Many people would like to get fit, build muscle strength and lose some weight but not everyone can afford to buy fitness equipment, whether an expensive exercise machine or more affordable fitness accessories like dumbbells.
Those on a tight budget can make their own fitness accessories and this article shows how easy it is to use items around the home to create a DIY mini home gym.
Dumbbells and Free Weights
Weights and dumbbells can be used in a variety of ways to strengthen the upper body; bicep curls, lateral arm raises and overhead push-ups, to name a few. Small homemade dumbbells can be made from mini water bottles; fill them with sand and add a small quantity of water for a heavier weight. Big men with large hands can use large water bottles; fill the bigger bottles with cement for super-strength dumbbells.
For even bigger weights, fill medium sized yoghurt containers or small plastic buckets with cement, wrap bubble wrap around the handles, cover with non-slip tape and use these heavy weights for shoulder and arm raises.
Exercise Hand Grips
Need to strengthen fingers and wrists, maybe after an injury or simply because the wrist is often under-used and therefore weak? Grab a few cans of beans or tinned tomatoes, place the arm on the edge of a table and use the cans to lift the wrist up and down. Fingers can have their own work-out using a small blob of Blu-Tac to work the digits back and forth. No Blu-Tac in the house? Make some homemade bread and get those fingers working while kneading the dough.
Home Exercise Equipment – Fitness Gym Mats
A fitness mat is a fairly essential piece of home exercise equipment but a good quality yoga or general purpose mat can be expensive. A DIY gym mat can be made from a piece of carpet underlay; just cut it to size, approximately 2.5m x 0.6m. If the ripples on the underlay are a little uncomfortable, just place a towel on top. No carpet underlay to hand? Pop down to the local DIY store and buy a cheap length of floor matting; great for use on carpeted floors and a thin blanket on top will suffice for tiled or hard flooring.
Home Gym Exercise
Supplement the fitness workout using the homemade accessories to perform:
Stepping – use the bottom step of the stairs or, if living in a one floor apartment, use the outside stairwell.
Circuit training – jog between locations around the home and perform an exercise like stomach crunches on the fitness mat to develop firm abs or bicep curls using the tin cans.
Add some fun to the routine by purchasing probably the cheapest piece of fitness equipment money can buy: a skipping rope, available for just a few dollars.
Cheap Fitness Accessories
Don’t use a lack of money as an excuse to not get fit and lose weight. Homemade cheap fitness accessories are virtually free; all that is required is a little time and imagination and the will to do a home workout. Plus if bored after a few weeks, it hasn’t cost a thing.