As much as we'd love to follow online workout sessions regularly, it's quite tricky to keep fit at home when some routines call for equipment. After all, not everyone has dumbbells, bands, and so on lying around their house. Plus, not having to sacrifice space to store such items is one of the appeals of getting a gym membership. But, since your fitness haven is inaccessible for now, what you can do is to look instead for home gym equipment alternatives. Here are a few common household items that can help boost the intensity of your workouts.
Towels and blankets
These household necessities can help a lot with your exercise
These items are perhaps the most versatile home gym equipment alternatives you have readily available. Those who didn't think of investing on their personal yoga mat can lay down a towel or a blanket on the floor instead. Thick ones will give you a softer surface — definitely better than practising complex poses on a hard floor. Aside from that, you can also incorporate towels in your stretch exercises or use smaller ones in place of gliding discs to fully engage your body's range of motion. Meanwhile, those who enjoy battling ropes exercises can instead make waves by holding onto the sides of a heavy comforter.
Cans and bottles
Bags filled with heavy cans are great home gym equipment alternatives
No dumbbells? No problem. Surely, your necessities during the lockdown will help give you options that will help you work out a sweat. Canned goods are a great substitute for light weights and you can also repurpose bottles by filling them with water, rice, or even coins to vary the weight as your arm exercises require. In place of your kettlebells, lift gallon jugs of water and detergent — opt for those with handles for a better grip. If that's still not heavy enough for you, fill a bag with canned food and basically whatever you have to add to its weight. To properly regulate the weight of the stuff you're lifting, simply step on a weighing scale while holding the items and subtract your body weight from it.
Chairs
The basic furniture help with stability and strength
Those into barre workouts need not worry about the lack of ballet barres in their own home. The answer is simple: swap it with a stable, stationary chair. Use the chair as a prop to hold your balance and posture while you do your set of small range-of-motion exercises that build your strength. If you're not into barre, you can still do a bunch of toning exercises like tricep dips and inclined pushups on the furniture.
Robe ties and neckties
Repurpose this must-have menswear piece for your resistance workouts
To engage your muscles better, sometimes you need to rely on resistance bands for your fitness sessions. They provide an external force that you have to work extra hard against. Aside from strength training, stretchy props like yoga straps are also used to help your body sink deeper into a pose, rendering you more flexible. If you need these, you can make use of bathrobe ties and neckties as home gym equipment alternatives. Simply knot the ends together so they form a loop, which you can use in various routines.
Brooms
Who knew you can use this cleaning tool in your daily exercise?
While vacuums can be more efficient, the old-school broomstick can still offer a lot of help. Not only can it keep your place tidy without spending on electricity, but it can also be used when you do your mobility exercises or even with pilates. Use it as your pilates pole to aid your alignment and arm work, or incorporate it in basic movements like lunges, squats and more to help with your total-body coordination.
When you find that you're not fully equipped for your workout, it can get quite demotivating to keep physically active. Still, don't let that stop you from achieving caring for your health. The key to finding an energising workout routine that you enjoy all boils down on your perseverance and creativity. So push yourself and take that as a challenge to achieve your fitness goals.
Next, find inspiration from Team Clozette's home workout routines.
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