Whether you prefer working out at home over going to the gym, or your family needs and schedule just have you stuck at home, there are many ways to keep your regime active even at home. Besides many bodyweight exercises that can be done with no equipment at all, there are a lot of everyday household objects that can be used as a small weight to keep your routine going.

The average water bottle weighs about 1 pound and with an easy grip, they can be used for many exercises. You can try a bent-over row using a water bottle.

• Hinge at your hips making sure to keep your back flat
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull your elbows back
• Try to work on your endurance – perform 4 sets of 15 repetitions with this lighter weight

Grab a can of soup or a jar of sauce and try a tricep extension as shown below.

• Hinge at your hips making sure to keep your back flat and your neck in line with your body
• Bring your elbows next to your side
• Slowly extend your arms lifting the weight back towards your hips
• Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions

Most bags of flour are sold at 5 pounds. A great way to take advantage of using bags of flour at home without a mess is to put them inside of a plastic or reusable bag. This helps you to get a better grip on the bag and also protects you from a mess in case the paper bag was to rip open!

Lunges while holding the bag as shown to the right are a great home exercise. 

• Hold the bag close to your chest
• Take a large step forward and bend your knees bringing your back leg toward the floor
• Then return to standing
• Try to keep your front knee in line with your foot and the knee slightly behind the toes. Decrease the depth if you get knee pain
• Alternate legs for additional challenge performing 3 sets of 8 repetitions
• You can also complete this movement by taking a large step backward.

*Bonus: to work your inner thighs more take a large step to the side and bend the leg you step with. Keep your opposite leg straight and sink your hips down and back

A gallon of liquid weighs about 8 pounds. Both a gallon and half gallon containers have nice handles that can be used to grip for increased weight. The handle shape also can be used like a kettlebell. I recommend filling the jug with water once the milk is gone and then this could be filled less or more with water to adjust to the amount of weight you’re looking to use. 

Try a squat with a gallon of water!

• Hold the jug of water close to your body
• Place your feet shoulder-width apart or a little wider
• Squat down avoiding increasing pain in the knees or hips
• Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions

Bottom step on a flight of stairs. You can do forward or sideways step-ups on the bottom step!

• To make these even more challenging you can hold the weights described above
• Keep your movements slow and controlled to increase the challenge on your muscles
• Perform 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions on each leg