Breathing in through the nose for a count of 4, holding for 7 and breathing out through pursed lips for 8: the long hold and longer out-breath set it apart from plain slow breathing. Small trials report less anxiety after bariatric surgery and less tinnitus distress over 6 weeks; a pain study after knee replacement had no comparison group. In a direct test in 84 students, slow breathing without holds raised heart rate variability more.
Lying on your back with the hip and knee bent to right angles, you hold the thigh still and slowly straighten the knee toward the ceiling, then bend it back. Your own thigh muscles straighten the knee, so no strap is needed. It is the Extender, one of three lengthening exercises in Askling's protocol, which returned footballers with hamstring strains to full training in 28 days rather than 51.
A seated crunch against a weight stack: you curl forwards over the arm pads, and on many machines the knees rise at the same time. ACE rates it beginner, the same level as the floor crunch. In a study of 42 adults it drew less rectus abdominis activity than a ball crunch against an elastic band (84% against 104% of maximum) and far more hip flexor activity (65% against 27%).
Leaning into a wall at about 45 degrees on straight arms, you drive one knee up and punch the foot back down under your hips, first one leg at a time and then fast, rehearsing the body angle and leg action of a sprint start without moving. A 3-count wall drill opened an 8-week speed and agility programme that improved 20 and 30 metre sprints in young female footballers more than their usual training (Lee 2024).
A cycle of relaxed breathing, a few slow deep breaths and one or two huffs that loosens mucus and moves it up so you can cough it out. NHS physiotherapists teach it to people with cystic fibrosis (CF), bronchiectasis and other lung conditions that make a lot of mucus: learn it from yours. Its 3D demo shows the seat and the rhythm; the figure can't show the breath or the huff's open mouth, so follow the written steps for them.
On hands and knees, you straighten one leg up and back until it is in line with your back, then return the knee to the floor. It is the leg half of the bird dog, with the knee straight rather than bent as in the glute kickback. In a muscle activity study, the all-fours arm and leg lift may work the gluteus maximus hard enough to build strength.
Sitting upright, you close one nostril at a time with the thumb and ring finger, breathing in through one side and out through the other, with no holds in the basic version. Across 6 trials it lowered blood pressure by about 7/5 mmHg, but results varied widely and few were blinded; in 34 students, 10 minutes of it changed heart rate variability no more than resting. The idea that it balances the body's two sides is traditional and untested.
Standing with the dumbbells in front of the thighs, one arm at a time rises forward to shoulder height and lowers: ACE's front raise, one side at a time.
Standing with dumbbells at your sides and the thumbs pointing forward, you raise one arm at a time straight in front to shoulder height and lower it. It is the front raise with a hammer grip, taking turns. Mass General's shoulder handout prefers forward raises with the thumb up rather than the palm down, and in an EMG study the front raise worked mainly the front deltoid and the upper chest.
Lying with your knees bent and your feet set wide, you keep your shoulders curled just off the floor and bend your trunk from side to side so each hand reaches for its heel. It is a side bend held in a crunch, about as easy to learn as the basic crunch. Side-bending tasks worked the external obliques most in an EMG study of floor exercises.
Easy demandDuration variesBodyweight + floor space
Sitting with one foot lifted and the shin held still, you draw the biggest slow circle the ankle can make: pointing, rolling the sole in, pulling up and rolling it out. Unlike relaxed ankle circles, they press into the edge of the range on every side. CARs come from coaching rather than research, and their first trial (2026) tested the hip; after an ankle sprain, stretching with home exercise did most to restore ankle bend in the first weeks.
With one foot lifted a little off the floor, sitting or holding a support, the big toe draws slow, wide circles in each direction. Unlike ankle CARs, which push to the end of the range, these are relaxed circles. An NHS physiotherapy leaflet uses them, with turning the sole in and out, to keep a stiff or recovering ankle moving.
Lying face down on an incline bench, you press a light barbell from in front of your chest straight out beyond your head until your arms are long and level with the floor. The arms work against gravity in a reach above shoulder height. In an EMG study the nearest measured exercise, the face-down overhead arm raise, gave the highest lower trapezius activity of ten.
Easy demandDuration variesA barbell + a bench or box
Standing with your arms straight out at shoulder height, you draw small circles about a foot across with each arm, one way and then the other. It is a dynamic stretch that moves the shoulders rather than holding a position. ACE lists arm circles among the dynamic moves to do before exercise and saves static stretching for afterwards.
Lying on your back holding a stick, a broom handle or your clasped hands, you lift both straight arms up and over your head as far as is comfortable, hold, and lower slowly. Your good arm helps the other, and the bed supports your back, so it's a gentle way to win back lifting the arm forwards after breast surgery and to practise the arms-overhead position used for radiotherapy.
Easy demandDuration variesFloor space + other / check instructions
Turning the handles of an arm bike from your chair or wheelchair at a steady effort: cardio that doesn't need your legs. It is the most common aerobic exercise people with a spinal cord injury do outside hospital. In 18 studies it improved fitness after spinal cord injury, and small studies haven't found that it raises the risk of shoulder pain.
Standing on a balance or wobble board and keeping it level: harder than balancing on the floor, because the board tips with every shift of weight. A wobble board raised calf, hamstring and trunk muscle activity in trained lifters, and in trials board programmes cut ankle sprains in volleyball players with a past sprain and sports injuries in teenagers.
Face down over a stability ball with the feet on the floor, the trunk rises from draped over the ball until it is in line with the legs: the NSCA's beginner back extension, which on the ball worked the extensors no harder and loaded the spine less than on a mat. A plate held at the chest makes it heavier.
Sitting with a band pulling the forefoot outwards, you sweep the foot inwards, big toe leading, while the heel stays still, then let it back slowly. It strengthens the tibialis posterior, the main support of the inner arch, and is the core exercise in trials for tibialis posterior tendon pain.
