What are some heavy household objects I could lift?

silvermist18903

I don't have any money for weights right now, so can anyone help me come up with heavy household objects to do weight training with, in the mean time?

quruuxley

I used to use two water bottles full, standard not the full 1L, at the beginning of my 30day shreds since I would do that at home not at the gym. I had to buy weights just because you outgrow the 2lbs quickly! lol. It's not a huge investment. I got 10lbs weights at Walmart for around $20.

sandobr1

Fill a backpack with books, you can adjust as needed, and it has handles.

silvermist18903

Wow, those are amazing ideas guys! Thanks!

MyOwnSunshine

5-gallon water jugs (the ones that you put on water coolers) weigh about 40 pounds. You can do farmer's carries with 2 of them, goblet squats, sumo deadlifts, etc.

Edited to add: Buy (or check out of the library) a book on body weight exercises. Push-ups, chin-ups, planks...

sPaRkLiNgLYFE

fill milk jugs with water, if that's too heavy lift can goods, one can in each hand

yo_andi

A gallon of milk/water weighs about 8 lbs.

Fill a pillow case or durable bag with sand, adjust to whatever weight you need it.

The more awkward the object, the more stabilizer muscles you'll need to use to keep it stable.

AnnaVee84

books, canned food, gardening pails or buckets, bag of rice, chains...small children :laugh:

__RANDY__

I'd squat my couches. Moving mattresses is always an incredible work out.

Body weight dips on chairs or bath tub.

LorinaLynn

If you have cats, lift bags or buckets of kitty litter. Some are up to 40 pounds.

jkirby79

I got really inspired by the book: You are your Own Gym by Mark Lauren. The idea is that you can strength train without leaving your house if you are willing to get a little creative. There are literally a zillion (maybe not literally) body weight exercises ranging from easy to extremely difficult that do not require weights. I've been doing one of his programs listed in the book for 5 weeks and am liking it. See if your library has it!

Markguns

Water in plastic bottles, in milk jugs, your kids, your neighbors kids, shovels of dirt, Yourself: body weight exercises (search it) you can do presses in doorways for example... :bigsmile: :laugh:

Improvised

I lift my kids.

kcaffee1

Your four legged, furry children work well also. I don't know how many times my cats wound up serving double duty for me as dumbbells!

efirkey

An iron skillet weighs a ton.

There are a lot of body weight exercises you can do to get a great workout.

If you have a wood pile, unstack it, move it to a new location, and stack it.

janegalt37

Visit www.nerdfitness.com

You'll love it!

selina884

fill 2 milk bottles with sand.

Dumbbells sorted

MelsAuntie

firewood, saddles, chainsaws, gallon jugs (full), toasters, blenders, 5 lb. bags of flour, War and Peace, cement blocks........

quirkytizzy

I like all of these ideas. Thank you guys so much for sharing them!

ladymiseryali

If you have kitty litter jugs, those can be quite tiring to lift up and put down again. If you really want to challenge yourself, if you have a backpack, fill it with rocks or something and then squat with it.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

People and pets. I use my dog as a dumbbell for skull crushers and bicep curls (he's around 22lbs) and I use my brother for squats (around 150lbs) but he doesn't like to cooperate often so I normally just go to the gym :laugh:

mountaingirl2207

You can also do tricep dips on a chair, step ups on the first 2 stairs in your staircase, wall sits, lunges with your desired weighted item, and of course push ups and ab work.

IliaShade

And if that's not enough for you and you have a tiny budget at least.. (I don't know if you do, but wanna drop my two cents)

For like 28 dollar buy a set of bodylastics resistance bands. Attach to the door easily ( or any other way) and you can train everything upto like 58 pounds.

They 've been a life saver for me for training and toning and so cheap!

Other than that, great tips have already been given

NOTE: You can get like 10-15 dollar resistance band sets but please please don't . I did, and using even only the 10 pound band it snapped on me!

haroon_awan

sofa
bed
fridge
table
shed
husband

timbrom

Definitely small children (if available). Plus, as you get stronger, they get bigger, which is perfect!

If small children aren't easily accessible, then body weight stuff is great, as mentioned. Burpees kick *kitten*, especially if you add in the pushup and the squat jump.

jestersand

Gallons of water, or fill up a gym bag with heavy items like food cans. Cinder blocks, or bags with sand.

CLFrancois

Cat litter (just buy the 42 pound)
speakers
books

JeneticTraining

Fill up those gallon milk jugs or water bottles with sand or dirt!

llkilgore

Try filling bottles and such with play sand rather than water to increase the weight. Liquid laundry jugs work reasonably well as kettlebells.

Dozer71

Get the vacuum cleaner out and push it round the house. Tie some water bottles to your mop and broom as you clean the fall. When doing the dishes, use a tub on the floor and the dishes on the bench so you get plenty of squats in.

Plenty of things you can do as you clean the house.

LdyPsych

Although I have never tried this myself, I had a patient who was a retired professional ball player and coach and he swore by gallon milk jugs filled with water. And this guy was 80 and very fit.