Experts recommend their favorite exercises to make the most of your exercise time.

Exercising is simple: you reap what you sow. However, you don’t have to spend hours every day exercising. You just have to be smart.

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Not all exercises are created equal. Some exercises are more successful than others, whether because they work different muscle areas, suit different fitness levels, or improve your ability to burn calories.

So what are the best workouts? We put together a list of the best answers after asking four fitness pros questions about the topic.

1. Walking

Cardiovascular activity is an essential component of any fitness regimen because it keeps the heart healthy and burns calories. Plus, most individuals can walk anywhere, anytime, and without any special equipment — just a pair of good shoes.

Walking isn’t just for beginners; even very fit people can benefit from it.

A vigorous walk can burn up to 500 calories an hour, says Robert Gottlin, DO, chief of orthopedics and sports rehabilitation at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. If you do nothing else, you can expect to lose about a pound for every seven hours you walk, since it takes 3,500 calories to lose a pound.

However, don’t jump off the couch and try to walk for an hour. According to Richard Cotton, a representative of the American Council on Exercise, beginners should start by walking for five to ten minutes at a time and build up to at least thirty minutes per session.

He warns, “Don’t add more than 5 minutes at a time.” Another tip: As you get fitter, it’s better to increase your walks before increasing your speed or the incline of the treadmill.

2. Interval training

Incorporating interval training into your cardiovascular routine can improve your fitness level and perhaps even aid weight loss, no matter how long you’ve been exercising.

“Changing your pace throughout an exercise session stimulates the aerobic system to adapt,” explains Cotton. “The more power the aerobic system has, the greater your ability to burn calories.”

The correct way is to increase the intensity or speed for a minute or two, then decrease it for two to ten minutes (depending on the length of the entire workout and the amount of recovery time needed). Do this consistently throughout the workout. Ask your trainer to find out what intervals are appropriate for you.

3. Squats

Also important is strength training. “The greater your muscular fitness, the greater your ability to burn calories,” claims Cotton.

The experts consulted for this article recommended strength training activities that work several different muscle groups. A great example is working the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes during squats. “They use the most muscle groups simultaneously, so you get the best bang for your buck,” says trainer David Peterson of Oldsmar, Florida.

Form is everything. “What makes an exercise functional is how you perform the exercise,” explains Peterson. “If your technique is poor, it’s no longer functional.

Keep your back straight and feet shoulder-width apart while squatting. Lower your back and bend your knees. “The knee should stay over the ankle as much as possible,” says Cotton. “Think of how you sit on a chair, only the chair isn’t there,” suggests Gottlin.

Physical therapist Adam Ruffa of Cicero, New York, believes practicing on a real chair can be beneficial. “Start by working on getting on and off a real chair properly,” says the instructor. When you get used to it, try tapping the chair with your buttocks before getting back up. After that, repeat this action without the chair.

Gottlin sees a lot of patients with knee problems, and in most cases, the cause is weakness in the quadriceps. He recommends that if you have pain going down stairs, strengthening your quadriceps through squats can help a lot.

4. Lunges

Just like squats, lunges engage the glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings — the three main lower body muscles.

According to Peterson, lunges are a great exercise because they simulate walking, but in an acrobatic way.

According to Cotton, lunges are a little more difficult than squats and can also help with balance.

Here’s how to do things correctly: Keeping the spine neutral, take a big step forward. Bend your front knee to about a 90-degree angle while keeping your weight on your back toes and lowering the knee of your back leg toward the ground.

Peterson recommends imagining yourself sitting on your back leg. “The back leg is the one you should be sitting on,” he says.

To increase the efficiency of the lunge, Ruffa recommends stepping not just forward but backward and out to both sides.

According to Ruffa, life is not linear but multi-planar. And the more beneficial workouts are, the more they will prepare you for the many poses you’ll perform throughout the day.

5. Push-ups

If done correctly, push-ups can simultaneously develop the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core trunk muscles.

“I’m very interested in planking exercises, almost yoga-type movements,” Peterson told me. “Anytime you put the pelvis and core [abdomen and back] in a suspended position, you have to rely on your own supporting force to stabilize.”

Push-ups can be done at any fitness level. “People who are at a beginner level should start by pushing up from kitchen-counter height,” suggests Cotton. “Then work your way up to a desk, chair, the floor with bent knees, and finally the floor on your toes.”

Here’s how to do a push-up: Lie face down, spread your hands a little more than shoulder-width apart. Place your toes or knees on the floor and try to form a perfect diagonal with your body from shoulders to knees or feet. Engage your glutes [back muscles] and abs. Then lower and raise your body by bending and straightening your elbows while keeping your torso still.

There are ways to make things harder. Once you’ve perfected your form, Ruffa recommends the “T-stabilization” push-up: Get into a push-up pose, then push up by raising one arm out to the side while balancing on the other three without bending your hips.

6. Bent-over Row

This exercise targets all the major muscles of the upper back, including the biceps.

Here’s how to do it properly. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees and hinge forward at the hips. (If you have difficulty doing this exercise standing up, support your weight by sitting on an incline bench facing backward.) Tilt your pelvis slightly forward, engage your abdominal muscles and lengthen your upper spine for further support. Hold dumbbells or a barbell under your shoulders, with your hands about shoulder-width apart. Bend your elbows and raise both arms up to the sides of your body. Pause, then slowly lower your hands back to their starting position. (Beginners should perform this move without weights.)

Technique

These six workouts are great and effective selections. According to Peterson, the question with most strength or resistance exercises is not whether the movement works, but how effectively you do it.

According to Peterson, “All exercises performed with good technique do what they are supposed to do.”

The problem is that poor form can alter the entire exercises, shifting focus to places other than planned or even creating tension. This can harm you more than it helps.

So, especially if you’re a beginner, seek the advice of a fitness trainer to make sure your form is safe and accurate.