Top 7 Important Exercises That Will Benefit Your Life

Physical exercise is an important factor for having a healthy lifestyle. As you get older both your mind and muscles starts deteriorating.

An prime example of this is people having lower back pain as they get older. This is related to the weakening of certain muscle group, which can be prevented by doing some this list of Important Exercises.

I know there are hundred’s of exercise out there, so which one should you be doing? Now all the the exercises are good for you if performed correctly, however not all of them are ranked equal.

So, down below I am going to list my TOP 7 Important Exercises that I found out to be the best exercise for overall health.

What Are The Most Important Exercises?

Here are my top picks:

• Squat
• Bear crawl
• Pull UP
• Shoulder press/ Military Press
• Romanian Dead Lift
• Farmer’s Walk
• Back extension

1) Squat

Squat is called the King Of All Exercises and there is a clear reason why this is.

When performed correctly, it simultaneously works your whole lower body and some of your upper body. Some of the big muscles it works are the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and core. Which are all essential for daily movement throughout your day.

People can have a tough time executing the squat, in this case there are many tools to assist you overcome your weakness.

How the Exercise is performed

• The first step is extremely important, you need to start with a weight that you know you can handle. To start I advise you to just use your body weight to build up strength. Then gradually I would transition from a Body squat to a Barbell squat where you will hold the barbell on your back while squatting, then add more weights from there.

• Once you know the weight you are going to start with, the next step would be figuring out your stance. Now the stance is different for everyone, so I cannot give a definite answer to this. But typically having your feet about shoulder width apart is where most people feel comfortable.

• If using a barbell, position it high on your shoulders, and slightly push down until the bar feels tight on your back. If doing body weight, then just keep your hand In front of your chest.

• Keep your chest up and don’t round your shoulders

• Once you are all set take a deep breath and tighten your core. Then slowly descend, keep the weight on your heel rather than your toes.

• Make sure while you are squatting down, that you do not round your back or lean too forward.

• Once you are just below parallel, drive your heels to the ground while maintaining the same posture of your upper body as before.

2)Bear Crawl

Bear crawl is a great full-body workout that works both on muscle building and cardiovascular. It is an amazing exercise to increase your muscle endurance, making you feel fit and strong.

How to preform the exercise

• Firstly, make sure the area you are doing this is clear and smooth.

• Then get in a crawl position (like a bear).

• Make sure your hands are underneath your shoulder and your feet are shoulder-width apart.

• Lift up your knees just above the ground, while keeping your back flat.

• Then move one of your hands and the opposite leg forward at the exact distance.

• Keep crawling forward at a steady pace. Try to maintain the same form throughout the whole session.

3)Pull up

Pull-ups work all of the major back muscles so it’s a great movement for strengthening your whole back. This exercise not only works the back muscles, but it also works your shoulders, biceps, and forearm (Grip strength).

With just owning a pull up bar, you can target most of your upper muscles right from home.

Another benefit that Pull-ups provides is the decompression of the spine. As you are hanging from the bar, gravity pulls your body down elevating some pressure from your lower back.

How to perform the exercise

• Hold the bar with an overhand grip, hold the bar a bit wider than your shoulder width.

• To engage the movement, first fully get your feet off the ground. so essentially you would be just hanging.

• Tighten your core and pull your shoulders up and back.

• Slowly pull your body up, until your chin is just over the bar. Make sure your elbows are pointing downwards towards the ground.

• Then gradually lower your body, and repeat the process again.

4)Military Press

I think the Military press is close to squat but for the upper body. It works many muscles in your upper body such as the shoulders, core, triceps, lower back, and upper back. As this exercise focuses on the stability of both the upper and lower body, it helps improve your posture too.

How to perform the exercise

• Firstly, make sure the weight you are using is something you can handle. Going too high on weight can put a lot of pressure on your lower back.

• Do this exercise in the squat rack, it saves you the trouble of having to get the bar to your shoulder from the ground.  

• Hold the bar slightly wider than your shoulder width.

• Get underneath the bar, while slightly bending your knees

• Fully tighten your core and your glutes. Then drive through your feet, taking up the bar.

• Walk a few steps back and get your feet shoulder-width apart. This will give you stability and prevent your body from swaying about.

• Take a deep breath while still tightening your core and glutes, and push the bar straight up.

• Make sure you are not pushing the bar forward from your body. The path of the bar should be straight up and down. keep your elbows pointing forward and not to the side.

• Take your breath out at the top and slowly lower the bar at the starting position.

5)Romanian Deadlift

This is a great exercise to teach you hip hinge movement. In life, we are always picking stuff from the floor and our backs are most likely rounded every time in doing so. Even with light items, if you are always bending from the lumber spine, this can leads to injury in the future.

The Romanian deadlift is a whole-body workout, but the main muscles it works are the glutes, hamstring, and lower back.

How to perform the exercise

• Perform the exercise in the squat rack. This is just so you don’t have to waste energy picking up the bar from the floor.

• Start off with the standard barbell or trap bar without putting any weights on it, to see how you feel.

• Grab the bar at shoulder width.

• How to initially lift the is what you are doing is firstly you are making sure that the middle of the feet is lined with the bar. Then you slightly bend your knees until your shin is touching the bar, while keeping your back flat.

• Once in position push through your feet and take a few steps back.

• Take a deep breath, then tighten both your core and your shoulder blades.  

• Slightly bend your knees and send your hip backward.

• While sending your hip backward lower the bar. Make sure the bar stays close to your body.

• Remember you should be hinging with your hips while maintaining a straight back

• Get the bar around the middle of the shin.

•  Squeeze your glutes and get up again to the starting position.

6)Farmers walk

This is a great exercise for strength training and cardiovascular endurance. Essentially this exercise is picking weight from the floor and walking a certain distance or certain time.

This is a full-body workout, it works muscles such as the forearm, back, shoulders, glutes, calves, triceps, and core. Walking with heavy weights can help improve your posture as well.

How to perform the exercise

• Pick up the weights from the floor, this can be either dumbbells or kettlebells.

• Make sure to keep your back flat while picking up the weight, this is to prevent lower back injury. Hang the weight at your side of the body.

• Tighten up your core and your shoulder, then slowly walk forward. Make sure your body and the weights are not swaying while walking.

• The amount you walk can either be a set amount of distance or it can be for a certain amount of time.  

7)Back Extension

The main purpose of this exercise is to strengthen your lower back. This will greatly reduce the chance of injury as your spinal column would get more insulated. As this is not a full-body workout, it is less taxing than the other exercises. Which is great as you can fit this into any routine.

This is one of those exercises that both feels good and provides great day-to-day benefits.

How to perform the exercise

• Place some type of mat on the floor then lie down on your belly.

• Point your legs straight behind you.

• Put both of your hands behind or beside your head

• Take a deep breath and lift only the upper half of your body up. Keep your lower half (from hip down) planted to the ground. Hold the top position for a few seconds

• Make sure you are not exerting for the lower back. Only go up until you feel a burning sensation and not until you feel pain.

• Then slowly lower your upper body down and exhale. Then repeat again.

Conclusion

You do not have to add all these lists of exercises in one go. They are all compound movements meaning they work more than one muscle group, so it can be very taxing on your body. It is better to take it slow and focus on getting your form right, as these exercises can do more harm than good if your form is incorrect.

This is why these are not 7 exercises to do every day, they should be spread out throughout your week to minimize the risk of injury.

But I know some people might not have the time to add all of these in their week so my top picks for Important Exercises are Squat, Romanian Deadlift, and Pull Up.