Posted by Alice Moon on May.20, 2009

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Imagine a place where all the fitness equipment you could ever need or want is readily available. Even better, you live nearby and you won’t need to pay a penny in membership fees or dues. Is this for real? It is. Your home, your yard, even your city street, offers every tool you need to work every part of your body. No matter what your fitness level, you can adapt an exercise program to fit using only your environment.

Strength Training
We live in concrete jungles, filled with brick, block and heavy metal construction just begging for wider use. Think of kids at the playground, then use that image to inspire yourself. Get out there and explore. If you’re trapped in suburbia, you still have your home to look to. Inside and out, there are surfaces and features just waiting to be exploited.

A flat, stable surface such as a park bench, chair, or low wall is great for tricep dips with your legs extended, triceps extensions, pikes and other forms of supported handstand push ups. Any countertop in your home or outdoor railing with a sturdy ninety degree angle is the perfect place to try triceps dips with tucked legs, chest dips, leg raises, knee raises, and Captain’s Chair ab exercises.

Any horizontal bar can act as a chin up bar if it is well-anchored and able to support your weight. A bar or railing lower in height can be used for inverted rows (basically pull ups with feet extended) and push ups. High mounted bars or wood braces can be used for pull ups of all variations. These work your back, arms and shoulders. Modify if you need to by putting one foot on the ground or a chair to make your body weight manageable.

Weights
To make your own homemade weights, cut a leg from an old pair of jeans, find an old purse, or dig up a heavy towel. Sew any open sides together and fill the interior with a material which gives you the approximate weight, density, and behavior you’re looking for. Sand, clamshell, dirt and rocks are good for outdoor use.

For indoors, or to make lighter weights, try using anything you have around the house which won’t break inside or poke through the material. Generally, small items like dried beans, marbles, or coins work well. Fashion your weights in different shapes and sizes and leave a length of cloth as a handle. These features will make the weights harder to lift and control, forcing your body to adapt, use more energy, and give you more benefits.

For heavier weights, load up a couple of buckets or a wheelbarrow. The buckets can be handled individually, lifted in pairs, or used in conjunction with a bar or even a sturdy branch. Do a carry and drop relay or lift for reps. Buckets make it easy to add or subtract weight to do sets. Bricks are very handy for this, enabling you to increase your load by a consistent amount. They are also easily carried to give your arms a workout as you walk or run.

If you prefer working with a cleaner, easier weight, save several empty water or soda bottles. Fill them with water and tape several together to form larger loads. Add a handle by tying a piece of fabric or rope around them. They can also be attached to a bar.

Ladies, don’t be afraid to work with heavier loads. They will give you faster results and build muscle to burn more fat. The little one and two pound weights are a thing of the past. Start with them if you need to build up your fitness level or your nerve, but move on to larger weights as soon as possible.

Steps
A set of stairs offers limitless ways to work your legs. You can use steps for aerobics, running, and general cardio, but they also make a great platform for plyometric training. Jump training can reduce injuries and help protect your knees during sport and daily activities. Plyometrics require no equipment. They’re done with your body weight alone. They help develop power and fast twitch muscle response.

One great exercise is to jump from a standing position up to a landing the height of two, three or four stairs, then run backwards down the steps. Or, keeping your feet together, jump two steps at a time for the length of the staircase. In the Vertical Depth Jump, you jump down from a step, then immediately reach and jump straight up as high as you can. In a Jump March, you begin with one foot on a step, one foot on the ground. Bound into the air and, quick as you can, switch places with your feet. Single leg squats done on a step give you more room for extension.

Walking and Running
Walking is an excellent low impact starter method for working into a more difficult routine. It is a way for runners to take a break and recover. Running is one of the most effective calorie burning workouts available. The design of our modern world provides endless places to pursue either activity. Walk your block or run at the local school track. Take advantage of quiet, early morning streets. Greet the day by doing for yourself first.

If you run laps and need an easy way to count on the fly, carry a baggie of small treats. As you complete a lap, reward yourself for your accomplishment. A handful of raisins or peanuts won’t kill your calories and will help fuel your effort. If you’d prefer not to snack, carry a pocket filled with pebbles or nuts for the squirrels and toss one with each pass.

If you want to go hardcore, keep count by adding weight with each lap. You don’t have to own a fancy weight vest. You can either carry your burden in your hands or wear an old jacket, vest, fanny pack or backpack to hold your load. To add weight, clip on a water bottle (any empty soda bottle will suffice), fill the pocket of your pack with baggies of dirt or sand, or even clip wrenches from your toolbox onto your vest. Simply add small amounts until you reach your comfort level. Finding an item with an exact weight isn’t important.

If you have kids, even better. Take them along and begin to instill in them the importance of daily physical activity. If you push a stroller, you can add weight to it (to safe capacity) to vary your routine. Carrying children is no easy task. Use their bodyweight to your advantage and take a lap or two with your little buddy. You can sneak in some bonding time and it will distract your mind from the exertion.

Work as Working Out
The potential for work is all around us. We have simply removed the need to do most of the heavy lifting ourselves. There is no reason we can’t go back to the old ways. Our ancestors didn’t have to find time in their lives for both work and fitness. The two went hand in hand.

Volunteer at the office to be the person to distribute materials. Help unload the truckload of supplies when it arrives each week. If the copier never has paper, solve the problem and get in a few reps by appointing yourself the task and delivering a case or two per day.

Keep a gallon jug of water at your desk. Between emails, do mini sets. The weight of the water is slightly more unstable and will force your body to work harder to keep its balance. As an added benefit, you’ll have a calorie free refreshment at hand and avoid filling up on coffee or soda.

Create your own rituals for fitness. Promise yourself that each time you go to the bathroom or stand in line, you’ll do five repetitions of whatever exercise fits your goal and environment. Even if you have to do them in the stall. It shouldn’t take more than a minute, but that is one more minute of workout added to your day.

Make Everyone a Part of the Team
At home, if your kids are always underfoot, make them a part of your routine. Let them help by holding your feet, counting your reps, lifting their toys alongside you, or acting as extra weight. For example, you can do sit ups while holding your baby securely to your chest, curls with your toddler’s body weight, or have older children hold one end of a towel and pull against you for resistance for core training.

The unfortunate part? Now you have no excuse not to get moving!

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Posted under Fitness For Body & Mind, Health & Fitness.