Exercise is perhaps one of the most important pursuits in the world today. The variety of physical activities you can engage in to strengthen your body and mind is staggering, which ensures that you can choose whatever suits your condition and have great fun with it.

If you aren’t into exercising, let us start by understanding why it’s important for you to change that. Apart from building strength and endurance, regular exercise helps you manage your weight as well as muscle and joint pain, prevent heart disease, expand your range of motion and improves balance. You needn’t start at full throttle; listen to your body and go slow and easy, building capacity as you stick to your fitness routine on a regular basis

Cardiovascular exercise is a great way to burn calories and get your heart rate up. And don’t think it’s only possible to do cardio on your feet. There are a ton of fun, interesting chair cardio exercises as well that will really get you pumping.

One favourite is ball bouncing. Find a blank wall and position yourself at a comfortable distance from it. This depends on what kind of ball you’re using and how adept you are at catch. We recommend a medicine ball or a light basketball, which you bounce off the wall and catch. Keep the pace steady and don’t stop until you feel your arms burning and a sweat coming on. Repeat a few sets until it tires you out. But remember, if you’re in pain, or if you don’t feel up to it after a couple of minutes or so, stop. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, so be kind to yourself.

Aeroplane and bird arms (or arm circles) are another effective form of cardio. Stick your arms out sideways to form a T with your body and rotate them clockwise together until your shoulders are burning. Go anti-clockwise in your next set and repeat a few sets until you tire out. Apart from toning your deltoids, it also works on your core, upper arms and upper back.

Mimicking resistance training movements at pace without any equipment is also a great form of exercise. For example, stretch your arms above your head until your spine and abdomen are fully straight, then bring them down to your chest while contracting your chest and abdomen muscles and breathing out. Repeat this until your core and inner shoulders get tired. The deliberate contraction of muscles and regulated breathing are important here to get the most out of this exercise, a version of the shoulder press. Another great exercise is the butterfly press. Sit up straight, stretch your arms to your side and fold them upwards at 90 degrees, like you’re flexing your biceps. Now pull your arms inwards until they’re in front of your face, contracting your chest and core muscles as you do so and breathing out. Doing this at pace is a fantastic way to tone the chest and flanks. You can refer to this Caroline Jordan workout for these and more exercises.

Of course, this list is by no means exhaustive, and over time, we will write about a variety of exercises for various fitness levels to help our readers. But if you’re a beginner and want to start somewhere, go ahead give these exercises a try. Stick to 20 to 25 minutes of low-impact activity every day, and as your endurance improves, you can up your game. And remember, before you start any form of exercise, have a chat with your physician or therapist and make sure you choose the right activities for your condition.