You don't have to spend a fortune on gym equipment to get a good workout. If you look around your house and think outside the box, you might surprise yourself with all the ways you can use common household items as part of your fitness routine. Before you get started, think about your favorite workout programs and the type of equipment you usually use. Whether you like stability equipment, group exercise classes or free weights, you can develop your own equipment in the comfort of your home.
No Work Needed
Step 1
Perform stability exercises while standing on a folded up beach towel or a pillow. The extra padding creates an unstable surface, and the greater the cushion, the less stable the equipment will seem. Make movements even more difficult while performing them on one leg.
Step 2
Place your hands or feet on a dish towel while performing movements like lunges. "Fitness" magazine suggests standing or lying on a semi-slick surface such as a wood or tile floor and gliding the towels under your hands and feet as you move in order to challenge your muscles throughout the movement.
Step 3
Use a sturdy chair to perform an almost endless number of exercises: step-ups, guided squats, dips, push-ups or even inverted shoulder presses. Get a cardio workout in by continuously stepping up and down on the chair, alternating your leading leg.
Step 4
Run up and down a set of stairs to ditch your gym's StairMaster routine. It'll cost you less and work your muscles the exact same way. You can also use stairs as part of your weight-training routine by walking up and down them in a crab-walk position or in a push-up position.
Making Dumbbells
Step 1
Save and clean out milk jugs that have handles, and use them as dumbbells.
Step 2
Weigh your measuring cup on the bathroom scale, then fill the cup with sand until you've reached your desired weight amount, making sure you adjust the total for the weight of the cup itself.
Step 3
Pour the sand into the milk jugs using a funnel. Make sure you put the same amount of sand into each jug.
Step 4
Make several sets of different weight amounts to keep your routine fresh.
Making Kettlebells
Step 1
Sew the waist shut of an old pair of jeans using heavy-duty thread. Sew the fly securely shut as well.
Step 2
Pour gravel, rocks or pennies through the legs into the pouch created by the sewn-shut waist. Weigh the jeans occasionally until you have filled them to the desired weight.
Step 3
Create a handle by overlapping the jeans' legs and sewing them together. Cut off any excess denim.
Step 4
Make more at different weights to use your homemade kettlebells for different exercises.
Tips and Warnings
- The more creatively you approach exercise, the more options you will find for making your own equipment.
- Rips, tears or punctures in your homemade weight equipment could lead to messy or painful results. Always inspect your equipment before use, and toss equipment that looks worn.
Things You'll Need
- Beach towel or pillow
- Dish towels
- Chair
- Stairs
- Empty milk jugs
- Measuring cup
- Bathroom scale
- Sand
- Funnel
- Old jeans
- Sewing machine
- Gravel, rocks or pennies
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