Why Your Home is Already a Gym

I'll jump right in on this one by saying this; there are countless household items that can be used in place of free-weights, resistance bands, kettlebells, etc, that can provide the same resistance. If you are willing to get a little creative and put safety first, you can get a great muscle toning workout right in the comfort of your own home.

Years ago I was reading a fitness blog post where the blogger had addressed a popular question among women readers. They wanted to tone their arms, but were concerned about training with free-weights because they thought their biceps would get too big. In those days, lightweight dumbbells weren't as easy to come by as they are now, so the blogger suggested they train their arms with cans of food such as soup, vegetables and fruits.

A few years passed and I found myself in a position which caused me to not only remember that blog post, but to get creative and take the blogger's great advice to another level. My family and I were in the process of moving, and had packed everything except for what was needed to get through a week or so before we left.

With my SoloFlex Muscle Machine out of reach, I began doing push-ups to train my chest, but was having trouble coming up with an idea to satisfy my desire to train my back. Then I looked at the box sitting in the corner and my creative mind went into overdrive. In it was an old desktop computer monitor and hard drive that we were going to donate -  you know, the huge plastic monitors with the glass screens and external hard drive towers?

So I grabbed the box and hauled the monitor and hard drive out. Our monitor weighed in at about twenty-five pounds, the hard drive was maybe half that. I know that isn't much, but I went ahead and used it to perform bent over rows, and discovered it was enough to keep my back muscles stimulated. Don't get me wrong, that clunky old computer monitor was far from being the perfect substitute for my normal pull-ups and chin-ups workout.

It didn't allow for anywhere near the full range of motion that I was used to, and the weight (which was off balance) was a challenge to keep steady while lifting, but it allowed me to stay on track with my workouts. I used the hard drive to perform biceps curls, it too was a challenge to workout with, but it was well worth it.

So before you miss a workout because you can't get to the gym or wherever it is you choose to workout, take a look around your home, get a little creative and start lifting. Let's go, and remember, safety first.