Many of us are trying to get in shape this new year, as evidenced by the deluge of TV commercials for weight loss supplements, at-home gyms, and fitness clubs. You may be tempted to empty your wallet on these items, foodstuffs, and memberships, since all the promises you’re made for the “low low price” of whatever they’re charging seem too good to be true. However, if you live in a house or apartment, you probably have everything you need to get in shape already without having to spend a dime.
A common source of exercise spending is weights and dumbbells for toning arms and developing stamina. If you have empty milk jugs or detergent bottles, though, you have everything you need. A full gallon of water weighs about 8.34 pounds, so a half-full gallon jug would weigh a little over 4 pounds. You can precisely weigh out how much you’re lifting, but the idea of using empty containers around the house as weights for toning your body.
If your living space or a nearby building has a flight of stairs, look no further for your own personal gym. A quick search online will yield entire workouts that require no more equipment than a pair of shoes and a flight of stairs. Common exercises on stairs include lunges, squat jumps, and push-ups.
Your desk chair or kitchen chair is truly its own at-home (or at-work, for that matter) gym. Chairs make excellent points of balance for you to workout your thighs, glutes, and core if your balance isn’t stellar. Using the chair as a barre, you can practice fan kicks or side crunches with nothing more than your kitchen table chair. Alternately, you can workout while seated. It won’t be nearly as intense of a workout, but some simple movements from your chair like dips, arm circles, and leg extensions will get your blood moving.
You don’t have to be insanely wealthy to get a healthful active start to your year. Using your household items — or maybe even the house itself — you can get into shape easily with some at-home videos offered on various streaming websites and items you already own.