equipment fitness health

equipment fitness health

Why Go to the Gym When there is Inexpensive Equipment at Home?



Exercise is a necessity. This is a fact but very few people would invest their
time or their money in exercise. Why is this so? Exercising would mean money
spent on the gym and time away from home!



Now, who says
exercise
equipment is only available at the gym? Or whoever said that you have to
leave home just so you can have your regular exercise? If you are the type that
would rather be at home than see several other bodies exercising side by side,
then this article is for you.



Begin with whatever you have on hand. Make an inventory of the things that you
have at home that could pass as exercise equipment? A bag of potatoes maybe? How
about your dining chairs? Believe me, you can trim down using those!

Let’s begin with that bag (or sack!) of potatoes. Carrying them from one part of
your home to another would mean calories burned. A bag of sugar would do the
same miracle. Who says you will ever need ‘weights’ again? ‘Funny you never
thought of those 5-10 pound bags before, huh?



Now we go to that dining chair. Take two chairs and have them face each other.
They will do as equipment for the ‘chair dips’. They should be at least 3 feet
apart. Sit on one of the chairs with your palms turned downwards. Tightly hold
the chair as you place your heels on the other chair. Then, slowly do a forward
slide and keep that position (making sure that the triceps are the ones
working). Do some reps.



How about the ever-reliable desk? You can use this to aid your exercise by
moving it away from the wall. At about 5 to 6 feet away from the wall, lean the
back of your feet against the wall and do a push-up like exercise. Do as many as
you can.



What about the wall? Your walls can do miracles for you, too. With your back
against it (making sure that you are about 2 feet away from it), slowly slide
downwards until a 90-degree angle is formed with your knees. Hold that position
for as long as you can. Skiers would definitely benefit from this easy exercise.



If you are just on a tight budget but would want more than a bag of potatoes,
then wrist and ankle weights could be used at home (or while grocery shopping),
too. The theory on these types of exercise accessories is that, the more weight
you add for your muscles to work on, the more your muscles becomes stronger.
Averaging just a kilo each, these are perfect to use at home while doing
household chores.



What about exercise balls? This is an inexpensive exercise gear. There can be
many purposes for the exercise ball. It can be used as a chair at home (this is
a good way to align the spine as compared to a regular chair). Begin exercising
use the ball by simply sitting 30 minutes straight.



Beyond that, you can increase the time to lengthen the spine exercise. After
achieving the seated exercise, you can begin adding movements such as bouncing
while seated. The good news? The exercise ball is good for pregnant women, too!
They can use it as a chair while doing rhythmic bouncing during labor.



Another way to straighten that back is to use a mat in sitting instead of a
bench where there is a ready back support. Sitting on a mat while exercising
would make sitting straight a habit for you. So forget the bench and start going
down on the floor!



If you would really like to have the ‘real thing’ at home yet are on a
constricted budget, then garage sales for old or used gym equipment is the
option for you. There are several websites that offer second-hand apparatus
(treadmills, stationary bikes, step machines, cross country ski machines,
resistance equipment, name it and they’ve got it!).



One such website is MySimon.com. Buying is not the only thing you can do in a
website such as this. You can also sell your bulky equipment when you’re fed up
with using it. You can also trade your old and unwanted (or overly bulky)
exercise equipment.



Now, always bear in mind that there is no need for an exercise gear to be
expensive for it to be effective. Sometimes the best things that you can use to
burn those calories away are right inside your home!