Easy Exercises You Can Do at Home!

Sometimes it's difficult to get to the gym. I get that. But if you're at home, there's no reason why you should just sit on the couch! To keep fit, all you need to do is keep up on your light exercises that you can do right in your living room. Here are six that I recommend.

Dance - Whether you're a fan of top 40 music or the hits from yesterday, dancing is something everyone can do at home. Turn on your radio or your Pandora and feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger! This kind of mindless exercise (and I mean this in the most fun way) gives you concrete results! An hour of aerobic dancing at home can burn nearly 450 calories. That's the equivalent of climbing a rock wall for an hour. What's more fun, shaking your groove thing to Peaches and Herb or going to a gym and climbing up a wall for 60 minutes? For me it's the dancing!

Crunches - If you want to start work on your midsection, then you need to incorporate crunches into your routine. Crunches work your ab muscles and you'll feel the burn after doing a good set. Like with many of the exercises I'm recommending, make sure to start with a low number of repetitions before advancing, or else you will overwork your muscles and you will ache very heavily the next day. Remember to exhale as you are rising and inhale as you lower your back to the floor. This breathing control engages the abdominal muscles even more and you'll get even more out of your exercise.

Push-Ups - This can be difficult for people to do if they are out of shape, but if you have good upper-arm strength, you can start in pretty easily. Remember to start with a low number of repetitions in the beginning (start with 10 push-ups on the first day or two, and then go up to 15, then 20...all depending on how your arms feel afterwards). From there you will find that you're giving not only your arms a great workout, but also your chest and your shoulders. You may not build a huge amount of muscle by doing push-ups, but you will notice a difference.

Lunges - Lunges are very easy to do, they don't require any sort of equipment, and you'll find that not only will you be working your butt and your legs in this exercise, but also your abdominal muscles and your hips. Forward lunges are easy to do to start out, but if you want something more complex, consider the lunge exercise that shapes your glutes. Step forward, cross one foot over the other, and then take one knee to the ground as if you are doing a normal lunge. Repetitions of 25 to 50 each day will give you a perky posterior (and who doesn't want that?).

Squats...with a Twist - Squats are a good leg workout, but if you are looking to tone the insides of your thighs, you should look into this exercise that I read about in All You Magazine. It's called the pli� squat and it's pretty easy to do. Adopt a wide stance and point your feet in separate directions. Then, squat down half your height, hold for a second, and then return to standing. The whole time, your hands should be on your sides. This works not just your inner thighs but your hamstrings, calves and quads. Do a couple of dozen per day and you'll be on your way to keeping your legs beautifully toned.

Jumping Jacks - If you're looking to raise your heart rate, jumping jacks are a good way to fit in more cardio into your routine without having to leave your house. You'll get maximum benefits from doing as many as possible in one go. (As always, take care when you are first starting out, or you'll end up with sore arms!) This full-body workout strengthens your core and burns so many calories. For example, if you are a man weighing 175 pounds, you can burn as many as 350 calories from jumping jacks alone. Combine that with dance, and who needs a gym?