I think we’d like to live a life where we can move and take care of ourselves at an old age. In this case, we want to give ourselves the best chance to continue to be independent (e.g., cook, clean, and drive on our own) as we get older — create optimal living potential for ourselves as we get older.
As a fitness professional, I have a list of the five best exercises for fitness that can help meet this goal. They can help with 3 of the 5 components of fitness.
I should say that being active in general is great for health and fitness. However, there is a difference between being physically active and exercising, which I explain in another post about movement.
Exercise has a purpose, and my list of the five best exercises for fitness are meant to keep our muscles strong as we get older.
1.) Squats
One of the best exercises for the legs in my opinion.
The squat is amazing because it works on the quad and glute muscles to complete the movement. There’s a lot of muscles like the hamstrings, calves, abs, and back that are involved as well. In this case, one exercise is utilizing many muscles in a single movement (also known as a compound exercise).
This can be done with weights or bodyweight, and there is a lot of ways to change it up. We can do a sumo squat, split squat, goblet squat, jump squat, half-squat, etc. We can choose the type depending on our fitness level (e.g., beginner, moderate, expert) and/or what we’re comfortable with.
The following shows how I’d progress my clients and students:
Beginner: Bodyweight squats; assisted squats (using a chair or suspension rope [TRX])
Moderate: Dumbbell squats
Expert: Barbell back/front squats; jump squats
Any variation of the beginner and moderate levels can be done at the expert level for a great workout. This is true for all the exercises below as well.
It’s all about choosing what we like while also getting the benefits of this exercise!
2.) Pushups
I can understand why many people dread pushups, but it’s a great upper body exercise.
Like the squat, pushups utilize many muscles to complete the movement. This exercise works the muscles in the chest, front shoulders, triceps (behind the upper arm), and forearm. The back and ab muscles are involved in completing this movement as well.
Also, there are many variations to do pushups. The following shows how my clients and students would progress:
Beginner: Incline pushup (e.g., using bedframe or something that keeps the body more upright); modified/knee pushups
Moderate: Regular/standard pushups (e.g., body is parallel to the floor)
Expert: Weighted pushups (e.g., plate on back or weighted vest); decline pushups; clapping pushups; bench press (if desired)
The bench press could be the goal of progressing in the pushup, and it can serve as a substitute for pushups in this list if we’re experienced and want to do that change.
3.) Row
The row is a standard exercise for the back. This is probably the workout we see performed at the gym with dumbbells or a barbell (i.e., bent-over row).
This works on the muscles of the back, but it involves the chest, arms, and abs to complete the movement.
Beginner: Bodyweight rows; PVC row (i.e., using a plastic pipe); TRX rows
Moderate: Dumbbell rows; cable rows
Expert: Barbell rows
4.) Deadlift
The deadlift is great exercise for the hamstring and glute muscles. The lower back and abdominal muscles are involved in this exercise as well.
This is probably the exercise we see people lift extremely heavy for a personal record (PR) in the gym.
However, for general health and fitness, it’s not necessary to go for a PR with the deadlift. One wrong movement can tremendously hurt our back, which would sideline us from exercising until we recover from the injury.
Personally, unless we do this for competitions, I’d recommend choosing a level we’re comfortable with for getting a good workout. My opinion, though.
Beginner: Bodyweight deadlift using a PVC pipe
Moderate: Dumbbell deadlift
Expert: Barbell deadlift
I’m particularly cautious about this exercise. I want my clients and students to master the form and beginning exercises before progressing to moderate/expert levels.
5.) Shoulder Press
This exercise is great for the shoulders.
Additionally, the back and ab muscles could be involved in completing this movement if we’re standing (i.e., for stability).
Beginner: Bodyweight shoulder press; PVC shoulder press; resistance band shoulder press
Moderate: Dumbbell shoulder press; cable shoulder press
Expert: Barbell shoulder press or military press; push press
With that, this completes the five best exercises for fitness and leads to the important reason why I chose these exercises.
Why are these the five best exercises for fitness?
All the exercises above target the major muscle groups in the body.
Squat: Quad and glute muscles
Pushups: Chest muscles
Row: Back muscles
Deadlift: Hamstring and glute muscles
Shoulder Press: Shoulder muscles
They also have “helper” muscles involved that target the smaller muscle groups in the body. For example, pushups work on the chest, but the triceps and front shoulders help complete the movement.
In this sense, these five exercises alone can give us a great workout that hits almost every muscle group.
On another note, these exercises simulate the movements we do every day.
We squat to lift up heavy objects, push items away, bring them closer to our bodies (i.e., row), deadlift to pick up items or small kids, and raise our arms to put things on a shelf.
They’re transferrable movements, which makes them very important for us!
Summary
The five best exercises for fitness above are my opinion, but they can have strong implications for our health as we get older to take care of ourselves. They work on important movements and muscles needed as we get older.
Like I said, they work on the 3 of the 5 components of fitness. If we add some cardio and stretching to these exercises, we’d be great in all 5!
I didn’t explain how to perform them because there are many variations that can be completed. I may explain the general variations in another blog post, but I’d recommend finding experts and/or well-informed videos that can go into details for each of them.
Remember to check with a medical provider before starting a new exercise program and/or making life-changing decisions on health and fitness.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me here.
I hope this was helpful!
— Alex, M.S.