In recent years, many individuals have turned to working out at home for convenience and flexibility. However, a common challenge is the lack of equipment, especially for those on a limited budget. In this article, we will provide some practical remedies to help you continue progressing in your workouts until you can expand your home gym.
If you don’t have a flat bench for certain exercises, you can use the floor instead. Lie flat on the floor and perform exercises like dumbbell presses, flys, and lying tricep extensions. To improve range of motion, you can fold up a blanket or use two to increase the height slightly. Incline exercises can be substituted with elevated pushups, where you place your feet on a higher surface to target the upper pecs and front delts. For incline flys, adjust the platform height and widen your hand position during pushups to achieve a similar stretch.
When your dumbbells become too light, you can make your sets more challenging by slowing down the tempo. Squeeze each contraction for three seconds, perform three-second negatives, and hold the stretch for an additional three seconds. This extended time under tension increases the intensity of each rep. If this becomes too easy, consider adding supersets or combining two exercises to further push yourself. Additionally, don’t be afraid to add more volume by doing extra sets or increasing the number of reps.
Don’t underestimate the items you have around the house that can be used for workouts. A chair can be used for seated exercises like concentration curls and seated dumbbell presses. A full-gallon jug filled with water can serve as a makeshift weight. Furniture sliders are useful for exercises like leg curls and bodyweight pullovers. Bodyweight exercises such as pushups, dips, squat jumps, walking lunges, and elevated split squats can also be incorporated into your routine to enhance your workouts.
Remember, these tips are temporary solutions until you can acquire more equipment for your home gym. However, they can breathe new life into your workouts and help you make progress while staying motivated. Eventually, investing in new equipment will be necessary, but in the meantime, these strategies will keep you on track towards your fitness goals.
