Household Fitness Equipment
Remember all exercise done at home is done so at your own risk
1. Towels for yoga or Pilates
No mat? No problem. Simply lay down a bath towel—or a bath sheet or beach towel, for some extra length—and you have the space to practice some Pilates. (This usually works better if you’re lying your towel down on carpet, as opposed to a slippery hardwood or tile surface.)
You can also use a rolled up towel as a strap to aid with stretching tight hamstrings, by hooking the midpoint around the sole of your foot and holding on the ends with each hand.
2. A simple staircase for a cardio boost
You don’t need specific gym equipment to get in a solid aerobic workout—structures around you work just as well. Stairs are a great way to get your heart rate up, whether you live in a multi-storey building where you can time yourself running up and down or just have a few steps leading to your home that are ideal for step-ups.
3. A step stool for a tough Glute workout
Bring aerobics class into your living room with a simple step stool.
This little stool that helps you around the house is now about to help you tone your glutes. Step stools are ideal for, you guessed it, step-ups. Instead of purchasing an actual step platform like the ones used in aerobics and step classes, you can use your household version (though you may need to brace it against a wall to keep it from sliding forward).
If you want things to get a bit more intense, try doing some step-ups with added weights, or time yourself doing toe taps in 30-second intervals.
4. Fuzzy socks, paper plates, or hand towels to challenge your balance
Who knew that fuzzy socks had so many uses?
While these three objects usually have no relationship to one another, each makes a great replacement for sliders. For those who are unfamiliar, sliders resemble small discs and are used to reduce friction under hand or foot, creating an unstable surface while you’re doing basic moves like lunges and planks. In return, your muscles work harder to maintain balance, and your core has to kick in even more to maintain overall stability. Sliders are torturous and wonderful all at the same time.
You don’t need to buy them, though: Pull on a pair of fuzzy socks, take out a couple of paper plates, or grab a couple small towels to place under your feet or your hands and get to work upping the ante on certain moves, such as mountain climbers, reverse lunges, and plank jacks. All you need is a non-carpeted floor (so your socks/plates/towels can slide around) and you’re sure to feel the burn during your next workout.
5. Wine bottles for light weights
Time to bust out some bottles—for some bicep curls!
Next time anyone makes a comment that you have too much wine, please inform them that it's not wine bottles they’re looking at, it’s gym equipment. While pouring yourself a hefty glass at the end of a long day is an ideal workout for some, you can get a little more bang for your buck when it comes to utilizing your bottles to their fullest potential. A standard wine bottle weighs a little over two-and-a-half pounds, making it fine to use as light hand weights for cardio and HIIT workouts that require a little extra load.
6. A kitchen chair as a makeshift Barre
Who needs a local Barre studio when you have a perfectly good kitchen chair?
A kitchen chair can be one of the most utilized pieces of workout equipment. A kitchen chair doubles as a ballet Barre, where you can tendu and plié to your heart’s content.
If you aren’t keen on Ballet or Barre workouts, you can also use your chair to do incline push ups, seat taps, or to perfect your squat form (chest up, butt back, tap the chair seat with your butt).
7. A large fabric softener or detergent bottle as a kettle bell
You don't need to pump iron to get huge muscles... just pump some laundry detergent!
At-home gym equipment has (understandably) been selling out. Kettlebells. After all, they're easily one of the most versatile pieces of equipment. But you don’t need to have an actual kettle bell at home to reap the benefits of a kettle bell workout. A (full) large bottle weighs in at over 13 pounds. With one (or two!), you can do dead lifts, bent-over rows, and even some nice kettle bell swings (just don’t plan to do the washing the same day, as your detergent is going to get pretty frothy).
If you’re more of a laundry-pod person, don’t worry. Empty milk or water bottles refilled with water and securely taped closed work just as well, and weigh in at over eight pounds each. Better yet, if you have any sand or kitty litter, fill that old jug up with that for more weight (12-plus pounds!)
8. A cast iron pan for toning your triceps
You heard it here first; triceps are now made in the kitchen.
Great news: The secret to toning your triceps has been lurking in your kitchen cabinets this entire time. It’s your cast iron pan. On average, a standard 12-inch cast iron frying pan weighs in at eight pounds. Before you whip up your next recipe, whip out a few sets of Tricep extensions with one of these. As the old saying goes, “Abs are made in the kitchen.” Well guess what? Now your triceps are, too.
9. Your sofa as an all-in-one gym
Your sofa, the epitome of relaxation and laziness, is actually a great tool to help you workout.
Yes, the ultimate symbol of relaxation and laziness can now help you in your workout. Sofas without their cushions can be a good stand-in for a workout bench, for exercises such as step-ups, supported bent-over rows, and Tricep dips. Use the cushions as equipment, as well. The couch cushions are also great to do core work, like bicycles, on top of, because the foam provides the same instability of an exercise or bender ball, to make those exercises even harder.
10. A mop or broom handle as a multipurpose prop
While mopping and sweeping your home can get your heart rate up quickly, so can using the mop or broom handle as a prop during your workout.
To take crunches to the next level, lie on your back, knees up, while holding your mop or broom handle perpendicular above your torso. Repeat 10 times
These handles are also ideal for doing overhead squats when you want to focus on your form (keep that bar over your head the whole time!). Or get creative and turn a sturdy wooden one into a barbell by affixing a water- or sand-filled jug to each end—just be sure the jug handles are well-tied on there with strong twine before using your homemade weight for, say, bench presses or shoulder presses.
Try placing it on the ground, set a 30-second timer, and see how many times you can jump side to side or front to back over it. Repeat until your family notices what you’re doing and asks you to stop working out and please continue to clean the kitchen.
11. A full backpack or full suitcase for heavier loads
Fill up your backpack and your suitcase but don't leave the house, these items are about to add a whole new element to your next workout.
While we can’t travel anywhere right now, we can still put our backpacks and suitcases to good use.
Wearing a heavy backpack filled with books or canned food during any workout session is similar to wearing a weighted vest, and makes whatever exercise you’re doing that much more difficult. Try it while going for a walk, or strap on your pack (chest and waist straps tightened) before busting out some pushups, plank walks, or bear crawls—you might start looking at your backpack with as much trepidation as when it was filled with homework!
If you’re looking for a workout that includes more heavy lifting, a carry-on suitcase filled with books is great for those who long for the weight racks at the gym. You can use it for dead lifts or squats while holding the handle with both hands, do bent-over rows with one hand, or do (actual) suitcase carries while walking or lunging. Or place it on the floor as an obstacle to jump over while doing squat jumps.
12. Toilet paper or Kitchen roll
Even before these days of extreme toilet paper hoarding, there were plenty of resources for working out using a few rolls. Exercises you may want to try include stacking full loo rolls three high at intervals on the floor to act as mini-hurdles to jump over; alternating passing a roll from hand to hand while in plank position for some tough core work; or using an entire 24-pack as a “weight” while squatting—the possibilities are truly endless.
Kitchen Roll makes a fabulous roller for use during Pilates, try and keep that bad boy from becoming unravelled keeping a firm even pressure on it as you roll it up and down