Toning up with household objects. :)

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mommy2ans
mommy2ans Posts: 93 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I want to start toning as I try to lose weight. I haven't done any toning because i am beyond freaked out that i am going to turn all of my fat into muscle and still have larger body parts than i want. Ha! Anyhoo, i want to start tonight but don't have any weights, resistance bands, etc. What can I used at home to help tone and what suggestions do you have for basic leg and arm toning exercises? If i do them every night when should i expect to see results? Especially the under part of my arms, they are SO flabby!

Thanks guys and gals!
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Replies

  • LilynEdensmom
    LilynEdensmom Posts: 612 Member
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    You can use soup cans or gallon water jugs as weights...When my youngest was born I used her lol I'd hold her while doing squats and lunges (she was only 5 pounds)
  • LReneeWalker
    LReneeWalker Posts: 213 Member
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    cans of veggies are great hand weights. Also save old milk gallons, put water in them for heavier weights. Not sure what to use for legs (other than babies lol). You can even use your own body weight for resistance, using the furniture to do sits ups, etc.
  • dolldreams
    dolldreams Posts: 245 Member
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    Use a broomstick, shower rod or curtain rod.

    Hold it above your head or out in front of your body with your arms shoulder width apart then do squats.
  • docktorfokse
    docktorfokse Posts: 473 Member
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    Please tell me you guys aren't serious.
  • dolldreams
    dolldreams Posts: 245 Member
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    Please tell me you guys aren't serious.

    Why wouldn't we be?
  • LilynEdensmom
    LilynEdensmom Posts: 612 Member
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    Please tell me you guys aren't serious.

    I'm serious

    ...As a pretty much single mom, I don't have the time or the money to spend buying a home gym or going to a gym...
  • dolldreams
    dolldreams Posts: 245 Member
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    Please tell me you guys aren't serious.

    I'm serious

    ...As a pretty much single mom, I don't have the time or the money to spend buying a home gym or going to a gym...

    Not only that but sometimes people don't have the space to have workout equipment laying around. When I was in the Army, my barracks room was the size of a cracker jack box and I had no space for weights or any other type of fitness equipment. I used to work out in my room using water bottles.
  • dolldreams
    dolldreams Posts: 245 Member
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    I want to start toning as I try to lose weight. I haven't done any toning because i am beyond freaked out that i am going to turn all of my fat into muscle and still have larger body parts than i want. Ha! Anyhoo, i want to start tonight but don't have any weights, resistance bands, etc. What can I used at home to help tone and what suggestions do you have for basic leg and arm toning exercises? If i do them every night when should i expect to see results? Especially the under part of my arms, they are SO flabby!

    Thanks guys and gals!

    And op, you aren't going to turn all of your fat into muscle. Think about how hard those body builders work to look the way they do. If you aren't working that hard and whatever else they do, you aren't going to get all muscular all of the sudden.
  • docktorfokse
    docktorfokse Posts: 473 Member
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    You guys really don't think the equivalent of lifting nothing will build muscle, do you?

    Am I getting trolled?
  • Papillon22
    Papillon22 Posts: 1,160 Member
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    Do a search on bodyweight exercises, and you'll find examples like this one:

    http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/tipsandtricks/a/basictraining.htm

    I've bought resistance bands for about 15 dollars, and they are great as well.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    check out nerdfitness.com for their beginner body weight workout. Scroll down below it and you will even find how to use your table to start working toward chin-ups and pull ups.
  • mommy2ans
    mommy2ans Posts: 93 Member
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    You guys really don't think the equivalent of lifting nothing will build muscle, do you?

    Am I getting trolled?

    Why are you so rude? A can of soup is more than i'm doing now, which is nothing...so it can't be worse.
  • DominiqueSmall
    DominiqueSmall Posts: 495 Member
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    I want to start toning as I try to lose weight. I haven't done any toning because i am beyond freaked out that i am going to turn all of my fat into muscle and still have larger body parts than i want. Ha! Anyhoo, i want to start tonight but don't have any weights, resistance bands, etc. What can I used at home to help tone and what suggestions do you have for basic leg and arm toning exercises? If i do them every night when should i expect to see results? Especially the under part of my arms, they are SO flabby!

    Thanks guys and gals!

    I currently use two cans of black beans. I'
  • ShawnaRaeDunn
    ShawnaRaeDunn Posts: 59 Member
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    I was using cans of soup. Then found weights at Walmart for only a few dollars each. I started light, 3lbs dumb bells first, the 5lbs. And for anyone that makes fun of using cans of soup (like I saw posted on here:huh: ) using and doing something is better than doing nothing. Please feel free to add me as a friend. Really good at motivation!:bigsmile:
  • docktorfokse
    docktorfokse Posts: 473 Member
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    "Toning" is just a combination of low bodyfat and higher muscle mass. Lifting soup cans and water bottles will just fatigue your muscles without giving them enough of a load to actually grow.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Use a food scale. Weight your food, eat at a deficit, lose fat, and expose the muscle underneath. That's what "toning" is.

    To preserve lean muscle mass, add in strength training. Pick up heavy things and put them down again, 5-10 times each. If you can easily do more than that, you're wasting your time.
  • dolldreams
    dolldreams Posts: 245 Member
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    You guys really don't think the equivalent of lifting nothing will build muscle, do you?

    Am I getting trolled?

    Lifting body weight and household objects is not lifting nothing. People built muscle before there was fitness equipment and gallon jugs of water do weigh something.
  • MelMena
    MelMena Posts: 152 Member
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    Some people pick things up and put things down that weigh a LOT and some people pick things up and put things down that weigh a LITTLE. Point is they are picking things up and putting them down.
  • Hellcatinheels
    Hellcatinheels Posts: 14
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    Another single mom here! I've done the soup cans, and the squats holding my kids (my 3 year old thinks it's hilarious). I've also tied a scarf in a loop to put around my lower legs for doing side steps squats. Textbooks make pretty okay weights, as do jugs of vinegar (not going to be dangerous if it spills, unlike when my friend used a jug of bleach). The broomstick/shower curtain rod is a great trick. Also to consider: baskets of laundry (use holding out in front of you as you would a medicine ball), dvds bound together with a scarf or belt, unplugged lamps (as free weights), and use chairs/couches etc as a counter balance (like when doing tricep dips) or a sturdy kids chair as a step (if they don't have a sturdy stepstool). HTH!
  • docktorfokse
    docktorfokse Posts: 473 Member
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    You guys really don't think the equivalent of lifting nothing will build muscle, do you?

    Am I getting trolled?

    Lifting body weight and household objects is not lifting nothing. People built muscle before there was fitness equipment and gallon jugs of water do weigh something.
    I'm sure the original gladiators lifted things a lot heavier than water bottles.

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