No need to worry about not owning a fancy set of weights or an ab roller, you can use household items to do all sorts of workouts and save the money and storage space you would need for exercise specific items. You don’t need an expensive gym membership to work out, you just need a little creativity. These tips are especially great for college students or studio-living bachelor and bachelorettes.
Laundry Detergent
A full (or nearly full) container of liquid laundry detergent is a great alternative to hand weights. To put it in perspective, a 1.17 gallon tub is equivalent to 10 pounds – making it perfect for low impact moves like squats, dead lifts, bent over rows and standing wood chops. Even just carrying it up and down the stairs a few times will get your heart pumping.
- Don’t have laundry detergent on hand? These household items also work:
- 1 Gallon Milk Jug
- Sack of Potatoes
- Paint Cans
- Kitty Litter
Hand Towels
Use hand towels to do various core workouts in lieu of an ab roller. You can also put them under your feet to do sets of high intensity mountain climbers. This is also a great alternative to normal mountain climbers if you live in an apartment and have downstairs neighbors you don’t want to disturb with jumping. Get in a plank position and get creative with all sorts of core engaging workouts.
- All your hand towels in the laundry? These will also do the job:
- Paper Plates
- Paper Towels
- Plastic Lids
Wine Bottles
A standard wine bottle is just under 2 pounds. It may sound low, but it is still enough to feel the burn and add a slight bit of difficulty to your workout. Try some tricep kickbacks, bicep curls, and a basic row exercise. They key with these arm exercises is to maintain control over the movement and not swing your arms, so that you don’t cheat your muscle out of the work with momentum. Try also just holding them doing some cardio like jogging in place. It forces you to add that little bit of extra umph.
- Drink all your wine during that last Game of Thrones viewing? No problem.
- Soup Cans
- Jars of Spaghetti Sauce or Mayonaise
- Bottled Water
Broom
A broom is a great home exercise tool when you’re looking for a quick core workout. Try some oblique twists by placing the broom across your shoulders on the meaty part of your back (just as you would with a barbell). Engage your core by pulling your belly button into the spine and twist your core to the right. Turn back to center and twist to the left. This incredibly simple move is extremely effective!
Your Pet
Not everyone has a pet, or even if you do, maybe not as chill to use, but cradling your cat over your shoulders adds some great weight for lunges, squats, or push-ups. Plus then you have your fluffy buddy with you while you get fit.
So don’t worry if you don’t have traditional equipment or a pricey gym membership, there are plenty of ways to get fit right around the house!
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