How to turn your everyday items into gym equipment

If you are an avid gym-goer or just want to stay active during the COVID-19 pandemic, fret not, because your everyday items can be used to transform your home into a gym. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has demanded creativity in all aspects of life to maintain normalcy,  given the strict safety restrictions. Staying active requires people to get creative at home with the closure of gyms and the cold weather restricting people to their homes even more. 

Everyday items that can be found in most homes can be used for staying active as they can be modified to replace gym equipment. Household items can be used for weight training, core strengthening, cardio, and much more. 

Here are some ways household items can be used for home workouts. 

1. Textbooks and books 

Textbooks are great weight replacements, especially if you have textbooks from past semesters that are no longer being used. Textbooks are expensive and often not used completely;, this hack will allow you to get the most from your books. 

2. Laundry detergent bottles

The laundry room provides multiple at-home gym equipment replacements. 

Laundry detergent bottles work great as a kettlebell replacement. Most exercises that involve the kettlebell can be replicated at home by using laundry detergent. The bottles come in different sizes making them easily customizable to your abilities. 

Also, full laundry baskets can be used for deadlifts at home.

3. Backpack 

Backpacks can double as a weighted vest by filling it with a few water bottles or cans of food. Be sure to weigh the backpack before starting to exercise to know how much weight you are adding. This is best used by gradually adding weight, so start lighter and work your way up. A weighted vest can be used for multiple workouts to increase intensity. Try using it for planks, push-ups, and pull-ups. 

4. Stairs 

Use the stairs in your house or apartment building to replace the stair climber at the gym. Stairs are great for cardio and can be done at your desired pace. Stairs are also a great replacement for outdoor walks when the weather does not permit them. 

5. Chairs 

Chairs are a great way to use your bodyweight to exercise. Use chairs for arm and leg exercises that would typically be done with weights or machines at the gym. You can use your body weight to do triceps dips by placing your hands on the seat of the chair with your legs extended and lifting yourself slightly. 

The seat of a chair can also be used as a weight bench, by resting your arm on the chair for doing single-arm lifts with your desired at home weights. 

6. Towels 

Hand towels can be used on floors as sliders to increase the challenge of core exercises like mountain climbers and knee tucks. These makeshift sliders are great for increased intensity without adding weight. 

Larger towels can be used in replacement of a yoga mat. Yoga does not require any equipment other than a yoga mat, making this an easy and cost-effective exercise that anyone can take part in with just their day-to-day items. 

 7. Pillows and Cushions

Pillows and cushions can be used as a balancing tool, similar to how half-balance balls are used in the gym as the plush stuffing makes it challenging to maintain stability. They can be used by standing on them to work on balance or used to increase the intensity of push-ups and planks.

You don’t have to break the bank converting your home into a gym; use what you already have!