounded physical fitness, you need more than just running and healthy habits, even though those are two important aspects.
To avoid potential injury, train each area of your body, and maximize on their benefits, your body needs to be exposed to different types of exercises. As a result, you’ll be set up for optimum performance, confidence in your body and your abilities.
So, what are those exercise types?
Let’s cover them one at a time, what their benefits are, and some examples too.
1. Endurance Exercises
You may also know them as cardiovascular exercises or just short as cardio.
What are the benefits of endurance exercises?
According to studies, the benefits of cardio exercises are broad and positively impacts: brain, joints, skin, muscles, weight, pancreas, lungs, blood, sexual function, mood, sleep, and energy.
Examples for endurance exercises:
Many of these cardio exercises can be done without any or much equipment.
- Running
Cycling
Dancing
Jumping rope
Swimming
Jumping Jacks
Hiking
2. Mobility / Flexibility
You may have heard of them loosely being referred to as stretching or yoga or warm-up exercises.
With flexibility or mobility exercises you’ll work “to improve your joint flexibility and function so you can move better, allowing you to improve strength and performance during your next workout.” (Source)
These types of exercises also help prevent aches, pains, and injuries.
Examples for mobility exercises:
Neck half circles
Circles for your arm, shoulder, and hip
Three-way ankle mobilization
Downward dog
Hip flexor stretch
Shoulder stretch
Glute stretch
3. Resistance Training/Strength Exercises
“Lean muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. Your body fat percentage will increase over time if you don’t do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose over time. Strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass at any age.” according to studies mentioned in this article by the Mayo Clinic.
Other benefits of strength training, apart from getting stronger, are:
burning calories more efficiently, helping with appearing leaner, lowering the risk of injury, and much more.
Examples for strength exercises:
Lunges, hinges, and squats (either simply use your body weight or hold weights like dumbells)
Planks
Push-ups
Deadlifts
Rows
How often should you do the exercise types to feel confident in your body?
The answer to that is different for each person and will depend on your fitness levels when you start, your overall health and abilities, as well as what your goals are.
So, you may end up incorporating exercises from each area into every workout you do. Or, you might concentrate on one exercise type per workout.
The important part is that you do them consistently, correctly, and frequently for sustained health benefits and body confidence.
To get started on your body confidence journey
