We Should All Exercise More, but You Don’t Have to Punish Yourself in the Gym

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that healthy adults should spend at least 20 minutes a day on moderate heart-protective aerobic exercises such as cycling and swimming plus two days a week on muscle strengtheners .

Sounds good, but in real life when the National Center for Health Statistics analyzed answers about exercise regimes from 30,000 volunteers, they discovered that fewer than one-third of us (28 percent to be exact) even come close to meeting the standard. And the percentage falls as low as 16 percent once you move outside major metro areas like New York City.

With that in mind, two weeks ago the aspiring gym teachers at Harvard Men’s Health Watch decided to offer some tips on how to learn to love three basic exercises: Squats, push-ups, and bridges. True, their advice is tailored to the male body, but there’s no reason a girl can’t play with them as well.

First up: Squats. The surprise is that you do squats every time you sit and stand, activating every major leg muscles at once: Quads, hamstrings (thighs), gluteals (buttocks), gastrocnemius and plantaris (calves)and soleus (ankles). The result for a dedicated session is a stronger lower body with easier and safer overall movement.

The potential problem? Must men have tight hip flexors and hamstrings which makes it hard to go low says physical therapist Vijay A. Daryanani, a certified personal trainer with Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation. His possible remedy is to sit in a chair with arms, place your feet hip-width apart and your hands on your thighs, tighten your abdominal muscles, and push on the arms of the chair as you take a few seconds to stand. Once you have that down pat, add a challenge by keeping your arms crossed or holding a dumbbell or book at chest level. Or you can just try a lower chair next time.

Now move on to push-ups, another multipurpose exercise that works everything top to bottom: arms, chest, core, hips, and legs. That’s the good part. The other side is that push-ups are often used as punishment, specifically in the military where any sign of struggle is taken a sign of weakness. To make them easier to do, forget the floor at first. Instead, begin by leaning at an angle against a solid surface such as a kitchen counter and pushing off. When you’ve conquered that, move down to the floor. And keep the action reasonable. The mantra is that five good pushes are better than ten that leave you with sore muscles.

Third, be a bridge defined as your body lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart and parallel to each other. Now place your arms at your sides, palms down. Relax your shoulders against the floor. Tighten your buttocks, then lift your hips up off the floor as high as is comfortable. Hold for five seconds, then return to the starting position. If at first your muscles aren’t strong enough to lift your hips very high, the Harvards say it’s okay to put a pillow under your back for support that makes it possible to lift your hips just high enough to engage your muscles. A few inches at first is fine.

Finally: Two basic rules. One: Exercising is not a competition. The only player here is you so be considerate of the opposition. If it hurts, stop. Second, yes, girls and women can try these maneuvers but female muscles are by nature slimmer than the male, so honor rule One.