Never mind the gym! It’s summer. It’s time to create your own home gym and to do it outside! Imagine waking up every morning and watching the sun rise as you warm up for the day. Just twenty minutes and a few exercises in, you’ll feel so much more ready to take on the rest of the day.
Here is everything you need for a backyard home gym. Take these outside, get some fresh air, and get strong.
Tri-Fold Gym Mat
You need a gym mat. It can be a tri-fold gym mat or it can be a yoga mat but exercising and getting sweaty on a patio, deck boards, on pavement, or on grass is uncomfortable and unnecessary. Invest in a tri-fold gym mat.
Fitness Cooling Towel
A cooling towel gets thrown on post-workout. It’ll help dab up all that sweat and take your temperature down, allowing you to transition to the next part of your day. It’ll also give you something to look forward to in the heat.
Adjustable Skipping Rope
A jump rope or fitness skipping rope is the best cardio exercise for outside that money can buy. There are entire fitness jump rope routines online, blending in a variety of forms and exercises to create something that not only gets the blood going but which will get you in shape faster than jogging, running, cycling, or anything else.
Fitness Hula Hoop
Hula hoops aren’t just for kids. A fitness hula hoop routine is another great cardio workout. It’s a way to mix things up when you don’t want to use a jump rope or go for a run and you can even sync it up to a smartphone app.
Gym Ball And Air Pump Set
A gym ball isn’t strong enough to host you for barbell or dumbbell presses, but it’s a fitness accessory that increases the intensity of ab exercises and that you can stand on to do intense squats and the like. Just ensure it’s being put on a stable surface. The grass is an absolute no-go for this.
11-Piece Resistance Band Set
If you don’t have weights to lift, try a resistance band set instead. The perfect way to adjust intensity, get strong, and safely elongate your muscles, resistance bands offer a new set of exercises for every major muscle group.
Make Your Own Weights
If you are focused on lifting heavy weights but you can’t afford plates, get creative. Use jugs of water. Try jugs of sand. Bags of rocks. Different pieces of wood. Consider what heavy materials around the house you can use – safely, of course – to do things like dumbbell curls, tricep extensions, lunges, squats, and more.
Shop all your summer workout essentials in Canada from Living.ca and get suited up for a summertime that you don’t need a gym membership for.
