The Best Workouts Every Beginner Should Be Doing

If you're a novice to fitness, you might have heard conflicting messages about what you should or shouldn't do. This makes it harder to stick to a workout routine if you're confused about where to even begin. Or maybe you dread the idea of exercising because you don't know which workouts are worth doing. It's helpful to have a helping hand in situations like this, especially if you've never done the different types of exercises the fitness world has to offer. The best part is many of these can be done at home or the gym and require minimal equipment.

Best beginner exercises

Squats

There are several variations of the squat that can help get you familiar with the movement. Guyett recommends the dumbbell front squat: hold light- to medium-weight dumbbells on your shoulder with your elbows pointing forward in line with your chest. Keep your feet shoulder width apart and push your hips back as you bend your knees and come down to at least a parallel squat position (when the knees make a 90-degree angle). Going too far past parallel can cause you to arch your lower back, which can lead to back pain. It's more important to get form down first with this exercise, because it does require proper mobility in the wrist to hold the dumbbells, and shoulders and ankles to keep you upright while going down into the squat. If you're looking for extra support when doing this exercise, you can place a bench or box behind you for reference. As you come down into the squat, control your body until your glutes touch the box or bench and come back up to standing.

Glute bridge

If you'd like to target your glutes but don't feel quite comfortable with the squat, a glute bridge is a good alternative. Jake Dickson, a certified personal trainer and contributing editor at BarBend says, "The glute bridge is a great technique for novices because it stimulates your glute muscles, which are the large muscles in your backside." To perform the glute bridge, lie on your back with bent knees and flat feet on the ground. Constrain your glutes and lift your hips so that your body creates a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Pause briefly and squeeze the glutes again, then return to the starting position. To make this exercise harder, you can add a dumbbell or barbell across the hips (add a mat for cushioning) as you master the movement.

Push-ups

The great thing about push-ups is that you can do them anywhere, equipment-free. There are also different variations that can make the exercise harder or easier depending on your fitness level. For example, if you are an absolute beginner, the push-up can be done against a wall. Once you get stronger, you can do it with your hands elevated on an incline and gradually decrease the height of the incline to make it more challenging. Once you can do push-ups from the ground, you can play around with hand positioning and the tempo to increase the difficulty.

Deadlifts

Deadlifts are considered one of the few exercises that closely translates to the movements you use in everyday life, such as carrying heavy grocery bags and setting them down. There are variations to this exercise as well, and it can be done using dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells. As a beginner, doing deadlifts with a pair of dumbbells in hand is a good place to start. This exercise helps you practice hinging from your hips, as well as targets your core, back, glutes and hamstrings. To do a dumbbell deadlift you'll want to stand with your feet shoulder width apart with a soft bend in your knees, as you hold the dumbbells in front of you. Keep your shoulders back (avoid rounding your back) as you bend at the hips and push your hips back as you slowly lower your torso, keeping the dumbbells close to your shins. Stop once your body is parallel to the floor. You should feel a stretch in the hamstrings at the bottom of the movement. Slowly come back up to the starting position while maintaining your form. As you improve your form on this exercise, you can increase the dumbbell weight or progress to barbells and kettlebells.

Dumbbell rows

Pulling exercises such as the dumbbell rows target the muscles on your back and can even help improve your posture. To do this exercise you'll need a weight bench and a pair of dumbbells. If you don't have a weight bench, you can find one at most gyms, or use any similar bench you have at home (just make sure it's sturdy). Since this exercise is done one arm at a time, you will need to take turns on each side. To start, bend over and position your left knee on the bench along with your left hand directly in front, aligned with your shoulder, supporting your body weight. In this position your back should be flat. Meanwhile, with your right hand, hold a dumbbell extended toward the floor. To perform the row, roll your shoulders back, pull the dumbbell in as you draw the elbow towards your hip. As you improve on the form for the dumbbell row, you'll be able to progress to other variations such as the barbell or kettlebell row.

Farmer's carry

This exercise can be done using dumbbells or kettlebells and will challenge your upper body, shoulder and core stabilization as well as help strengthen your grip. The point of the farmer's carry is to prepare you to have the ability to carry heavy objects in hand. For example, if you want to carry in all your heavy groceries in one trip instead of making multiple trips. I personally like to do this exercise with kettlebells, but you can get the same effect using dumbbells. To perform a farmer's carry, hold a heavy dumbbell that feels challenging enough for your grip, but still feasible to hold in each hand. Pull your shoulders back and brace your core, standing with your back upright as you walk across the room for time or distance. Focus on form while you do this exercise and take breaks as needed.

Cardio

Cardio has its own health benefits, and balancing it out with strength training (including the other exercises in this list) will help you reap the benefits from exercising even more. Cardio can include anything that gets your heart rate up, such as walking, bike riding, hiking, swimming, running or even taking a dance class. Typically Guyett advises that novices aim to strength train one to three days a week with some form of cardio one to three times a week. Doing cardio regularly is also a good way to keep your endurance up and your heart healthy.