If you love working out at home and want your workout place to function like your gym, you may have sometimes wished your living room didn’t have all the right equipment. Fortunately, if it comes to finding substitutes for weights, dumbbells and benches, know that there are objects that can replace them and that you already have at home.
These are a list of exercises you can do using things you can find in your home.
- The stepper with a chair
Take a chair and put your foot on the seat.
Push on your leg to get on the chair.
Get off the chair, and start over.
Perform three sets of 15 repetitions: alternate left leg and right leg for a complete exercise. With this exercise, you will strengthen your glutes and your legs.
- Strengthen your triceps with a coffee table
For this exercise, you must use a small bench or a low table. You will need to do three sets of 15 repetitions.
Sit with your back against the coffee table, and put your hands on the edge.
Stretch your legs, and using the strength of your arms, go up until your arms are straight.
Use your strength to come back down and, when your arms come to a 90 degree angle, come back up.
- Squats against the wall
Lean your back against the wall and form a 90 degree angle with your legs, as if you were sitting on an invisible chair.
Stay in this position for 30 seconds to two minutes to strengthen your legs.
With this exercise, you will work the entire lower part of your body, and in addition it will help you tone the muscles used. You can divide the time into shorter chunks to make the exercise easier.
- Deep squats against the wall
Follow the same instructions as for the previous exercise, but put some weight on your legs, such as a 5 liter water bottle for example, to enhance the effects of the workout.
- Slits on the side by sliding the foot
Stand behind a chair and rest your hands on the backrest.
Raise your heels and slide your right foot back until it is crossed behind your left leg.
Repeat with the left leg.
This exercise aims to work your whole body, but also your balance. Perform this movement twenty times for each leg. To make your feet slide easily, do this exercise in socks.
- Push-ups on the bed
Put your arms at the edge of the bed and stretch your legs back, staying in a plank position.
Do 15 push-ups, rest, and repeat once or twice.
This exercise is not that complicated, although the position may seem tricky to you. It will help you strengthen your arms.
- Abs on a chair
Take a bench or a chair without armrests.
Sit at the edge of the seat so that your back does not touch the backrest.
Rest your hands on the chair and bring your legs back to your chest, contracting your abs, then straighten them.
Repeat the movement until you complete three sets of 10 repetitions.
This exercise mainly targets the muscles of the abdomen, but by performing it on the chair, you activate your whole body.
- Lift weights with water bottles
Take two bottles of water, one in each hand.
Place your arms along the body.
Keep the upper part of your arms glued to your body and raise your forearms until the bottles reach the level of your chest.
Lower your arms until you return to the initial position, and start again.
Perform three sets of 20 repetitions.
You can use any bottle you have at home, whether it’s a water bottle, a juice bottle, a milk carton, or even an empty bottle that you fill with sand or soil. With this exercise, you will work your biceps, but you can do different arm exercises to work those specific muscles.
- Work your arms and back with a towel
Take a towel and grab it at both ends with each hand.
Stretch the towel at shoulder height, putting it behind your head: your arms will remain almost stretched and you will feel your back arching slightly.
Raise your arms above your head until they are stretched.
Return to the initial position, and resume.
Perform 20 reps.
With these movements and thanks to the tension generated by the position of the towel, you will be able to work your back and your arms.
- Lunges with weight
From a standing position, step forward with your right leg.
Once in this position, bend your left leg until it almost touches the ground.
Before touching the ground, go up and return to the initial position.
Repeat, but with the left leg.
Repeat this exercise doing two sets of ten lunges.
To increase the difficulty of this exercise, we recommend that you take a bottle of detergent or water in each hand. With more weight, you will see that the lunges will increase the difficulty of the exercise, and you will work all the more the lower part of your body, that is to say the legs and the glutes.
Thanks to this workout, turning your house into a gym is no longer so complicated!
What other items do you have at home that you could use to do your exercises?
Do you know of any other exercises you can do while having fun at home?
Do not hesitate to tell us about your experience in the comments!
