04 Apr Home Workout Hacks

Home workouts have become the new norm for a lot of us these days. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, gyms have been closed, reopened, reduced capacity, etc. Who knows what will happen next!?

Physical activity is an important coping mechanism for stress for many of us, and no matter who you are right now these are some STRESSFUL times.

It’s extremely frustrating, especially when we don’t have all the equipment we want to use at home.

But, what if I told you there are many home workout hacks that could make it SO much easier for you! And you most likely have everything you need, right at home!

Equipment At Home

I’m incredibly fortunate to have both space and equipment in my house, and if I’m being really honest it was only a minor inconvenience to adjust my schedule to work out at home vs the gym. 

But when I polled my Instagram followers to find out who else had a mini YMCA in their basement I was very surprised at how few had any equipment at all.

And it’s not exactly the most budget friendly to go out and buy a whole home gym. So, here are my home workout hacks that you can use to get the best of your home workout!

Home Workout Hacks

1. Use body weight

This is one of the easiest ways to get in a good workout without using any equipment.

Body weight workouts are fantastic, and you will never hear me say a bad word about how much you can do using the equipment that Mother Nature gave ya.

However, some of us might wind up facing the same barriers that we might encounter with any Uber-repetitive workout plan. We just get plain bored of it.

Some of you may also find that body weight exercises don’t give enough resistance after awhile and can start to feel too easy. Which, of course is bound to happen because unlike being able to pick up heavier dumbbells our body weight is (relatively) stable. Keep reading to the end of this blog where I’ll be sharing some strategies to up the ante on even your body weight exercises!

2. Change it up

Switch things up and use the stairs in your house! Stairs are so versatile and can be used for both cardio and strength training, as well as work your upper AND lower body!

Try jogging up and down the stairs for a warm-up, or engaging your muscles by doing lunges, mountain climbers, triceps dips and elevated push ups!

Sometimes, body weight just isn’t enough when we’re trying to build muscle. So what can we do about it? Rather than hitting a plateau with our strength training endeavors, how can we keep making progress? 

3. Use what you have

Look around your house and you may find that it is filled with everyday objects that can be a perfect substitute for weights!

For lighter options, medium-sized canned goods or a 500ml bottle of water both weigh about 1lb, and a 1L bottle of water weighs 2.2lbs.

These little guys are perfect for beginners who want to add a little something to their upper body exercises!

Got some old, heavy textbook lying around? A bag of potatoes in the pantry? Or some extra paint cans in your basement? These are great alternatives to 5-10lb dumbbells or kettle bells for squats!

Tip: Fill a backpack with some of this heavy stuff, like books. Wear it on your front or back for squats, lunges, or stair climbing for a some great resistance. 

4. Get creative with DIY equipment

If you’re looking for something a little heavier, water is a great tool for making your own homemade weights!

Just fill up any sized jug with water (think things like plastic milk jugs that have handles) and you’re good to go!

1 litre of water weighs 2.2lbs (or, 1kg). A 2 litre milk jug filled with water would weigh 4.4lbs, and a 4L milk jug filled with water would weigh 8.8lbs.

Just be sure to secure the top with duct tape or something so you don’t accidentally take your shower before the workout is done!

Unfortunately, you’ll need a pretty bulky sized container to get anything heavier than about 10lbs. So, we need to think about density.

Not sure what types of exercises you should be doing? Check out my blog post all about Strength Training for Runners!

Creative ways to pack more weight into less space

Here is where we can use something like sand or rocks. They’re heavy and more dense than water so you can get more weight packed into a smaller container. You might have either of these items around your house or yard, or if not your local hardware store should have some convenient options. 

Fill your water bottle or milk jug with sand or rocks instead of water and voila! You’ve got something with a little more oomph. Dry sand weighs 3.4lbs per litre, so a 2L milk jug filled with dry sand weighs 6.7lbs, and a 4L milk jug would weigh 13.5lbs.

If you want to take things a step further, get your sand wet! Wet sand is a little heavier than dry, so a 1L container filled with wet sand would be 4.5lbs, a 2L container would weigh 9lbs, and a 4L container would weigh 18lbs.

If you’re using rocks, fill the bottle with water to fill in all the little remaining spaces between them to pack as much weight in there as possible. The final weight will vary a little depending on the rock/water ratio etc. If you have a scale at home you can check exactly how much yours will weigh. 

Doing your deadlifts or squats with 2- 4L milk jugs filled with wet sand is pretty good for a DIY home workout!

What if that still isn’t enough?

If you’re a pretty seasoned lifter you may still not get that same gym burn with your DIY weights during your home workout. 

If you aren’t able to create something heavier, just make it feel heavier by playing around with your pace, reps, and program design.

1. Slow down the pace

Rather than quickly pushing through the set, cut your pace in half (or more if you usually rush a bit). On a bicep curl for example, make both the up and down motion (the concentric and eccentric phase of the exercise) take 4 seconds each.

You can also play around with the isometric phase of your exercises; for example hold your squat for a breath or two before pushing back up to a standing position. Trust me, this will help get you the burn you’ve been looking for!

2. Do supersets of the same muscle group

Normally, I design my supersets to be opposing muscle groups (such as a push and a pull motion or pairing up an upper body with a lower body exercise) but if you want to get more burn with less weight, complete supersets of the same muscle group to hit muscle fatigue a little sooner.

For example do some body weight push-ups then go straight into a set of chest presses (using your own homemade weights of course).

3. Play with Plyometrics

Plyometrics are explosive movements. Like jump squats or clapping push ups. If you’re finding the body weight version of an exercise to be too easy, adding an explosive element to the movement is a great way to ramp things up.

If you’re a newbie though, wait until you’ve really mastered a movement and are injury-free before incorporating any Plyometrics into your routines.

4. Invest in multi-functional equipment that won’t take up a lot of space!

One of my favorite tools for at-home workouts is my TRX. a TRX is a suspension training system that allows you to use your body weight in different ways to re-create your favorite gym exercises.

It simply attaches over any doorframe, or if you do have a dedicated workout space you can also purchase attachments for a wall or ceiling. I’ve had mine for over 10 years and it’s still great condition. 

The Bottom Line

There are endless possibilities when it comes to workout equipment. Everyday objects all around your home can be used for an effective workout, and you may not have even realized it!

It may take a little bit of thinking and creativity to find or make workout equipment at home, but with these home workout hacks, you can maximize your home workouts.

The gym isn’t the only place you can get in a good workout anymore!

And if you want to learn how to optimize your athletic performance with simple, personalized nutrition strategies? Click here to get all the details for my one on one nutrition coaching programs, and book a discovery call today!