Friday Favorite Five: Home Gym Accessories for No-Excuse Workouts (and exercises to go with them!)

Happy Friday Fitnuts!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and enjoying the end of year festivities, travels and GREAT weather here in the UAE.

I realise this is a busy time of the year, be it because we are entertaining friends and family, wrapping up last minute things at work, etc. – and we don’t always have time to stick with our regular workout routines. However, that doesn’t mean we should stop working out and wait until January 1st to start over again, especially at a time where indulgence becomes more frequent! It happens to the most determined of us, and there’s no need to beat ourselves about it. But it is importance to balance it out by keeping active and bouncing back as soon as possible.

No time to get to a gym and fit in a workout? We won’t take that excuse. All you need is a little corner in your own home and a few minutes to spare ANYTIME of the day to get your blood flowing.

I’m a big proponent of hiit bodyweight workouts (check out some of our Holiday HIIT suggestions in our first Friday Favorite Five post) when short on time and not at home, but sometimes we need

As such I would like to share with you my Favorite Five home-gym accessories that can fit in the smallest of corners and give you a great full body workout as well as accessories to help relieve tension without having a see a masseuse!

 

home gym

 

  • Jump Rope No cardio machine, no problem! Jump ropes are a great way to get your heart rate up during your warm-up but also a great tool to use for cardio intervals during your workouts. Here’s a 10 minute jump rope workout that you can use as a warm-up or simply to learn new jump rope exercises you can incorporate in your own routine: 10 Minute Jump Rope Workout by Fitsugar
  • Dumbbells – or hand weights, are great strength-training tools. Their versatility will help you tone and sculpt your body from head to toe. I personally prefer compound exercises, which are moves that involve more than one joint and muscle group at a time, as opposed to isolation exercises which only work one muscle/joint at a time. These moves are functional, help burn more calories as well as get a full(er) body workout in less time. But that may not be your goal :p Either way, find out more about compound versus isolation exercises, as well as a list of compound exercises to try here
  • Stability Ball – Stability balls can be used for a full body workout from core exercises, to lower and upper body exercises in conjunction with weights, as well as stretches. Make your basic crunches, chest presses, planks or wall sits more challenging with this piece of equipment thanks to the added balancing/stability required to perform such exercises on a ball! You can also work on correcting your posture and working your core by simply sitting on it when working or watching TV. Here are some of  The Most Effective Ball Exercises Everybody Should Be Doing by Fitsugar
  • TRX resistance band – this is a piece of equipment you can take with you anywhere you go. Just anchor it to your door, tree, swing set at the park and you will be able to perform hundreds of exercises using your own bodyweight. For inspiration check out 45 Insanely Effective TRX Exercises by The Greatist
  • Foam Roller Self-myofascial release, also known as “foam rolling”, basically means self-massage to release muscle tightness or trigger points or “knots”, which stretching by itself won’t necessarily get rid off, and which can lead to bigger problems if not taken care of. Like any massage, foam rolling will loosen muscles and improve blood circulation. Here are some Foam Roll Exercises by Target Area you can try. My favorite areas to foam roll are the upper back, quads, glutes and calves. Trigger point balls (you can also use a tennis ball) are also great to when you need to reach smaller muscles groups. I usually use them to get to those resistant knots in my shoulder, hips and to release tension in my feet.

Any questions?

How about you? Where do you like to workout? What are your favourite equipment and accessories? Your favorite exercises?

Share with us and the rest of the Fitnut community your favorite accessories and exercises on instagram by hash tagging #fitnutuae. Videos are more than welcome 🙂

Have a lovely weekend.

Sarah x

You may also like

Leave a Reply