8 Household Items You Can Transform Into Fitness Equipment

Are the price tags on gym memberships and fitness equipment making you want to give up on getting in shape? Take heart because we have some good news for you.

 

You don't have to belong to a gym or own expensive gym equipment to get a killer body. All you need is a little ingenuity to repurpose household items into efficient equipment and transform your home into a gym.

 

1. Stairs

 

 

Stairs are the original stairclimber! Walking up and down the stairs for just 30 minutes burns 175 calories. If you have a lot of energy on a particular day, try running up and down the stairs for 20 minutes for a good workout.

 

2. A Heavy Book

 

 

Use a heavy book or a brick for plate crunches, to work out your abs.

 

3. Water Bottles

 

 

This is a DIY classic. Water bottles can be used as small hand weights instead of dumbbells. Water won't make the bottles that heavy, so try filling them with sand or gravel. You should steadily increase the size and weight of the bottles to raise the level of resistance.

 

4. A PVC pipe

 

 

Take a PVC pipe (5 to 6 inches in diameter) and transform it into a weighted bar by blocking one end and filling the pipe with water or sand, and then sealing the other end. A weighted bar can be a versatile piece of fitness equipment, which will help you add variety to your workouts. To increase both strength and balance, fill the pipe only partially; your body will have to work harder to stabilise the moving fluid inside the tube.

 

5. A chair

 

 

You can use a sturdy chair to do triceps dips, just as you would use a bench at the gym. Make sure that when you lower your body, you do not allow your elbows to bend more than 90 degrees.

 

6. The Wall

 

 

Place your back flat against the wall. Next, bend your knees until they are parallel to the floor. Stay in this seated position for a minute, or longer if you can. Repeating this pose will help strengthen your legs, particularly your quads.

 

7. Laundry Bag

 

 

Your weekly chores could also be a fitness routine. Fill your laundry basket to the brim and then use it to perform deadlifts.

 

8. Basketball

 

 

Don't have a medicine ball? A basketball works well, too. Place the ball under both your hands as you do pushups. This works your core 20 percent harder than when you do pushups on the floor.

 

*Images courtesy: Shutterstock

 

For More: Equipment-Free Workouts for Weight Loss

 

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