Who says you need to be at the gym to get a great workout? You may not know it, but everyday household things that nearly everyone has access to may be utilized in your fitness routines. You must think creatively, use your imagination, and make a few adjustments.
Rice Bags
Rice bags are excellent replacements for any exercise you would use a barbell, dumbbell, or kettlebell for. Rice bags come in different weights and sizes, anywhere from 1kg to 25kg or more!
What is excellent about rice bags is that, unlike dumbells and kettlebells, these are soft. Thus, when you drop it on the floor, you won’t worry about cracking your tiles.
Water Jugs
Water jugs can be an excellent substitute for heavier weights. They are already extremely heavy on their own and require quite a bit of strength to pick up. But if you can handle it, these water jugs offer a diverse set of home workouts that will push you to the limit.
If five gallons is too heavy for you, you can opt for the smaller one-gallon jugs typically used for milk or juice. The concept remains the same, fill them up with water or sand and use them accordingly. They are excellent alternatives to traditional weights.
Stairs
Ten minutes or more of ascending and descending your stairs might be a fantastic cardio exercise. Additionally, stair exercises may be rather varied. You can stress strength (particularly if you sprinkle in routines that use the bottom steps as an elevated platform, such as push-ups, dips, planks, split squats, and mountain climbers), cardio, or a combination of the two, depending on how quickly and vigorously you climb. Stair workouts provide both strength and aerobic training, making them a cost-effective exercise technique.
Sofa or Couch
There’s only so much time in the day, so sometimes you have to make tough choices like catching up on TV or getting in your workout. But what if you can do both?
It is possible to get a full-body workout while watching your favorite show. You can do these exercises right in your living room while watching TV.
Below are some couch workouts you can do.
Hip thrusts
To do hip thrusts:
- Sit on the couch with your knees bent and both feet flat on the ground.
- Lean back so that your shoulder blades are on the sofa, chin tucked into your chest, hands at the side of your head, and raise your hips as high as you can while squeezing your glutes.
- Lower your hips and repeat.
Incline push-ups
If you want a more challenging push-up, you can do that on your couch. Start with your hands on the sofa at shoulder width,” Saltos says. Be sure to spread your fingers and engage your core as you lower your chest and belly button towards the couch. Then push up to return to the starting position and repeat for 10-15 reps for three sets.
Sit to stand
Perform the squat in a seated posture on the couch’s edge with your feet slightly wider than hip distance apart. Then, slowly rise and recline several times. Next, increase the difficulty by performing a few squat taps in which your butt contacts the sofa, and then swiftly rise back up without sitting down.
Backpack
You can make a weighted vest out of your backpack. All you have to do is fill it with random things to make it heavy but comfortable enough to carry around.
One of the best backpack exercises is weighted squats. Everyone who has ever performed squats knows how beneficial they are for strengthening and toning the lower body. It activates the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings immediately. It also targets your core’s stabilizing muscles. Squats are already challenging, but adding resistance elevates them to an all-new level.
Chair
Dips may be performed using chairs. The angled push-up is one of our favorite dip exercises; you face the chair, lay your hands on the seat, lengthen your legs, then drop your chest to the seat and return to the starting position.
Wall
Did you know that you may strengthen your upper legs by using a wall? With your back against the wall, lower yourself to a sitting posture with your feet approximately two feet in front of you and your legs hip-width apart; be careful not to lay your hands on your hips but rather on the sides. Hold this stance for no more than 60 seconds every rep.
Towel
A bath towel may be utilized as a yoga mat. Place a bath towel on the floor, allowing you to do yoga. On carpet, a bath towel performs better than on hardwood or tile floors, which are slick.
You may also use a rolled-up towel as a yoga strap to help stretch tight hamstrings by wrapping the towel midway around the sole of your foot and gripping the towel’s ends in each hand.
Basketball or soccer ball
Soccer, volleyballs, and basketballs are not as heavy as medicine balls. Still, you can perform similar exercises with them, such as Russian twists from side to side, burpees (holding the ball overhead and bringing it to the ground), and high-knee jogs while holding the ball in front of you to tap it with your kneecaps.
Place one hand on a ball and the other on the ground, alternating hands, or place both hands on the ball for a triceps-intensive effort.
Effective exercises do not need pricey equipment. However, they demand a willingness to put in some sweat equity, even if it means coming up with inventive equipment solutions. So go ahead and do a round around your home to discover any hidden exercise equipment.
