There is no questioning the need to add resistance training to your workout regimen, but what at home exercises can you do without investing a lot of money in equipment? You might be surprised at what you can do with a few simple things you have around your house.
To start with we need to define “resistance training.” Resistance training is anything that you do which challenges your muscles in some sort of lifting capacity. Resistance training can be done with weights, like dumb bells, kettle balls or barbells and plates, but it can also be done with body weight. Body weight resistance training is the least expensive way to go and can include such exercises at sit-ups and push ups. Since those are pretty self explanatory we won’t go into them here. The first piece of training we will talk about is using a chair to add variety to your workout.
Chair Exercises
A plain kitchen chair, with arms, is practically a piece of workout equipment. If you stand in front of it, like you are about to sit down, you can hold the arms and do a tricep dip. Use you legs to support as much or as little of your body weight as feels comfortable and then use your triceps (the back of your upper arm) to slowly lower yourself. Once your butt is almost touching the seat of the chair, stop and reverse direction until your arms are straight. Do three sets of 6 to 10 reps, giving yourself two minutes in between sets. As your triceps get stronger you can begin to engage your leg muscles less and less. Working your triceps will help tighten your upper arm and reduce that “bingo wings” effect.
Anytime you work a muscle (or muscles) you also want to work the opposite muscle. So in this case the opposite muscle from the tricep is the bicep. To work the bicep without buying any weights you can simply use a can of soup for resistance. (Okay, you could use a can of vegetables if you want.) Doing a bicep curl is as easy as holding that can in your hand with your arm fully extended and then bring the can up to your shoulder bending at the elbow, of course. Again, doing three sets of 6 to ten reps, resting two minutes between sets. If a can doesn’t provide enough resistance you can use a quart, half gallon or gallon of water. A gallon of liquid equals about eight pounds.
The next chair exercise is the squat. This is very similar in appearance to the tricep dip we did earlier, except you aren’t using your arms to take any of the weight. You can, however use them on the arms of the chair to help balance yourself. A squat is exactly as you think it would be bending your legs and mimic the movement of sitting down. Do not actually rest your buttocks on the seat of the chair, but hover over it for a moment and then straighten up again. To add weight to this exercise you can hold soup cans in each hand, or even jugs of water if your legs can handle that. Squats work both the front and backs of your upper legs (Quadriceps and hamstrings.)
To work your lower legs (calves) you can stand behind the chair and lightly hold onto the back with your hands. Raise yourself up like you are standing on your toes and then lower yourself again. As with the squats you may find you need to add some weight to this exercise. Again, you can hold cans or jugs of water to add that resistance.
Finally for your legs, you can walk up and down stairs. (if you live in a rancher I don’t have an alternative for you. You may have to visit a local mall to walk stairs there.) Walking up and down stairs is a great workout and actually incorporates some cardio vascular training as well. As with any change in physical activity check with your doctor to make sure you are physically up to the task.
No more excuses now. These at home exercises are easy and can be done in a few minutes. They don’t need to be done all at the same time, so they can be squeezed in whenever you have a bit of time.
{ 4 comments }
