Move gently and stop if you feel sharp pain, dizziness, numbness, or symptoms that feel unsafe. This routine is general fitness guidance, not medical care.
Exercises
1. Bodyweight Squat
2 sets · 12 reps · 30s rest
Go only as deep as you can keep the heels down and the chest tall. Depth improves on its own.
Steps
Stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed slightly outward.
Brace your core, lift your chest, and extend your arms straight out for balance.
Sit your hips back and down as if lowering into a chair, keeping your weight in your heels.
Lower until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, with knees tracking over your toes.
Keep your chest tall and your spine neutral throughout the descent — no rounding at the bottom.
Drive through your heels to stand back up, squeezing your glutes hard at the top of the rep.
Cues
Sit between the heels.
Chest stays tall.
Drive up evenly.
Common mistakes
Letting the knees cave inward, which weakens the squat and loads the knee joint badly.
Squatting straight down instead of sitting the hips back, which puts all the work on the knees.
Lifting the heels off the floor at the bottom, which kills balance and reduces glute drive.
Cutting the depth short and squatting only halfway — robs the lift of glute and quad work.
2. Forward Lunge
2 sets · 8 reps · 30s rest · both sides
Step forward, pause a moment, then push back to standing. Hold a wall for balance if you need it.
Steps
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, hands on your hips or relaxed at your sides.
Step forward with one leg into a long stride, landing softly on the heel and rolling onto the foot.
Lower your back knee straight down toward the floor until both knees form roughly 90-degree angles.
Keep your torso upright with your front knee tracking over your front foot at the bottom.
Push through the front heel to drive yourself back up and step the front foot back to the start.
Alternate legs each rep or finish all reps on one side before switching, depending on the program.
Cues
Step and settle.
Front knee over foot.
Push back tall.
Common mistakes
Letting the front knee cave inward, which strains the knee and shifts work away from the glutes.
Taking too short a step forward, forcing the front knee to push way past the toes and stressing the joint.
Leaning the torso forward over the front leg, which loads the lower back instead of the legs.
Slamming the back knee into the floor instead of stopping just above it under control.
3. Bodyweight Deadlift
2 sets · 10 reps · 25s rest
Push the hips back with a long spine and feel the hamstrings load. Keep the range short and comfortable.
Steps
Stand tall with feet hip-width apart, arms hanging loose at your sides, and your core lightly braced.
Push your hips back as if closing a car door with your butt, letting your knees bend just slightly.
Hinge forward at the hips with a flat back and let your hands slide down the front of your thighs.
Lower until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings and your torso is roughly parallel to the floor.
Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes hard to stand back up to a tall position.
Lock out at the top by squeezing the glutes — do not lean back, just stand fully upright.
Cues
Hips travel back.
Spine stays long.
Squeeze to stand.
Common mistakes
Squatting down instead of hinging back, which removes the hamstring stretch entirely.
Rounding the lower back as you bend forward, which is the exact pattern a hinge teach should fix.
Bending the knees too much, which turns the lift into a half-squat instead of a clean hinge.
Hyperextending the back at the top instead of finishing in a tall, neutral standing position.