If you are anything like me, coronavirus lockdown has posed an extra challenge to your daily routine. Before quarantine, I had become reliant on the dumbbells, arm machines, and stationary bicycles for supplementing my cardio workouts and helping me to cross train. When the gyms closed, I started to get creative in order to continue my fitness journey while safely social distancing. Whether you’re looking to continue a strength routine that you were following pre-quarantine, or are beginning a new fitness practice, here are some great gym equipment alternatives!
- Arm Strength:
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I have to admit, I have never been the most seasoned arm workout gal. However, at the beginning of quarantine, I challenged myself to start targeting my arms more in order to improve my running posture and pushup/burpee technique during HIIT workouts. So far, I have significantly improved my arm strength by replacing dumbbells with body weight exercises and household items. I highly recommend pushup variations as a part of you arm routine; if simple pushups are not a sufficient challenge, consider strapping on a backpack filled with books, water bottles, etc. to up your pushup game.
Large water bottles, particularly those made out of heavier metal material, are a great weight alternative for bicep curls, although if you already have considerable arm strength, you might have to do significantly more reps than you would have to in the gym.
A typical arm workout for me during quarantine involves triceps dips, a series of pushup variations, mountain climbers, straight arm planks, surfer burpees, and bicep curls. Add the additional amount of weight that challenges you, and get to work in the comfort of your own home!
- Leg Strength:
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Missing leg workouts with weights? In place of the weighted squats and lunges I was doing in the gym pre-quarantine, I have been doing leg-focused HIIT workouts and some creative weighted squats (and honestly feel like my cardio fitness capacity and leg strength has improved significantly).
If you are looking for an effective HIIT workout to start off with, this is a great video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtEQBtljMM0. HIIT workouts like this do a great job of targeting your glutes, calves, and thighs with challenging dynamic exercises. Plus, they’re great if you’re on a time crunch!
If you are looking for weight alternatives for more static leg workouts, I have come up with some creative ones. For weighted squats, I have been lifting one side of a couch or table, which has honestly been a great challenge (just make sure to lift from your legs if you do this so that you do not injure your back, and decrease your reps if your technique starts to falter). Another method that works well for weighted leg exercises of many forms is to fill a backpack with heavy items and do your exercises with it on your back (as I suggested above for challenging pushups).
Hopefully some of these exercise suggestions help as you try to stay relaxed and healthy during this stressful time. Remember to only push yourself as far as is healthy for your body, and consider doing your workouts virtually (over FaceTime, Zoom, etc.) with your friends so that you can feel the burn together!