The great thing about workout is that there are many sneaky ways to incorporate it in your day-to-day routine. You need not spend money on a gym membership, nor do you need to buy expensive equipment if you are looking for easy ways to exercise at home. The secret to losing weight (or maintaining ideal body weight) is to do it on your own terms. Only then will you be able to sustain your weight loss goals. Try to be as creative as you can and use these 13 easy ways to workout at home without equipment.
1. Heavy gardening
This is one of the most popular ways to get a full body workout. By heavy gardening, we mean digging, shoveling, weeding and all other related activities. Get down on your knees and pull out those weeds. Water the plants using the bucket and pail instead of a hose pipe or sprinkler. Make trips to and fro the house and garden and, if your body allows it, lift heavy pots and rearrange them. This will give you a full body workout and you are sure to burn hundreds of calories.
2. Push ups and sits ups
Push ups, sit ups and squats are some easy workouts that can be done without any equipment. All you will need is a comfortable yoga mat. The best part is that you can do these exercises while watching TV or simply listening to some music. You can also do pushups against the wall or on the floor. Squats are some other workouts that can give you toned body. Do 30 to 40 abdominal crunches and get flatter abs and toned abdomen.
3. Weight train with grocery items
You need not buy any weights or special equipment when doing this easy exercise at home. Simply replace dumbells with grocery bags, bottled water, grain bags etc and get an awesome workout in the comforts of your home.
4. Dance
Put on some great music and dance with a friend or your partner. Not only is this an awesome way to workout at home, you will improve your relationships too. Make sure that the dancing is vigorous and can get your heart pumping. Aerobic dance music and videos are also available and you can use them to enhance your workout.
5. Clean and de-clutter the house
Start from the basement- clean out all the items you never use. Pile these in boxes and donate or rearrange them. You can even make money by selling unused items. Cleaning the bathrooms, toilets and garage is actually one of the best ways to exercise all of your unused muscles. You will end up with a neater and cleaner home in the process. Here are some steps to follow in this at-home-workout:
- Straighten the beds
- Do the laundry
- Wash the utensils without using the dishwasher
- Clean out all kitchen cabinets, countertops etc
- Clean out closets.
- Throw/donate/sell stuff you no longer need
- Re-arrange the items in the garage
- Clean and wash your car
- Clean the attic.
- Make numerous trips up and down the steps.
- Cook
- Wash clothes with hand instead of the washing machine
- Mow the lawn
- Clean the windows
- Dust and polish furniture
- Walk to the store and back for groceries
6. Walk the pet
Pet owners can easily get fit by walking their pets twice daily. You can also play fetch with the pet. Bathing your dog or cat is also a great workout which can burn calories. Clean the pet’s bedding and other areas it spends time in and you will end up with a tick/flea-free home and also burn calories in the process.
7. Play with your kids
Play catch with your kids or, if you are in the mood, some serious sports like badminton, soccer, tennis or baseball. You do not need too much equipment for these workouts at home. You can bond with the kids and also teach them the benefits of regular exercise.
8. Walk in the mall
This is not one of the ways to exercise at home but is certainly one of the easy ways to exercise without equipment. Walk to and inside the nearest mall with a friend, three to four times a week for 45 minutes. You can do some window shopping and get to know the latest trends in the process-who knows, you might even snag some great deals and early bird discounts. It is also good fun to study the shoppers around you. Walking is one of the best ways to gain physical benefits of exercise and you can slowly add to it daily. You can make use of step counters/ fitness watches which show you the amount of time and number of steps you have walked at home or office throughout the day.
9. Climb the stairs
If you have staircase at home, it is one of the easiest ‘equipment’ to use to get fitter. Simply climb it up and down several times a day and you will burn calories, tone your legs and also get in some much needed cardio.
10. Swim
If the weather permits, swimming is a great workout to do at home, provided you have a pool. Swim fast in laps or do some water aerobics. Water provides a natural resistance to keep your joints flexible and improve mobility. You can burn hundreds of calories by swimming almost any stroke of your choice. Freestyle and butterfly are some of the best swimming styles that are known to burn more calories compared to other forms of swimming styles.
11. Jump rope
Start by jumping rope for 10 minutes and then gradually increase this time to 30 minutes to burn hundreds of calories. Even celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence are known to choose jump rope to lose weight and stay fit in between their film shoots. This is a great way to get fit at home without equipment.
12. Simple strength exercises
Here are some simple stress-busting exercises to be done in breaks at office or home:
- Squeeze a tennis ball– squeeze it as hard as you can, then relax your grip. Repeat. Do 10-15 sets 3-4 times a day. This is a great exercise to be done at work or home to strengthen the wrist.
- Wall push ups– Stand near a wall placing your hands on it. Lean forward with the palms on the wall at a shoulder width distance from each other. Bending your elbows, move closer to the wall. Your upper body will also be closer to the wall and your chin would be almost touching it. Your legs should be straight and feet should be flat on the ground. Hold this position for 3-4 seconds. Slowly push back so that your elbows are straight. Repeat 15 times. Do at least 3 to 4 sets of 15.
- Shoulder and upper arm workout– Stand straight. Your feet should be shoulder width apart. Hold a towel in your hands behind your back (right hand from top holding one end of the towel, the left hand below, holding its lower end. Now, pull the lower hand below so that your right arm gets stretched. Try stretching as much as possible without hurting your muscles. Do this 3-4 times. Repeat 3-4 times more by switching hands on the top and bottom. You can, alternatively, do straight arm raises and side arm raises as well.
- Chest push ups– no equipment needed. Get on the floor, feet should be down, ideally touching the ground only at the toes. With your arms and back muscles, lift your body up and down. Do 3 sets of 10 each in the beginning and slowly increase.
These are simple exercises at home without equipment for beginners.
13. Yoga
Yoga has been practices for centuries and is one of the best ways how to get fit at home. It does not require any equipment and is known to improve joint flexibility, balance, cardiovascular fitness and even breathing. Do sun salutations as given here– it is a complete exercise that can tone the entire body.
Finding time for these 13 easy ways to exercise is not hard despite having a busy schedule. Do some “ schedule searching”-perhaps you tend to watch TV for 30 minutes daily which is easily an activity you could cut back on to incorporate workout and get fitter at home without any equipment.