Top 5 Exercises To Get In Shape - and Stay There!

Why five exercises? Well, ten seemed like too many to remember... three was too little to cover everything that needs to be done!

Staying in shape takes a lifelong commitment - and there's no point in getting there in the first place if you're not determined to stay there. These exercises are a minimum and are merely suggestions. You might like 'em, you might hate 'em - but they do cover most of the larger muscle groups and will go a long way in any maintenance program.

It's all about making exercise a Habit!

1. My number one choice works the largest muscles in the body. Targeting the glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps, SQUATS are one of the best exercises you can do to shed fat and build muscle. Position is vitally important - it's easy to trash the knees if you aren't careful. Also, when starting out, don't go to extremes. Don't do too many, don't go too deep or too fast.

Keep the knees behind the toes. Imagine if you were standing facing a wall, with your toes just touching the wall. As you squat down, don't let your knees hit that wall. Keep your weight back on your heels.

Experiment with foot width, too. I've found that keeping my feet closer together allows me to do a deeper squat but that keeping the feet shoulder width or slightly greater makes for an easier squat. Go slowly; figure out what works for you.

In the long run - deeper is better. In the short run, make sure you work up to those "butt to the floor" reps!

2. The second exercise on my list targets the triceps, shoulders, chest, back and abs. It's that perennial favorite: PUSHUPS. There are many types of pushups, but it's best to start with the basics: hands under shoulders, feet together.

"Girl" pushups - where you let your knees remain on the ground - are really a different sort of exercise than the basic pushup. If you must start with them, do so - but also practice holding yourself in the basic pushup position, both at the top of the movement (fairly easy) and at the bottom (pretty hard!).

To work up to a basic pushup, start at the top and bend the elbows slightly, increasing your depth over a period of days as you get stronger. Also, start at the bottom and pushup. In the beginning, this portion might be an isometric exercise - no movement at all - but rest assured it will build some muscle and help you get a little closer to the success with the basic movement.

3. LUNGES work the legs and the core muscles as well. I prefer to step backwards and drop that back knee. Once again, this keeps the front knee from passing over the toes, a no-no in both lunges and squats.

There are many variations on lunges - I like dropping my back knee all the way to the ground although some prefer to have it barely touch. When starting out, you might see how close you can come to the ground while maintaining the ability to get back up again!

4.SITUPS, CRUNCHES, LEGLIFTS - exercises that really work the abs and core are essential for getting in shape and staying there. Full situps - bent knees, feet on the floor, hands behind the head, touch your elbows to your knees - are difficult and for people with a history of back pain, may not be recommended. Crunches - where you're in essentially the same position as the full situp - are easier on the back because instead of curling up, you instead try to lift straight up towards the ceiling - and only high enough that the bottom of your shoulder blades leave the ground.

Other alternatives include leglifts, reverse situps and the like, but any exercise that targets those abs is fair game for my number 4 choice.

5. Number 5 is going to be a bit vague: call it "CARDIO-VASCULAR EXERCISE". Anything that gets your heart beating and your lungs huffing and puffing falls into this category. Running, brisk walking, cycling, rowing, swimming - the list is endless. These aerobic exercises are important for energizing your whole body, building muscle, building endurance and keeping you in shape.

Twenty minutes with your heart in the 60-80% of maximum range is ideal. A quick rule of thumb for finding your max heart rate is to subtract your age from 220 - but that just gets you in the ballpark. Check with your trainer to get a more exact figure.

It's tough to get your heart beating in that max range for twenty minutes without getting your entire body involved. Walking and swimming are probably the two best for getting started - and swimming by itself is probably the best all around exercise. If I had to limit my list to only one pick, it would be 1/2 hour of vigorous swimming 4 or 5 times per week.

That should do it. Getting in shape and keeping in shape requires a minimum of 3 exercise sessions per week - 4 or 5 would be better. Each session should be a minimum of 20 minutes - and mornings seem to be better at energizing you for the day as well as easier to maintain as a habit.

Any exercise is better than no exercise, but keep in mind you can't do it all in one session. Don't push too hard at first, don't get burned out because you can't see results in a week. If you miss a week - so what? Get right back in there next week. This is a lifetime habit we're talking about, not just a chance to fit into that fancy dress or skimpy bikini one more time! Stay with it, forgive yourself when you fail - but get right back to it as soon as possible.