Stay-at-home parents, people without active gym memberships, and anyone squeezed for extra time can really take advantage of home fitness routines in order to stay active and healthy. Though most houses and apartments aren’t outfitted with all of the fitness equipment commonly available at local gyms, there are a number of exercises you can do to keep yourself in shape without all the pricey extras. Even though many exercises can be performed and mastered without the use of fitness equipment, an avid home exerciser will still need a few supplemental aids to help with his or her routine. Below, we’ll go over a few pieces of fitness equipment one should keep at home for those small periods when exercise is possible between work, meals, school, and sleep.
Jump Rope
If you don’t have a treadmill, stationary bike, or elliptical machine at home, it can be hard to keep up with your personal aerobic fitness. Weight loss and maintenance often depends on aerobic exercise and raised heart rates, so unless you plan on doing jumping jacks or running in place all day, you’ll want something to help you with your aerobics. A jump rope is the perfect accessory for home fitness, as it’s cheap, easy to store just about anywhere, and is versatile in its uses. You can easily keep track of your day-to-day changes in endurance as well by counting your number of jumps.
Exercise Ball
Though not as easily hidden from view as a jump rope, an exercise ball is still readily stored and cheap to purchase. Using an exercise ball, one can work on several abdominal exercises for core strengthening, thanks primarily to the build of the ball and the optimal amount of give it provides. If you do a variety of stretches as well, a ball can be a perfect tool for accomplishing more difficult ones. So if you want a tight abdominal region or just need some stretching assistance, exercise balls are the way to go.
Free Weights
So most people won’t be able to fit an entire weight bench in their homes, but keeping a few free weights in the closet or under the bed is easy enough for most people to manage. Free weights are versatile, and you can use them for a wide variety of arm and chest muscle building. You’ll want to get ones with different weights to them, so that you’ll be able to perform various exercises at optimal weight resistance. Just be sure not to drop one on your toes!
