How to Turn Household Items into Workout Equipment

We often find ourselves pumped up and excited to try a new workout routine to kickstart a more active lifestyle. Hitting the gym is one of the most common ways to effectively lose weight in a shorter span of time, but let’s face it, with the travel time and membership fees, not all people can afford the luxury of hitting the gym on a daily basis. 

Luckily, you don’t really need to hit the gym in order to lead a more active lifestyle. You can actually use the things around your house as your free fitness equipment and start your fitness journey. 

From weights and balls to pull-up bars and power blocks, you are sure to find some things at home you can use as exercise equipment and turn your house into your personal gym. Don’t know where to start? Check out these cool tricks you can do to turn your everyday household items into your gym equipment.

Stairs

Using a set of steps in your home, apartment building, or an uncrowded public area for a stair workout can be a great way to combine total-body strengthening, cardio, explosive power, balance, and coordination. You can do it at home if you have access to stairs and you won’t need any additional equipment. The only requirement is your body weight.

A flight of stairs is a wonderful tool that lets you get into a great workout without going to the gym. Simply run up and down the stairs a few times and your cardio workout routine is complete.

Doors and towel

Using a long towel and a sturdy door handle, you can perform an upright row exercise. This exercise is a weight training exercise performed by holding a weight with an overhand grip and lifting it straight up to the collarbone. 

The perfect alternative to this workout is by wrapping the towel around the door handle, putting your feet against the door, and leaning back so your arms are straight. Pull yourself up to the door, hands hitting your chest, then lower back down. Repeat this a few times until you get your desired sets and repetitions.

Laundry detergents and water bottles

Whether you perform bicep curls, hammer curls, or tricep kickbacks, there are a lot of household items that can be used as your makeshift dumbbells. One alternative to dumbbells is your biggest laundry detergent bottles or your big water gallons. The movement of the liquids inside the bottles also adds intensity to your lifting as it creates a resistance that should give your muscles a burn and develop your upper-body strength.

Small towels

Your small and handy towels aren’t just good for wiping your post-workout sweat, but they can also be of good use as an alternative to sliders. Sliders are two-sided discs that can be used for both fat burning and strength training. 

Sliders are a great way to increase the intensity of your workout without having to add any additional weights. Simply place the towels under your arms and feet and move with it when you perform your mountain climbers and plank exercises.

Chairs

This household equipment is not only good for sitting around all day, but it can also serve as the perfect equipment for your tricep dips or modified high-intensity push-ups. 

To perform a triceps dip, start sitting on the chair with your hands at your sides, fingers wrapped around the edge of the seat. Extend legs to form a straight line from ankles to hips. Lift your torso about two inches in front of the chair. This is your starting position. Slowly lower down until your elbows form a 90-degree angle, then press back to start for 1 rep. Repeat for desired reps.

For a high-intensity push-up, place your hands on the seat, extend your legs, and perform an incline push-up. Lower your chest to the chair, then raise yourself back up.

Backpacks

Why invest in a weighted vest version when you probably have a backpack at home? Simply throw a few soup cans or water bottles into a backpack and get to work. Start slow by taking a walk around the neighborhood or even a hike on local trails. Weigh the bag on a bathroom scale so you know how much you’re working with and slowly increase its weight by putting more things inside it as you build strength.

Takeaway

Finding the tools and equipment necessary to kickstart an active lifestyle is not a hard thing to do especially when you know where to look. Our households are filled with different things that we can use not only for our everyday chores but also as good alternatives to gym equipment so we can stay on track with our fitness goals even from the comforts of our homes.

Staying at home doesn’t mean that we have to remain sedentary and give up on our goals to become healthy. Gyms are made to help people become more focused, but as times have changed and practicality comes into the conversation, working out at home sounds like a better plan because it’s time-efficient and basically anyone can do it at their own time. You can do exercises anytime you are available using the items listed above. 

How Garmin can help you

Maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle at home could be challenging if you are not prepared and committed enough to take on the challenge. But never fear as you can find a good fitness partner in Garmin, one of the leading brands in the market who continuously devote their time and efforts to manufacturing fitness devices. One of Garmin’s most innovative works is the Venu Sq smartwatch.

Venu Sq is a budget-friendly smartwatch that combines daily style with-health monitoring features. This wearable motivates you to keep moving and readies you for any kind of workout you choose to do. With its GPS functionality and 20 indoor and outdoor multi-sports modes including running, aerobics, yoga, swimming, weights, cycling, ski and golf built in, you can meet the new day any way you choose.

Get a move on today and live healthier, happier, and brighter with the Venu Sq smartwatch! Beat yesterday, commit to today, and transform your life for the better with Garmin!