Fitness Hacks You Can Do at Home
2020 has not been the year we all expected. There has been so much change and way more adjusting to life’s new circumstances. Working from home, zoom dinners with friends, and ordering groceries online is a whole new world for most of us. One thing we never considered was the difference not having a gym would make. Turning your living spaces into an at home gym is a huge task and can be quite a big expense. Fitness hacks have been saving our workouts the last few months so we want to share them with you. Our at home fitness hacks will help you stay in shape or even start your fitness journey right there in the comfort of your home.
1. Use Everyday Objects as Weights
When you begin to look into getting equipment for your at home workouts you may be shocked with how much they cost. Weights and gym equipment in general can be pretty pricey. Before investing money into dumbbells, resistance bands, and punching bags consider trying to use what you have. Do this for a couple of reasons. For one you may not have the money to spend right now on things that you don’t necessarily need. And two, you don’t want to spend that chunk of change if you know you aren’t going to stay consistent. Try using other things around your house as weights. Larger shampoo bottles, reusable bags full of cans, or even a backpack full of books can be great replacements so you can lift heavy but save money! This is one out our favorite fitness hacks.
2. Stairs
You are one lucky duck if you’re quarantined in a place with stairs. Even though you may see it as a pain to run upstairs to grab something you forgot, use them to your advantage. Stairs are a great way to implement cardio into your at home workout routine especially if you lack space. You can do so much with your stairs like simply running up and down them, toe tapping on one step, lunges, or even tying a resistance band around it and doing tricep pulls. If you don’t have stairs and are interested in diversifying your cardio, look for workout steps at thrift stores or on amazon. There are multiple ways to utilize your staircase, you just need to get a little creative. These fitness hacks are a total upgrade.
3. Towels
They aren’t just to wipe the sweat from all of your hard work. Just like the stairs, towels are multifunctional. Towels most commonly are used as sliders to make your workouts a bit harder. Make your at home workouts more challenging by implementing towels when you’re doing planks or lunges. You can even use towels for your arms. Pulling the towel tight in your hands while you’re doing other full body movements will add resistance to your arms. Are you feeling the burn yet?
4. Posture
Posture plays a key role in your everyday appearance. Sometime just the correction of your posture can make you feel more confident. Try focusing on your core work and posture to make sure you’re looking confident and tall at all times. Correcting your posture takes a lot of mental attention because you’ve become so used to your current posture. Try replacing your everyday work chair with a large yoga or workout ball. Being able to rock, bounce, and move easily on the ball will help assist with your posture. You may even feel a little sore from using back and core muscles that aren’t as engaged as frequently.
5. Commute Cardio
This at home fitness hack may not pertain to everyone because you either are working from home or you may be going into the office physically, but it’s too far to commute by foot or bike. If you do live close enough to work, try using this as a way to get your cardio in. Not only is this an at home fitness hack, but it’s also a great hack if you always have a busy schedule. Running, walking, biking or how ever else you can think to get to work is a great way to implement cardio into your day. You’re able to break up your workout with the cardio before and after work, then when you get home you can add whatever other strength training moves you want. If you are always busy, this is the tip for you. You don’t have to find time in your week to get some physical activity in, you can kill two birds with one stone while you’re commuting to work.
6. Deck of Cards
The deck of cards is an old little fitness hack to use if you’re struggling with your at home workout. Some days you need a switch up from your usual workout videos or boring routine. Using a deck of cards make your workout fast paced and a surprise every time by having various moves and reps. Grab your deck of cards and write different moves on each card. Traditionally Spades are squats, Hearts are push-ups, clubs are lunges, and Diamonds are tricep dips, but you can tailor it to your favorite moves and even moves that are going to challenge you.
7. Stretch
Stretching is not your first idea when you think about working out, however it is just as useful and important! If you’re looking for a less intense and more relaxing workout, consider finding a good stretching routine on YouTube or a yoga flow that suits your needs. Slow and controlled stretching is great to help with muscle control, flexibility, and mobility. Even adding 10 to 15 minutes of stretching before and after your work outs will help tremendously with muscle soreness, aches and mobility and you continue to work out.
Whether you live in a house with a home gym or if you have a little less room to work with in your studio apartment, test out these at home fitness hacks. From finding things in your own home to use for weights or doing more unconventional activities as workouts, these fitness hacks are here to make working out a little easier while you’re stuck at home. Test them out and let us know which one is your favorite! You may just find something you love and add it to your routine indefinitely.
