Strength Training Without Weights: Putting Up An Ultra-Cheap Home Gym

Your home exercise equipment can be affordable while nonetheless being effective. You do not need any weight-lifting equipment whatsoever for strength training, only your own body weight and a few pieces of plastic.

The human body provides significant variety with its variously weighted limbs and its joints which give a near limitless number of movement options. Directed and repeated movements of simply your body can give all the strength training you desire. But to move your body with comfort and safety, you should invest in a good workout mat. Cushioning makes most of the prone and seated activity a lot more comfortable. Try to find a mat that's at least 3/8 inch thick. The thin yoga mats may be convenient to roll up and put under your arm for transport, but they are not thick enough to pad your body adequately.

You can find plenty of videos and posts on body-only strength workouts on the web, but be careful about the certifications of the instructor. You can find as many online videos as you want from certified physical trainers and physical therapists. If something hurts--you know the contrast between working muscles and real pain--stop! Strength training should not create pain.

You're likely to get burnt out only using your own body, and boredom could lead you to stop working out. At this point, you may want to spend a few dollars in some resistance bands or tubes. They come in a rainbow of colors, signifying their resistance. You can pull them between two limbs, or attach one end to a door. They substantially increase the variety of your workouts, and the allow you to continue increasing the resistance to match your increasing strength. The bands gain in strength as the color gets darker. This means you can go a very long way in getting to your strength training goals with only these light, inexpensive, easily stored bands. You can find them at any decent sporting goods shop or on the internet. Hang them on lightweight plastic hooks to prevent tangles.

A fitness ball makes a last, low-cost piece of home exercise equipment. Choose one that permits you sit on it with flat feet. A fitness ball accentuates your body-only exercises. Consider push-ups. They are one thing with your feet lodged firmly on the floor. With your feet on an unstable round surface, they are quite another. A fitness ball will challenge your balance and core stability--and they will increase.

A buying hint: get the ball with a pump, spare plugs (in case you break one trying to re-inflate a flat ball) and the training booklet or DVD. These extras will make life with your fitness ball a challenge--not an aggravation. (Note: a bicycle pump even with a "ball needle" will not work.)

Don't pump iron, pump plastic! It will save your space and your dollars and is equally effective. Eat your iron--don't pump it.