The hospital’s not the destination for a good night’s sleep: lights are bright, sheets are scratchy and noise levels are high.

Plus, if you’re there, you’re likely not feeling in tip-top shape, and you may have pain or other symptoms that can get in the way of good sleep.

But while you likely won’t get the best rest of your life during an overnight hospital stay, all is not lost when it comes to catching decent zzzs.

Here, experts share how to sleep better while in the hospital — along with why it matters, anyway.

“We know that there’s a huge link between sleep and recovery in the hospital,” academic hospitalist Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, dean of medical education at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, tells LIVESTRONG.com

After all, if you’re in the hospital because you’re ill, your body is under a lot of stress, says Thomas Kilkenny, DO, director of the Institute of Sleep Medicine at Staten Island University Hospital, Northwell Health. “Lack of sleep will just compound the problem,” Dr. Kilkenny says.

Here are a few of the ways getting good quality sleep helps aid your recovery, according to Dr. Kilkenny:

• ‌Decreased inflammation‌, so tissue can heal faster
• ‌Improved sugar metabolism:‌ Hyperglycemia (aka high levels of sugar) can get in the way of your recovery, Dr. Kilkenny says. Hyperglycemia is associated with hospital-acquired infections, per a February 2021 article in ‌Diabetes Care‌.
• ‌Reduced stress hormone levels‌ and increased energy and alertness
• ‌Eased depressive symptoms‌ — depression can be common after surgery or when you’re ill
• ‌Support of your immune function‌ — You’re more prone to illness when your sleep is less than optimal, Dr. Kilkenny notes. “But also the actual immune system is slowed, so the production of antibodies are reduced.”

All this is to say that sleep matters for your immune function, healing and also your mental wellbeing, says Alex Dimitriu, MD, who’s double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and is the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine.

And sleep during hospital stays is particularly important for older adults, because a lack of it contributes to delirium, Dr. Dimitriu notes. This occurs when you don’t get enough deep sleep, preventing your brain from clearing toxic metabolites, and leading to disorientation and being agitated, Dr. Dimitriu says. Delirium “prolongs hospital stays, results in falls and can take weeks to recover from,” he says.

There are near-endless reasons why hospitals are hard on sleep. Here are just a few:

• ‌It’s not familiar:‌ Sleeping while you travel can be hard due to the “first night effect” when you struggle to sleep due to unfamiliar surroundings, according to an April 2019 article in ‌Psychiatry Research‌. In the hospital, that experience is compounded — not only are you on guard due to an unfamiliar bedroom (and potentially a roommate who is a stranger), but unlike a hotel, no real effort has been made to supply you with a comfortable mattress and pillows and soft-to-the-touch bedding. Take the mattress: It’s designed for washing, Dr. Kilkenny notes, not for comfort. Plus, room temperatures may not suit your preferences.
• ‌Noise:‌ “Hospitals are noisy places full of beeping machines,” Dr. Dimitriu says.
• ‌Activity:‌ At home, when it’s time to go to bed, a restful atmosphere takes over. You get that “all through the house, not a creature was stirring” vibe. Not so in a hospital! “In a busy hospital, there is activity ongoing 24/7. There are people running about at all hours of the night. The night shift functions pretty much at the same intensity as the day shift,” Dr. Kilkenny says.
• ‌Interruptions:‌ In a hospital, it’s easy to get the sense people don’t really care about your sleep. “Staff will often come to check vital signs, drips and other devices, as well as drawing blood for lab work at odd hours of the night or morning,” Dr. Dimitriu says. Plus, you may have a roommate, which means double the interruptions, as staff enter to check your vitals, and then your roommate’s.
• ‌Lights:‌ “It is never truly dark in a hospital,” Dr. Kilkenny says — the lights are dimmed but not off in the hallways.
• ‌You’re in pain — or feeling distressed:‌ You may feel pain or anxiety or stress when you’re staying in the hospital, Dr. Kilkenny notes.

If you’re in the hospital overnight, you might be woken up several times — phlebotomists typically collect blood from patients at 4 a.m. so labs are ready for physicians’ morning rounds, Dr. Arora says. Nurses may stop by once or several times to check on your blood pressure and other vitals and deliver medications.

None of this is conducive to sleep, and frustratingly for anyone woken up several times, some of these actions may not even be necessary. For example, there’s no evidence to support taking vitals from every hospitalized patient every four hours, Dr. Arora says. She’s the co-author of a May 2020 article in the ‌Journal of Hospital Medicine‌ titled “Things We Do For No Reason: Routine Overnight Vital Sign Checks,” which posits a better strategy is forgoing overnight vitals with low-risk patients.

In a pilot study — which again involved Dr. Arora, who describes improving sleep in hospitals as “my forte” — researchers shared educational resources, a sleep kit (with earplugs and similar sleep-promoting items) and recommended three questions for patients to ask their care team:

1. Can I get my blood drawn during waking hours?
2. Do I need overnight vitals?
3. If I have to be woken up during the night, can I get everything done all at once?

Patients who asked those questions “were significantly more likely to experience nights with fewer disruptions due to nighttime vitals,” according to the 2021 pilot results published in ‌BMC‌‌.‌

While you’re not part of this pilot study, you too can ask these straightforward questions — and doing so may lead to far superior sleep! “Speak with your doctor and nursing staff to ask how much all nightly interruptions could be reduced within reason,” Dr. Dimitriu recommends.

“The same sleep hygiene steps that one should use at home should be replicated in the hospital; as best as possible,” Dr. Kilkenny says.

That means avoiding big meals close to bed, and skipping alcohol and caffeinated beverages near bedtime too. If you usually dim the lights at 9 p.m., then read for another hour before turning the lights off completely and drifting off, see if you can do so in the hospital.

“Try to stay on your consistent sleep schedule and stick with your relaxing pre-bedtime routine even while in the hospital,” Dr. Kilkenny says.

By the way, sticking to your usual sleep schedule means you’ll want to wake up at your usual time, too.

At night, you’ll want darkness for better sleep (more on that in a moment). But during the day, you want bright, natural light, Dr. Dimitriu says. So, “open the blinds by day,” he says.

Again, this may or may not be possible, depending on your hospital room setup.

Being bed-bound by day leads to poor sleep, Dr. Dimitriu says. “You have to be ‘vertical,’ by day, to sleep better ‘horizontally,’ by night,” he explains.

Getting out of bed may not be possible during your hospital stay. But aim to “move around as much as possible during the day,” Dr. Dimitriu says.

Maybe that means changing the incline of your bed so you’re more seated, or going for a walk down the hospital corridor. You can try doing exercises in your bed or chair, too, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Check in with your health care team about what’s doable, and what’s off-limits.

And, do your best to avoid napping. That can be tricky, because a long boring day stuck in bed can make a nap tempting. But ultimately, napping during the day can make it harder to fall asleep at nighttime. If you need to nap, do so earlier in the day.

You’ll want to avoid over-the-counter sleeping pills (think: Benadryl), says Dr. Dimitriu. Also best avoided are many prescription sleeping aids such as zolpidem or alprazolam (aka, Xanax).

“Such medications are frowned upon in the hospital because of their propensity to cause confusion or unsteadiness, especially in the elderly,” Dr. Kilkenny says.

But you’re not without options: Typically, if you need a sleep aid in the hospital, you’ll be given melatonin, Dr. Kilkenny says.

Pain can also get in the way of sleep. In fact, along with middle-of-the-night vital signs, it’s one of the top causes for disrupting sleep, according to a February 2017 study in the ‌Journal of Sleep Medicine‌, which surveyed both patients and nurses.

Dr. Arora was one of the researchers of this study. Along with issuing surveys, the researchers also had patients wear an actigraph device (which measures activity during sleep) to measure patients’ sleep time, and found that “pain was associated with the greatest objective sleep loss.”

Obscure the brightness and noise of the hospital with sleep masks to cover your eyes and ear plugs, suggests Dr. Dimitriu. Or, use an app on your phone for white noise, or bring your white noise machine from home.

Once it gets dark outside, dim the lights in the room, Dr. Kilkenny suggests. And follow the same best practices as you would at home: “Avoid any bright lights even from computers or iPads especially for the hour or so before sleep,” Dr. Kilkenny says.

If you can’t go without your device in the pre-sleep hours, turn down the intensity of the light, he says.

You may want to consider bringing items from home, such as pillows or blankets, or a framed photo to make your hospital room more homey.

Other items you might want to bring from home to feel more comfortable and stick to your at-home routine are a bathrobe, slippers and headphones, according to MSKCC.

But check first!

“Many physicians would suggest not bringing these items to the hospital in an effort to avoid bringing home possible contaminants or infections that are common in busy hospitals,” Dr. Kilkenny says.

While you may not be able to bring a pillow from home (your own pillow is the best pillow, obviously), you can ask for an extra one, Dr. Kilkenny says.

Other things you can request: an extra blanket, or moving to a room without a roommate if yours is disruptive.

Movements like climbing stairs, carting a trash can out to the curb and squatting down to load the washing machine may seem like second nature.

But as you age, grow more sedentary or change your lifestyle, those seemingly simplistic tasks can feel as difficult as scaling a mountain or pushing an Olympic bobsled.

Enter: functional fitness, a training style meant to help you move easily and live pain-free.

Here, pro trainers break down the key elements of the fitness approach, why it’s so beneficial and how you can start incorporating functional fitness into your routine with a six-move workout.

Simply put, functional fitness is a type of training that preps your body for the movements you perform in your everyday life, says Tina Tang, CPT, a NCSF-certified personal trainer and strength coach.

In a functional workout, you might practice movement patterns such as squatting, hinging, pulling, pushing and carrying — which translate to real-life actions like standing up from a chair, bending over and picking up your cat, pushing your kid’s stroller down the street and lugging heavy grocery bags to your car.

“Functional training really refers to doing exercises to help you make everyday life easier or everyday activities stronger,” she says. “So for a someone who wants to be able to pick up their grandchild, functional training would be squatting with a biceps curl, for instance.”

Functional fitness can also be training specific to an activity, according to Steve Stonehouse, CPT, a NASM-certified personal trainer and the director of training at Body Fit Training.

Say you’re traveling to Hawaii next month and you have a few kayaking excursions on your itinerary. You might adjust your workout routine to include more pushing and pulling movements so your body can tackle those outings with ease, he explains.

What’s considered a “functional” fitness program is specific to the individual. Someone who works as a package delivery person may prioritize more pulling, lifting and carrying movements than an elementary school teacher who squats down to interact with small children all day.

As a whole, though, the focus is on exercises that allow you to move better and without pain, Stonehouse says.

When training for functional fitness, strength work will most definitely be included in your program. But instead of planning your workouts around muscle groups, you’ll base them on specific movement patterns, Stonehouse says.

That means you might walk into the gym with the goal of performing squatting exercises (think: sumo squats, split squats) rather than targeting your glutes and quads.

The exercises in functional fitness workouts may also be performed for time (say, 30 to 60 seconds) rather than reps, Stonehouse says. After all, building muscular endurance — a muscle’s ability to produce and maintain force for long durations — is just as important for your daily functioning as muscular strength. (Activities like mowing the lawn and climbing up your apartment’s five flights of stairs call on muscular endurance.)

Though it’s not a hard-and-fast rule, “if you’re doing muscle-specific stuff, you probably want to be in the rep-counting game,” Stonehouse says. “And if you’re doing functional stuff — you’re not training for anything [specific], you’re just wanting to be a more dynamic human and live longer and move better — you’re typically going to want to do your work for time.”

A functional fitness routine may incorporate the same pieces of equipment as a straight-up strength workout, including kettlebells, dumbbells and barbells. You’ll also utilize tools like your own body weight, resistance bands and sandbags, according to the experts. Still, “it’s not so much about the tool as it is about what your body’s doing,” Tang says.

With generic strength training, you might perform three sets of 10 reps of squats on a Smith machine. The exercise exhausts your muscles’ strength, but the bar has a predetermined path of motion, so your body doesn’t need to work harder to provide stability, Stonehouse says.

On the flip side, your functional fitness workout might feature three sets of 10 reps of walking lunges with a sandbag on your back. The exercise not only tests your muscles’ strength, but it also challenges your balance, stability, coordination and flexibility, he explains.

Regardless of your overall fitness goals, engaging in some functional training is worthwhile, according to the experts. It gives you the strength to put your carry-on in a plane’s overhead compartment, open a heavy door and pick hefty moving boxes up off the ground.

But it’s particularly valuable for folks over 50 years old, when joints are stiffening, balance is declining and muscle mass is naturally atrophying, Tang says.

By practicing squats, lunges and the like, older individuals may feel more confident and capable of walking up and down the stairs or sitting on the toilet without crashing down, she says.

“As people get older, if they fall and break a bone, it [may be] because they’ve got a lack of reaction time or coordination or strength to grab something real quick and catch themselves,” she says. “You kind of have to train it as you get older because you just naturally lose it. So functional fitness is important for everyone — but [particularly] for those who are getting older — to just be able to have a higher quality of life.”

One surprising benefit of functional fitness: It trains your core without you even realizing it. By working with tools that allow for dynamic motion like sandbags, dumbbells and bands — rather than weight machines with set paths of motion — your body is able to move in any direction.

That that means you’ll need to activate your stabilizing muscles, namely your core, to stay upright and maintain good form, Stonehouse explains.

Consider the example of the walking lunge with a sandbag on your back. If you’re not intentionally bracing your core during the balance-heavy exercise — you’re just mindlessly lunging — there’s a good chance you’ll topple over as you step forward.

When programmed well, a functional fitness routine will challenge your body in every direction of movement — side to side, rotational and backward and forward (the latter of which most workout regimens overemphasize).

“Life happens in all three planes of motion, so it’s really important that we train in all three planes of motion,” Stonehouse says.

Consider this: If the subway you’re riding comes to a sudden halt, you’ll likely step one leg out to the side or behind you to keep your balance. Practicing lateral and reverse lunges will ensure you’re physically prepared when that moment comes.

“I really do believe that when you do hard things [such as a tough workout], more than just your muscles benefit,” Stonehouse says. “I think your mind really benefits from it. You’re regularly showing yourself that you can overcome and you can do hard things.”

In fact, studies have shown that exercise enhances mood and self-esteem and decreases stress tendencies, and people who exercise regularly have a better frame of mind, according to a January 2023 review in ‌Cureus‌.

“Why else should someone think about fitting some functional fitness training into their lifestyle? Of course, you’re going to get stronger and move better and live longer — all those great things that everybody knows. But I think you’re going to be a lot happier, too,” Stonehouse says.

To get a taste of functional fitness, try this six-exercise workout created by Tang.

Grab a pair of light to medium weights, depending on your fitness level, and perform three rounds of the first superset, taking a 60- to 90-second break in between rounds. Then, repeat the process with supersets 2 and 3. (FYI: A superset is when you perform two back-to-back movements with little rest in between.)

While Tang recommends performing 10 reps per set of each exercise, you can also work for time; consider 30- to 45-second intervals and work your way up from there.

‌1. Push-Up‌

This functional fitness exercise builds strength in, you guessed it, the pushing movement pattern. If you can’t do a full push-up on the floor, try performing the exercise against a wall or on your knees.

‌2. Forward Lunge‌

As you age, it can become difficult to lower down onto one knee (e.g., when you’re playing with your grandchildren) and stand back up again. The forward lunge will help you build strength in the movement pattern.

Note: In your typical training routine, remember to practice a variety of lunges, including lateral, reverse and curtsey versions. You can also test your body in the transverse (aka rotational) plane of motion by twisting your torso toward the front knee at the bottom of your forward lunge.

‌1. Bent-Over Row‌

Training the bent-over row, a pulling-focused functional exercise, will give you the strength necessary to open a heavy shop door or move your couch across the living room. To make this exercise harder, you can do a single-arm row.

‌2. Deadlift‌

You may not realize it, but you perform a deadlift every time you bend over to pick up a dog toy or a bulky laundry basket off the floor. If you’re new to the deadlift, you can perform the move without weights to get the hang of the movement.

‌1. Overhead Press‌

Practicing an overhead press will get your upper-body muscles ready to put a heavy box of holiday decorations back onto your closet’s top shelf.

‌2. Single-Arm Racked Squat‌

This functional exercise mimics real-life movements like dropping down to look at your cupcakes through the oven window or to pull a weed from your garden bed, especially when you’re carrying a bowl of batter or freshly picked veggies in one hand.

To make the move easier, you can squat onto a chair or box. To make the move harder, consider combining the squat and press into a thruster.

A functional fitness routine can benefit practically everyone, as its goal is to help you feel and move at your best in your everyday life. Still, older individuals who are noticing that day-to-day movements or tasks are becoming more difficult may want to prioritize functional exercises, Tang says.

The same goes for people who are in a more sedentary stage of life due to age, a career change, kids, or an injury, Stonehouse adds.

“Certainly older people and anybody in the middle that, due to circumstances, are moving less — they need to add [functional fitness] in,” Stonehouse says. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”

Sometimes your body needs a little movement to help you relax before catching some shut-eye. However, engaging in an invigorating sweat session before your head hits the pillow often isn’t the answer.

That’s because doing high-intensity workouts in the evening (if you work the day shift, that is) can elevate your heart rate and may ultimately disrupt your sleep cycle, a small May 2014 study in the ‌European Journal of Applied Physiology‌ found.

However, some types of workouts may not leave you feeling “amped up” for hours on end. Exercise that requires light to moderate effort — rather than strenuous activity — was shown to help induce sleepiness, according to a February 2019 review in ‌Sports Medicine‌.

Ahead, we share a comprehensive, 20-minute workout created by Staci Alden, CPT, PCT, a personal trainer, Pilates certified teacher and Balanced Body educator, that you can do before cracking open a book, washing your face and hitting the hay.

We’ve also got tips on how to make evening exercise work for you, plus the many benefits you can reap by working out at this time.

You won’t need any gym equipment (think: dumbbells and jump ropes) to perform the following movements. A yoga mat with a flat surface underneath and a wall for you to prop your legs up on at the end of the session is all that’s necessary.

Before getting into the bulk of the workout, Alden recommends doing a 4- to 5-minute warm-up, consisting of four core movements. Each exercise should be performed for 60 seconds. You won’t need to do more than one round of these warm-up exercises unless you feel like you could benefit from doing another set.

For the actual workout, you’ll also perform each exercise for 60 seconds. Once you’ve made it through all of the exercises once, you have the option to repeat them in a second round. Just be sure to save the final exercise, legs up the wall, for the very end of your workout.

“Feel free to stay in this position as long as it takes to feel your heart rate come down and begin to feel more relaxed and ready for bed,” Alden tells LIVESTRONG.com.

She also advises performing each exercise slowly to keep your heart rate low and engage in your mind-body connection — having control over your movements requires your brain to cooperate with your body.

‌1. Torso Rotation to Roll-Down‌

This movement can help recruit core muscles, stretch your hamstrings and lower back and lengthen your spine, Alden says.

‌2. Reverse Lunge With Reach and Twist‌

Performing this exercise can help strengthen leg muscles as well as lubricate those in the shoulders and lower back, Alden says.

‌3. Inchworm‌

Doing the inchworm as a dynamic warm-up exercise can help activate and strengthen your upper body and core, Alden says.

‌4. Cat-Cow Pose (Bitilasana Marjaryasana)‌

Cat-cow pose will help you slow down your heart rate and recover from the above movements, Alden says. It can help you mobilize your spine as well.

‌1. Cossack Squat‌

This squat variation is great for strengthening your glutes and opening up your hips and inner thighs, according to Alden.

‌2. Side Plank‌

Side planks target your obliques (the muscles located on the sides of your abdomen) and shoulder muscles, Alden says.

‌3. Child’s Pose (Balasana)‌

Child’s pose is a hip-opening movement that will allow you to breathe deeply and calm your body, Alden says.

‌4. Plank to Alternating Ankle Reach‌

Move slowly through this exercise to help initiate a recovery effect, Alden says.

‌5. Back Extension With Side Bend‌

This move allows you to strengthen the muscles located in your mid and lower back, Alden says. It’s also good for postural support.

‌6. Roll-Up‌

This move helps activate your deep core and initiate purposeful breathing, Alden says.

‌7. Glute Bridge‌

Performing glute bridges can help strengthen the backs of your legs and stretch your hip flexors, Alden says.

‌8. Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)‌

Consider legs up the wall pose your cool down. “Prop yourself with as many pillows and blankets as you like and stay in this position as long as needed to slow down your heart rate and feel ready for bed,” Alden says.

Doing gentle, body-weight exercises and moving your spine in all directions can help promote healthy circulation and prepare your body for rest, Alden says.

Findings from a December 2022 review in ‌Nature and the Science of Sleep‌ even noted that engaging in moderate-intensity physical activity in the later hours can help lull you to sleep.

Physical activity before bedtime may even help regulate body temperature, which can also help you fall asleep.

An August 2023 review in ‌Cureus‌ pointed out that it takes 30 to 90 minutes after a workout for body temperature to come down. And, as your body prepares for sleep, it begins to drop in core temperature, per a classic April 2004 review in ‌Sleep Medicine Reviews‌. By this logic, doing a workout a few hours before bedtime may help to set the stage for a healthy sleep cycle.

No matter what time of day your workout is, it’s important to ensure you eat the right balance of foods before and after your workout. When it comes to fueling before an evening workout, registered dietitian Amanda Sauceda, RD, recommends eating a few hours before your workout to ensure everything has properly digested.

“The more active you are, the more [calories] you need to eat. So, a pre- and post-workout snack is helpful for fueling your muscles,” Sauceda tells LIVESTRONG.com. “Have a snack with easy-to-digest carbs and protein to help replenish your energy and aid with muscle recovery.”

For instance, peanut butter toast could be a great snack to have after an evening workout. Just make sure you stop eating at least two hours before bedtime, she says. This way, you give your body some time to digest the food so you don’t experience heartburn while laying down or other issues falling asleep.

Consider working out at least three hours before you plan on going to bed so your heart rate has plenty of time to come down and so that you can eat a snack or meal.

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Many of us struggle with tight lats and triceps. We use these muscles for lots of exercises, and they can get stiff when we sit all day at work. The bad news: Over time, tight lats and tris can negatively impact our shoulder mobility and contribute to pain in our shoulders, neck or lower back.

But there’s good news, too. You can loosen up your upper back, arms and shoulders — and improve your shoulder mobility — using a drill called the bench prayer stretch.

The bench prayer stretch, also known as the bench thoracic spine mobilization, is a simple drill where you place your elbows on a bench and rock backward to stretch your upper body.

You can use this exercise to stretch your back and arms, and it can also improve mobility in your thoracic spine and shoulders.

The prayer stretch primarily stretches your latissimus dorsi and the long head of your triceps. You may also feel some stretching in your neck and glutes along with activation of your core muscles.

Add it to your warmup, workouts or daily mobility routine to move better now — in and out of the gym.

The prayer stretch on a bench is very effective at stretching your lats, which are the large muscles that span most of your middle back. You can also use it to relax tight triceps.

Both of these muscles see lots of action at the gym because you use them in so many different exercises. Tight lats and triceps can both limit joint mobility and potentially contribute to aches and pains.

You can use the bench prayer stretch to loosen up so you feel better in and out of the gym. For best results, do this at least once or twice a week. Consistent practice is essential to see lasting benefits.

Your thoracic spine is the portion of your spine running from the bottom of your ribs up to your neck. This area should be able to easily flex (bend), extend (arch) and rotate.

T-spine mobility is an essential if you want to keep your neck, shoulders and low back healthy. Unfortunately, many factors can make your T-spine more stiff. Lack of use, too much sitting in front of a computer and even an unbalanced training program can all contribute to T-spine mobility limitations.

The bench prayer stretch can help you reclaim mobility here, particularly your ability to extend. Focus on gently arching your upper back each time you perform the stretch.

The combination of looser lats and triceps plus improved T-spine mobility often leads to better overhead mobility. That’s because you need to be able to extend your T-spine and lengthen your arms in order to push or pull weights overhead.

If you struggle to get your arms overhead without bending your elbows or arching your lower back, the bench prayer stretch can help.

The prayer stretch is the perfect addition to your pre-strength training warmup. If you’re using this before you train, use the dynamic version where you actively rock back and forth. Perform 1 to 2 sets of 5 to 10 reps.

You can sprinkle sets of prayer stretches throughout your workout to stay loose using a strategy called active rest. This is where you perform stretches or drills in between sets of strength exercises to sneak in extra mobility work.

The bench prayer stretch works particularly well paired with exercises that restrict T-spine movement, such as the barbell and dumbbell bench press. You could also use it with overhead pushing and pulling movements, like overhead press or chin-ups.

If you already have a daily stretching or mobility routine, it’s easy to add the bench prayer stretch. Try performing the static version where you hold the stretch position for 30 to 60 seconds. You can use a sturdy couch or chair if you’re doing this at home.

Donkey kicks to inchworms and bear planks — there’s no shortage of exercises inspired by animals. Now, you can add alligator crawls to the list.

The full-body exercise – named for the low-to-the-ground movement pattern that mimics an alligator’s walk – combines a plank, a push-up and a crawl.

“This dynamic movement works all the major muscles in your body,” with a particular emphasis on strengthening your core, shoulder and triceps, says Meggan Berg, CPT, a personal trainer and yoga instructor at Life Time Champions in Houston.

It also improves hip flexibility and doubles as low-impact cardio. Talk about a bang-for-your-buck exercise.

Because the alligator crawl is an advanced body-weight exercise — it requires full-body strength and coordination of multiple muscle groups — it can be pretty strenuous. To avoid getting too tuckered out, Berg recommends mixing the movement into your regular strength routine once or twice a week.

Here are the top reasons to add the alligator crawl to your weekly exercise rotation.

Berg calls the alligator crawl “a core-strengthening superhero” because it recruits your entire core. And we’re not just talking about your rectus abdominis (i.e., your six-pack muscles)

This move works all the muscles deep within your abs ‌and‌ back. This includes the transverse abdominis (deepest ab muscle), obliques (muscles on the sides of your torso) and multifidus muscle (deepest low back muscle) just to name a few.

Both planks and push-ups are stupendous for shoulder strength and stability. The alligator crawl, which takes both these exercises to the next level, delivers double the shoulder benefits.

The alligator crawl targets the front and middle portion of your shoulders, along with the muscles that surround your shoulders, to enhance stability and strength, Berg says.

Prioritizing shoulder strength and stability can help offset the effects of slouching at a computer all day ‌and‌ minimize your risk of injury and pain.

Like traditional push-ups, alligator crawls target your triceps. But your triceps get an even bigger burn because of the increased load (when you lift one leg, your weight is redistributed among three limbs, with your arms bearing most of the burden).

For an even tougher triceps workout, slow down your pace. This will increase your triceps’ time under tension (the amount of time a muscle is under strain) to build greater strength and muscle.

And while traditional push-ups primarily tax your triceps, the alligator crawl also works your biceps as well, Berg says. That’s a big bonus.

Alligator crawls build core and upper-body strength, but they also have lower-body benefits. Specifically, they help loosen your hip flexors.

With this exercise, “you get a stretch with your hip flexors as well as the opportunity to work on hip mobility,” Berg says. Because many of us contend with tight hips (due to sitting all day), any opportunity to improve hip flexibility and mobility is a great thing.

Just keep in mind, loose, limber hips won’t happen overnight. “Increasing mobility and flexibility takes time,” Berg says.

Move over treadmill; you can get a killer cardio session with alligator crawls. “The alligator crawl not only offers strength benefits, but it also offers cardiovascular benefits,” Berg says.

Best part, you don’t even have to jump. “Because you are working your whole body, your heart rate will increase,” Berg says. Working all the major muscle groups also results in greater endurance, she adds.

To boost the cardio benefits, simply increase your speed and feel your heart really start pumping.

First, let’s clear up one common misconception about barre: It’s ‌not‌ a dance workout.

Yes, it includes ballet-based strength exercises (as well as elements of Pilates and yoga). You will hear words like “plié” and “relevé.” And it was developed by Lotte Berk, a dancer who sought to rehabilitate her body after struggling with a spinal injury.

But despite barre’s connections to dance, it’s not about performing. You don’t need a dance background or a sense of rhythm to try it. In fact, anyone who wants to build muscle, strengthen their core, improve their posture or switch up their current resistance training program can benefit from barre workouts — even if they have two left feet.

Programmed by Lauren George‌,‌ CPT, fitness instructor, educator and founder of Lauren George Fitness, the following barre workout contains six movements that, when performed together, deliver a low-impact, full-body workout. Set aside about 15 minutes to cycle through the series twice, resting for 30 seconds after each exercise.

You’ll need a chair and enough space to move your arms and legs. Wear comfortable clothes and kick off your shoes, but keep your socks on.

There’s more than one reason barre appeals to strength-training newbies who find the weight room intimidating ‌and‌ seasoned gym-goers seeking a change of pace: It’s fun, challenging and offers a ton of health and fitness-related benefits.

Barre is a muscular endurance workout, according to George. “That means it’s typically a higher rep, lower weight workout. We’re using the principle of increasing time under tension [the amount of time a muscle is under strain] to help the muscles get to the point of fatigue where they break down and build back stronger,” she says.

This makes barre an ideal workout for someone who wants to gain strength and enough muscle mass to create visible definition but not necessarily maximize hypertrophy (muscle growth), like traditional weightlifting and bodybuilding.

Proper barre form emphasizes good posture, and many common barre exercises target the muscles that allow you to stand up straight and maintain alignment as you move.

“You work a ton of muscles that are really important for good posture, like your upper back, your middle back and your core,” George says.

With barre, you don’t need to lift ‌and‌ do additional core exercises — they’re built right into the workout.

“Barre is a great way to improve your core strength. Not only do you do core exercises on the ground in barre, but also the movements that you do standing in the middle of the room and at the barre all require dynamic stabilization of the core. That’s because so many of [the movements] require balance work,” George says.

After your first few barre classes, you may be sore in places you didn’t know you could be sore, George warns. “You work so many of those small stabilizer muscles we don’t use a lot in our everyday life,” she says.

By targeting these muscles and creating more stability in your body, you can move more efficiently and potentially reduce your risk of injury.

Most barre exercises are low-impact, which means they’re well-suited for people who don’t want to place a lot of stress on their joints. “But that doesn’t mean they’re easy,” George says. “They can be high-intensity or challenging and still be low-impact.”

We spend most of our time in the sagittal plane, moving forward and backward. “We sit, we walk, we run, even cycling is a forward and backward motion. We don’t go side to side a ton,” George says.

In barre, your feet are often turned out, and many of the exercises are lateral. “So, it’s a fabulous way to cross-train,” George says, and build strength in different planes of motion.

Your body works most efficiently when it has regular movement. In fact, your body lets you know, in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways, that it is craving more exercise.

Most people equate not moving or exercising enough with seeing the numbers creep up on the scale or not feeling as toned — and those are definitely signs. However, things like difficulty sleeping, joint pain and feeling anxious or moody can also be indicators your body needs to move.

And even if you exercise for 30 minutes each morning, if you sit the rest of the day you still may not be getting enough movement to keep your body happy. This is why the National Institutes of Health recommends that you set an alarm and stand up and move around for two or three minutes each hour.

Here are the top 10 physical and mental signs that your body is craving more movement.

“Many people don’t exercise because they think it will increase joint pain and stiffness. While there may be some transient increase in discomfort in the beginning, there is an overall net positive effect in the long run,” says Bradley Dyer, DO, physician and founder of Premier Integrative Health.

“It’s actually physical inactivity that leads to chronic joint pain and stiffness by increasing inflammation and reducing joint mobility. Regular physical activity supports joint health by promoting the production of synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints, reducing friction and enhancing mobility.”

If you feel like you can’t concentrate or are having difficulty solving a problem at work, inactivity may be to blame. “Lack of exercise can lead to reduced blood flow, affecting the brain’s ability to function optimally and impacting concentration, memory, and overall cognitive abilities,” Dr. Dyer says.

“Physical activity enhances blood flow to the brain, promoting the growth of new neurons and improving neural connectivity. Exercise also turns on several genes that improve cognitive health and is a potent stimulator of BDNF [Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor] which is like ‘miracle grow’ for the brain,” he says.

Feeling sluggish or falling asleep at your desk? Your body is telling you it needs more movement.

“Nobody just ‘has’ energy, we have to generate energy,” Dr Dyer says. “The organelles in our body responsible for generating energy are called mitochondria. The best way to improve mitochondrial function and encourage the body to make more mitochondria is to engage in regular exercise.”

“High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the best ways to accomplish this,” he says.

“Tension in your neck, shoulders, legs or other areas can be a sign that you need to move. This is your body communicating with you,” says Jen Aks, embodiment coach and founder of The Power of Gesture.

Moving frequently helps to increase circulation, loosen up your muscles and prevent muscle imbalances from staying in one position too long. “A great way to relax the tension is to move. Walk, dance, or do a simple and achievable practice,” she says. “You would be surprised at how much tension can be released by just moving your hands.”

“Exercise is a natural stress reliever. It reduces the production of stress hormones like cortisol and triggers the release of endorphins, which are natural mood boosters,” Dr. Dyer says.

If you haven’t exercised in awhile, getting some movement in — even just some gentle yoga — can reduce your cortisol levels and boost your mood, according to a small 2013 study in the ‌Indian Journal of Psychiatry‌.

“Regular physical activity also promotes relaxation, improves sleep quality and increases self-confidence, all of which contribute to reducing stress, anxiety and mood swings,” he says, referring to a 2023 systematic review in the ‌British Journal of Sports Medicine‌ which shows that ‌“‌consistent exercise was 1.5 times (150 percent) better than the leading antidepressant or psychotherapy at improving symptoms of depression and anxiety.”

Don’t believe the maxim that exercise will always make you more hungry: A 2018 study in ‌Nutrients‌ found that exercise actually helps curb your appetite.

A more recent 2022 animal study in ‌Nature‌ discovered that high-intensity exercise, such as running, swimming, weightlifting and cycling, turned on an “anti-hunger” molecule that helped curb appetite.

And even if you don’t do high-intensity exercise, lower intensity exercise like going for a walk outside can help prevent snacking out of boredom.

“Feeling fidgety or irritable can definitely be a sign that your mind is craving an outlet,” Aks says. “Movement relaxes the energy and allows for more fluidity. As a result, the energy releases, and the fidgeting is replaced with a sense of calm.”

If you’re angry, a short bout of moderate-intensity exercise might help, according to a small July 2019 study published in ‌Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.‌ After 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cycling, 16 college students had lowered levels of anger.

While more research needs to be done specifically on exercise’s effect on anger, irritability is often a symptom of depression and anxiety. And as we mentioned, science and experts agree that exercise is an important method of improving mental health.

Do you feel like you keep getting sick or can’t get over that lingering cough? Your body may be telling you it’s time to move more.

A 2019 review in the ‌Journal of Sport and Health Science‌ found that moderate exercise has an anti-inflammatory response and that regular exercise improves your immune system and decreases your illness risk.

Make sure you’re not overdoing it, though: The study found that over-exercising can lower your immune response.

If you are having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep, John Hopkins Medicine says that not getting enough movement may be to blame. They report that 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise helps you fall asleep faster and improves the quality of your sleep.

On the other hand, not getting enough exercise not only affects your sleep but also leads to lower levels of activity the next day, which can turn into a vicious cycle.

As far as when to exercise, they recommend exercising whenever it works out best for your schedule — however, avoid vigorous exercise an hour before bedtime.

Feeling a bit backed up? If so, it’s time to get moving. A 2019 review and meta-analysis in the ‌Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology‌ found that those who did 140 min or more of aerobic exercise per week (around 30 min per day, five days a week) improved their constipation symptoms.

Even more research backs up the idea that people who move regularly have more regular bowel movements: A June 2022 meta-analysis in ‌‌Contemporary OB/GYN‌‌ found that moderate and high levels of activity were associated with a lower risk of constipation and that getting more physical activity can help manage chronic constipation.

The bottom line: Movement stimulates your intestines to also get moving!

“If you find yourself craving movement or exercise, make sure you listen,” Aks says. “Too many times we ignore the signals that the body gives us.”

Make sure you follow the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans guidelines of at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity (30 minutes a day, 5 days a week) and two days of muscle-strengthening activity.

In addition, if you are sitting throughout the day, stand up at least once an hour and walk around or do some quick stretches or dancing for two to three minutes.

Find other opportunities to sit less and get more movement in your day, through parking farther away, taking the dog for a walk or walking instead of driving to lunch. You can also consider a stand-up or treadmill desk so you can walk while you work.

“There are many ways to move, it’s about finding the one that works best for you,” Aks says.

There tends to be a stigma around body-weight exercises, but the truth is, you can get stronger and build muscle with just a 15-minute body-weight workout — and if you challenge yourself enough, build as much strength and muscle as you can with a barbell.

Science proves it: In a small August 2023 study published in ‌Scientific Reports‌, sedentary young women who trained with a body-weight squat program for six weeks were able to build similar muscle as another group that trained with a barbell.

And in a randomized controlled trial published March 2018 in the ‌Journal of Strength and Conditioning‌, moderately trained men were able to grow their chests about as much with push-ups as another group did with the bench press.

The key to body-weight greatness is making each workout a true challenge: In both of these programs, study participants didn’t just go through the motions. They performed exercises that got harder and harder over the course of the study — the same way someone training with barbells or dumbbells would add more weight as they progressed.

Another way to amp up the body-weight pump (and to get stronger and healthier in new ways) is to do exercises you’ve never done before, says Greg Pignataro, CSCS, owner of Never Past Your Prime.

“My philosophy is that the wider variety of movements you can perform, the healthier you probably are,” he says. Challenging the body in new, unusual ways also has another benefit: “It leads to feeling good.”

So instead of a traditional body-weight workout loaded with lunges and squats, let’s get unusual: Strengthen your body from your feet all the way up to your shoulders with this seven-move workout from Pignataro.

In the spirit of new, novel movements that can build new, novel strength, it’s made up of six exercises you’ve probably never tried before plus the push-up, the undisputed king of body-weight upper-body moves.

Perform one set of each exercise, then move to the next exercise in the workout. Rest as little as possible between exercises. Try to get through at least two rounds of each exercise in 15 minutes.

If you want to get faster or feel stronger when you run, incorporating plyometric exercises into your cross-training routine may be your answer.

Plyometrics are moves that involve jumping, bounding and quick force production. In conjunction with regular strength training, they help build power.

The more powerful you are, the less oxygen and energy you must expend as you propel yourself forward as you run. This is because your muscles can contract faster while producing more force with each stride — ultimately leading to more efficiency and faster running speeds.

Not only can plyometrics help you run faster, but they can help you become more resilient to injury. Plyometrics are basically “shock training.” The nature of the fast, explosive movements prepare your body for the impact it will experience while running.

Running is a high-impact exercise — there’s no way around that. But with every hop, skip, leap, jump and bound done during plyometric exercises, you’re training your joints and tissues to better absorb force upon landing, more efficiently store energy in your muscles and generate more force off the ground and into your next step. These drills can also increase bone density and strengthen connective tissue, which helps with injury reduction.

The key with this type of exercise is to emphasize quality over quantity. Power development typically comes from lower volume reps, high-quality effort and long periods of rest.

Chose two or three of the following exercises to perform at the beginning of a strength session after a dynamic warm-up, or after a hard run once or twice a week. Sets, reps and recovery between sets varies with each exercise, so we’ve listed each below.

Before you train to jump or hop with greater force, velocity or height, it’s important to first train for proper landing and force absorption.

Depth falls do just that by training your joints and tissues — mainly your glutes, quads and hamstrings — to absorb shock and impact effectively upon making contact with the ground.

Pogo hops help translate to decreased ground contact time during your runs, or the amount of time your foot is in contact with the ground during your running stride. The less time your foot spends on the ground after your initial contact, the greater your running efficiency becomes and the less injury risk you’ll have.

You can add this move to your cross-training sessions and/or incorporate a set or two before a handful of your runs each week after a dynamic warm-up.

This is an advanced progression of the pogo hop (above) because landing on one foot requires more balance than landing on two feet. This move trains single-leg power and landing.

This pogo hop variation gets you moving with power and coordination as you switch your legs between hops — a skill necessary for runners. This is solid addition before a run to prime your muscles and running technique.

Yes, running is a repetitive up, down and forward movement, but your knees, hips and ankles need to resist rotational and lateral forces acted on them upon landing. That’s why this pogo hop exercise is a must.

You can use cones as a marker if you have them, but you could also hop to the corners or edges of a floor tile or just use your imagination.

Box jumps train your joints and tissues from a bent-leg position, rather than a straight-leg position. This variation is important in your training because running incorporates these different joint angles.

Running power doesn’t just come from your legs. Your chest also produces power as you swing your arms during your stride. Transferring force effectively through your core from your upper to lower body is a recipe for running success.