You’ve been working hard to keep your body on the up-and-up and have put in the time and dedication to exercise regularly. While you may not always have enough hours in the day to hit that amazing spin class or spend your evening in the gym, that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve the same fitness results in the comfort of your own home. Here are 10 tools to have for sculpting your bod at home.
1. An Exercise Ball
An exercise or stability ball is essential for doing many home workouts that sculpt your body like no other! Good for more than just your core, exercise balls can be used for full body exercises, some of which include tricep dips, lower ab crunches, shoulder curls and side squats. Plus, they can double as a posture-friendly office chair to keep you standing tall and feeling your best.
2. A Yoga Mat
Even if you’re not planning on doing yoga at home, having a yoga mat is essential to getting a good aerobic exercise in your living room. Adding that perfect bit of padding for your crunches, pushups and stretches, a yoga mat will have you appreciating your in-house workouts that much more.
3. A Heart Rate Monitor
A heart rate monitor you can wear on your wrist, like this one by Polar, will help you to determine when you’re in the best zone for sculpting your bod.
4. Dumbbells
Lifting weights isn’t only for the gym, ladies! Grab dumbbells in your preferred weight and implement them into your at-home aerobic exercises to make your routine more effective and strengthening.
5. Good Headphones
Good quality headphones like Bose SoundTrue In-Ear Headphones can make all the difference when it comes to motivating you to sculpt your body in the comfort of your own home. Particularly if you’re not wanting to disturb others in your home, make sure you have the right equipment to enjoy some motivational tunes—iPhone headphones will always do the trick too!
6. A Resistance Band
With dozens and dozens of at-home exercises available to you with the simple use of a resistance band, you’d be crazy not to have one! Pick up a band like the Aylio 3-Loop Fitness Band and open up a whole new set of exercises.
7. Workout DVDs
Unsure of where to start? Get yourself a set of workout DVDs like Body Revolution and leave the workout planning to the professionals.
8. Comfortable Workout Shoes
Don’t forget your shoes even when you’re working out at home. Make sure you have some comfortable, lightweight (and clean) workout shoes to dedicate to your home workouts, like Nike’s Flex Trainers.
9. A Skipping Rope
Figure eights, step touches or single jumps—there are plenty of exercises you can bring into your home with a simple purchase that will take you back to your childhood: a skipping rope!
10. A Foam Roller
Give your muscles a break after you give them an at-home workout! Though you might not think you need it, a foam roller can make all the difference when it comes to looking and feeling your best.
Once you have the top tools for working out at home, you might just find that you’re able to appreciate your living room workouts just as much as your in-gym exercises—or maybe even more!
