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Exercising for Optimal Health

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The knowledge about exercising to get stronger and fitter is nothing new. Tons of research, experts and even athletes all agree that exercise can improve strength and just make your life much more enjoyable, especially if you manage to build a physique worth a few selfies.

However, exercising is more than just something that can help you lift heavy stuff, run faster, or stay in shape. Exercising, at its core, is beneficial for our overall health, especially our immunity.

During these unprecedented times, having optimal immunity is a must. Other than diet, you can also help boost your body’s ability to fight unexpected invaders by getting a little sweat work.

“But the gyms around my area are closed!”

Not to worry, we picked 7 exercises you can do at the comforts of your home or your backyard. Some of them will require some tools, but they’re both portable and can be bought online and delivered to your doorstep easily.

7 Exercises to help strengthen immunity

Squats

Squatting is considered a basic human movement. Before our ancestors learned to sit down, we squatted. In fact, our body is built to squat efficiently, especially as certain movements or lifts require squatting to be considered proper and safe posture.

Squatting is also easy to do, and perhaps considered a good exercise when you want something that gets you warmed up fast because it makes use of quite a lot of muscles. Your legs, your butt, your core, and with a few variations, even your shoulders and arms are all worked when doing a proper squat.

Burpees

This is a simple exercise, but it’s no means considered easy, especially for those who are familiar with it. What you do is you combine three exercises into one: The push up, the squat, and the jumping jack. You’re basically working every muscle in your body plus your lungs and heart. If you’re looking for one of the hardest cardio exercises ever, look no further.

Jumping Rope

We all know this exercise and some of us probably played with jumping ropes as a kid. Whether you use the jump rope for fun or for health purposes, it’s one of the best exercises you can do right now. It’s so good, pro boxers and basketball players routinely do jumping rope as it helps them have more “bounce” and improves leg power, which are critical when dodging punches or for high flying dunks.

It’s hard to imagine that so much power can come from such a trivial piece of rope, but it’s why it’s one of the best and why it’s on this list.

Lunges

Lunges are kinda like squats, but with one leg per repetition. Some say lunges are better than squats overall because your range of motion is better (aka you extend your legs more) and it forces you to tighten up your butt and core.

More than just a good exercise for immunity, lunges also helps strengthen muscles responsible for keeping proper balance and posture.

Mountain Climbers

This is an interesting workout. On one hand, it trains your core and some upper body muscles as you maintain a planking position. On the other, it also helps you improve your legs’ ability to propel you forward.

Think of this workout as a way to simulate what it’s like to run up a hill or, as the name implies, climb a mountain. After a few sets, and some sore legs and arms, you’ll realize why it’s called mountain climbers.

Push ups and Pull ups

Push ups are basic and greatly work your core and upper body. They can be done virtually anywhere with floor space. Pull ups are one of the best when it comes to building upper body strength and glutes, but this might require you to go to the nearest playground for some monkey bars fun.

Kettlebell Exercises

Kettlebells are those heavy bowling balls with handles you see a lot in gyms and exercise videos.

They are considered a staple for “home gym” setups as just one or one pair can open the doors to a world of exercises you didn’t think you can do at home.

We’re talking about squats, presses, lunges, snatches, presses, swings, and their combinations.

Some fans say buying a pair of kettlebells was like buying an entire gym set if you know what you’re doing. Aside from the bells themselves, we strongly recommend a wide enough floor space and a lot of space overhead, as some kettlebell exercises may want you to bounce it up multiple times.

Takeaway

Our immunity is not just a dietary issue, but also a movement issue. The stronger you get with exercise, the stronger the body’s natural systems also become, especially when it comes to our immunity. There is a myriad of complex reasons as to how exercise improves the immune system, but one thing is certain: A bit of exercise here and there can go a long way for our overall wellness.

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