For the time being, gyms are closed (though that may be changing soon in some states, possibly too soon). Either way, millions of people around the world have had to adapt to their surroundings by using whatever they have lying around to make a home workout a little harder. My roommates and I are no different, but thankfully have found several tools that have been so useful that we're reconsidering even needing a gym membership. The total cost of everything in this article is under $100, and I've honestly been getting some of my best workouts in a long time thanks to these tools.
1. Exercise band
This thing has been FANTASTIC. There are two main types of exercise bands that people use to workout (one is shorter and used mainly for smaller movements, the other, which we bought, is longer and can be used for a ton of different arm/leg/core exercises). There are different levels of difficulty that you can buy (we got the "heavy" resistance level and it is NO joke), but you can always choke up or down on the band to increase or decrease the resistance level. This is the exact one we use at home, $18+shipping: https://www.spri.com/products/the-original-xertube?variant=34523624848
2. Exercise ball
Another game-changer for at-home workouts. This can double as a flat weight bench if you want it to, a way to practice balance, or there's about a thousand ab exercises that you can do with it. I love this thing and use it everyday. We got ours on eBay, but this one from Amazon is $16, and there are similar options for almost the same price: https://www.amazon.com/Exercise-Ball-Professional-Anti-Burst-Stability/dp/B07PF1NV8D?ref_=s9_apbd_orecs_hd_bw_bEIYT&pf_rd_r=SNPCM1CJ4MEFEBQZWJTQ&pf_rd_p=fa317afa-0b84-5d10-90dd-a4eec1fd3e93&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-10&pf_rd_t=BROWSE&pf_rd_i=3407921
3. Blood-flow restriction bands
These are a little more unknown than the first two options. I heard about them from a famous fitness guru who's been using them for years, and he swears by them as a way to mimic a much longer, harder workout than what you actually did. There are two different sizes (one pair for the arms, one pair for the thighs; my roommates and I just bought the ones for them arms), but the premise is pretty simple: the bands decrease blood flow to your arms, meaning that your muscles believe they are in a more-fatigued state than they're really in, which accelerates muscle growth faster than a normal workout. The product page explains the science much better than I can, but these have been incredible for bumping workouts up another level. $37 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07613TPVL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Movement is one of the best things we can do for ourselves while we're cooped up for extended periods of time. By adding even one of these tools, I hope that your workouts will become even a tiny bit tougher, which means you'll be a little stronger the next day. Who knows, maybe you'll end up cancelling your gym membership too.
"A Single Seed" is my attempt to get out one idea every day that I've learned or accumulated over the years, with the hope that it may stick in someone else's memory bank as well. The idea may be related to fitness, business, life, or philosophy, but I think you'll find that many can change domains if you wish them to. With each seed planted, a new life awaits.
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/christos-pontikis/23898625111
