Month: January 2021

Don’t have the money to join a gym or buy expensive exercise equipment? You’re in luck. There are cheap and even free ways to get an effective workout, and most of these you can do at home. The health benefits of exercise are too important to miss out on. So, the next time you think working out has to be expensive, here are five items you can use to get a cheap but effective workout.

1 Empty Gallon or Laundry

If you want to add weight training to your workout routine you can easily do this by adding water or sand to you empty gallon or laundry detergent bottle. Since most of us use laundry detergent, this by far is the cheapest way to add weights to your routine. 1 gallon of water weighs approximately 8 pounds. Therefore, don’t throw out your gallon bottle, save it and add water to it .

You can add sand or rocks to make it even heavier.

2. A Jump Rope

Jumping rope is one of the best total body workouts you can do with a single piece of equipment. Jumping rope quickly elevates your heart rate enough to get cardiovascular benefits, and you’ll build up greater stamina and endurance. Plus, a person of average weight burns around 10 calories per minute jumping rope at a moderate rate.

You can make a jump rope workout as easy or intense as you like based on how fast you jump. Start by jumping only 10 seconds and keep increasing the time until you can jump for a full minute. Then work on increasing the speed of your jumps for greater intensity. Jumping rope improves agility and coordination while you’re getting fitter and leaner.

3. Your Own Bodyweight

How about an equipment-free workout? You won’t have to spend a penny if you use your own body weight as resistance. Some of the best bodyweight exercises you can do almost anywhere are push-ups, bodyweight squats, wall squats, planks, abdominal crunches, and triceps dips. With these options, it’s possible to get a whole-body workout without leaving home. You can make the exercises harder by increasing the number of repetitions or holding planks or wall squats longer. For bodyweight push-ups, placing your hands closer together increases the intensity and also works your triceps harder.

4. A Stability Ball

A stability ball is an inflatable ball that hits about knee height for most people. You can use this super-sized ball to do a variety of exercises, including those that work your core. The most common way people use it is to do abdominal crunches with their back on the ball. The instability of the ball forces your entire core to work harder. You can also place your feet and lower legs face down on the ball and your hands on the floor and do push-ups. The unstable surface of the ball works your core harder than a standard push-up.

Another popular exercise with a stability ball is the stability ball raise. For this exercise, place the ball between your calves and raise your legs off the floor until they’re perpendicular to the ceiling. You’ll quickly feel the tension in your lower abs and will be one step closer to building ab strength and definition.

There are other exercises you can do with a stability ball and you’ll find descriptions of many more online. You can even use one as a seat when you work. Replacing your chair with a stability ball will engage your core more. Best of all, they’re not expensive.

5. A Park Bench

Surprisingly, you can get a decent workout at a park that has a bench. To get your heart rate up, jog or walk briskly around the park. Then stop at a park bench and pause long enough to do a few exercises, starting with the good, old push-up. Place both hands on the seat of the bench and stretch your legs behind you. Push your chest and upper body away from the bench and then back down. Feel the burn in your chest and arms.

Now jog around the park again, come back to the bench, and place your palms on the bench with your fingers facing toward you. Then use the bench to do a set of triceps dips. Both push-ups and triceps dips are effective upper body exercises that require no equipment.

6. Resistance Bands

A set of resistance bands offers a wealth of possibilities for working your entire body. You can do most of the exercises you do with dumbbells, a barbell, or kettlebells, and many more. Some resistance bands have special attachments you can hook to a door or handles you can grip on to for various exercises.

Resistance bands have some advantages over dumbbells and barbells since you can work your muscles in multiple planes of motion. When you use weights, you have to work in the direction of gravity, but resistance bands rely on the tension created by the bands rather than gravity. Plus, the tension remains high throughout the movement. In contrast, the tension drops off at the top of a movement when you use weights. So, you can get a superior workout with resistance bands at a low cost. Plus, you can take them with you if you travel.

The Bottom Line

Lack of money or a gym membership isn’t an excuse not to work out. These exercise props are affordable and effective. Now, it’s up to you to put them to use!

 

References:

• J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2020 Jan 28;33(1):129-137. doi: 10.1515/jpem-2019-0327.
• MayoClinic.org. “Is body-weight training effective as a strength training exercise?”
• SAGE Open Med. 2019; 7: 2050312119831116.Published online 2019 Feb 19. doi: 10.1177/2050312119831116.

5 Advantages Resistance Bands Have Over Dumbbells and Barbells

If you work out at home, you may not have room for clunky sets of dumbbells or barbells. They take up room, they’re heavy, and they cost money. And what happens when you go on vacation? You can’t haul those heavy weights around with you. Yet you still need strength training to build strength and preserve muscle mass.

Is there a less expensive, space-saving, and still effective way to build strength? You bet there is! It might surprise you to learn that you can get an effective strength-training workout using only resistance bands. In fact, resistance bands offer some advantages over barbells and dumbbells. Let’s look at five advantages resistance bands have over dumbbells and barbells.

1.You Can Do More Exercises Using Resistance Bands

Working with resistance bands expands the number of exercises you can do to build strength. Barbells and dumbbells limit the number of exercises you can do since you have to work your muscles within a certain plane of motion. With weights, there’s a defined path you must follow, based on gravity, to get the benefits. That’s not true of resistance bands since their resistance comes from tension generated by the bands, not gravity. Therefore, you have more options when you train. Not only does this give you more flexibility but working muscles at different angles can boost muscle growth.

2. They Maintain Tension Throughout an Exercise

When you strength train with barbells and dumbbells, the tension on your muscles changes as you move through the exercise. For example, with a biceps curl, the tension drops off at the top of the movement where your hands are close to your chest. That doesn’t happen with resistance bands since tension within the band, not gravity, generates the resistance. Since the tension stays high throughout the exercise, it gives your muscles more stimulation for growth.

3. Resistance Bands Limit Momentum

When you do an exercise with a barbell or dumbbells, it’s easy to cheat. When the going gets tough, you can use momentum to “bounce” the weight up rather than force your muscles to do the work, thereby removing how much stimulation your muscle gets. That’s not true with resistance bands. To complete an exercise using bands, your muscles have to generate force throughout the full range-of-motion of the movement, so you activate more muscle fibers and, potentially, build more muscle. Working with resistance bands is natural protection against cheating.

4. They’re Excuse Proof

One problem with dumbbells and barbells is they aren’t portable. This means there’s a temptation when you travel or go on vacation not to exercise. Resistance bands are excuse proof because you can take them anywhere and use them even in a tiny hotel room. They’re light enough to drop in a travel bag and you’re ready to go! With resistance bands being so easy to work with, you’ll be more likely to work out.

5. Resistance Bands Are Easier on the Joints

Everyone should be concerned about joint health since our joints have to last a lifetime. Resistance bands are as effective, and sometimes more so for building strength than weights, but they place less stress on your joints. Therefore, resistance bands are an ideal way to build strength if you have any form of arthritis or injuries.

Despite being kinder to the joints, resistance bands can be as effective as weights for building muscle size. A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research asked a group of sedentary women to work with either weights or resistance bands for 10 weeks. When they looked at muscle gains, both groups enjoyed similar improvements in muscle endurance and muscle size and improved their body composition by losing body fat. The losses were similar between the two groups of women. Other research shows working with resistance bands can increase strength as much as weights.

The Bottom Line

Enjoy the strength-training benefits that resistance bands offer. Another perk: You don’t have to worry about dropping a barbell or dumbbell on your foot. If you drop a resistance band on a foot, you won’t even feel it.

 

References:

• Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: September 2008 – Volume 22 – Issue 5 – pp 1441-1448.
• J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Feb;25(2):459-63. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c1f8b6.
• SAGE Open Med. 2019; 7: 2050312119831116.Published online 2019 Feb 19. doi: 10.1177/2050312119831116.
• J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Sep;22(5):1441-8. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31817ae67a.

 

How To Get Your Heart Rate Up Without Running

Running boosts your heart rate and improves cardiovascular health and endurance. However, the repetitive motion of running and the impact as your feet strike the ground can lead to overuse injuries. If you like running, do it in moderation. Plus, your body likes variety. Varying the type of movements you do to boost your heart can help you get into even better shape without the repetitive impact of running on your joints.

If you’re ready to add a little variety to your workouts, here are some cardio exercises that are better than running. Why better? Most of these exercises work your upper and lower body, so you have more than one muscle group working at the same time. That increases the calorie burn and makes your workouts more efficient.

Burpees

Burpees are an exercise that people love to hate, because they’re hard but effective. It only takes a few burpees to get your heart racing, and that means cardiovascular benefits. Start by doing only 5 and gradually work up to doing 10 burpees in a row.

If you need a refresher, here’s how to do a classic burpee:
• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your arms loosely at your sides.
• Lower your buttocks toward the floor into a squat.
• Place your hands on the floor about shoulder-width apart.
• Jump your legs back behind you, while keeping them as straight as possible.
• Quickly jump your feet back to the starting position and stand back up.
• Keep repeating.

To make burpees harder, add a jump when you stand back up. The extra jump will boost your heart rate even more and increase the calorie burn.

Mountain Climbers

Mountain climbers are another heart-rate boosting exercise that increases stamina and boosts heart health. Plus, when you do mountain climbers, you work your lower body, core, and even your arms get in on the action since they support you while you do the exercise. Therefore, mountain climbers are a total body workout.

Need guidance on how to do one?
• Get into a push-up position with your hands on the floor and your legs stretched out behind you.
• Bring your right leg toward your chest and quickly return it to the starting position.
• As you bring the right leg back to the starting position, quickly bring your left leg toward your chest.
• Keep alternating bringing the leg you bring toward your chest as you switch your legs back and forth as if climbing a mountain.

Squat Jumps

The squat jump is a plyometric exercise, one that builds power and vertical jump height. It also boosts your heart rate enough to offer cardiovascular benefits.

Here’s a refresher on how to do one:
• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your arms loosely by your sides.
• Lower your buttocks toward the floor into a squat and quickly jump into the air as you swing your arms toward the ceiling.
• Land lightly on your feet and repeat.
• Keep repeating.

Jumping Jacks

This exercise needs no introduction, since it’s an old-school exercise that gives your upper and lower body a workout. You likely already know how to do one, but you can make the movement easier or harder by slowing or speeding up the pace you do each jack.

What you might not know is jumping jacks do more than boost your heart rate. They also work the muscles in your core, the ones that help stabilize you and reduce your risk of back pain and injury. To get the most benefit from each jack, keep your body straight and don’t let your core sag. Also, don’t round your back or lock your knees when you do the exercise. Start slow and master the form before picking up the speed of your jacks.

Kick Boxing

One of the reasons people run is to improve heart health and aerobic capacity, a measure of aerobic fitness. However, research shows kickboxing does the same thing. In fact, a study found that 5 weeks of kickboxing improved aerobic capacity and aerobic power. The participants trained 3 days per week for an hour a day. Other perks include an increase in flexibility, speed, and agility. So, switch some of the time you spend running for kickboxing. It’s a workout that benefits your upper and lower body.

Build a Routine with These Exercises

How can you put these exercises to work to build cardiovascular fitness? You can either do each exercise for a certain number of seconds, for instance, 30 to 60 seconds, rest for 30 seconds and then proceed to the next, or you can do these exercises between strength-training exercises to keep your heart rate up.

The Bottom Line

Don’t get into a running rut and assume the only way you can get a cardio workout is to run. These five exercises have added benefits you won’t get from running and they work more muscle groups. So, skip the run and try these exercises instead.

References:

Muscles Ligaments Tendons J. 2014 Apr-Jun; 4(2): 106-113. Published online 2014 Jul 14.
HealthLine.com. “What Are the Benefits of Aerobic Exercise?”