Although there are tons of ways to exercise using nothing but your body weight, adding weight expands what’s possible and can make your workouts more fun and effective.
Unfortunately, if you don’t already have some extra equipment at home you may be without it for some time. Dumbbells and kettlebells are selling out nearly as fast as toilet paper. Even if you are able to order equipment online, you’ll probably have to wait longer than usual for it to arrive.
Read more: 6 cheap things you need to build a great home gym
In the meantime, you can convert common household objects into exercise equipment so you can add additional resistance to staple bodyweight movements.
However, I don’t recommend using just anything. I’ve seen a lot of ridiculous-looking and ineffective exercises floating around the internet lately. Only a few things are really worth your time. You want to choose an item that is heavy enough to provide real resistance, and also to use that item for appropriate exercises.
Backpack
You can fill a backpack with heavy items like cans or textbooks to create a sort of makeshift sandbag. A long backpack like the one I’m using in these videos works best. If you’re holding the bag in your hands, try to actively pull the bag apart sideways throughout the entire rep. This helps engage your back muscles and core and can increase the difficulty of the exercise
You can also hold the bag in the pits of your elbows (the zercher position) to load squats and single leg movements. As a third option, wear the backpack so it acts as a weighted vest for pushups or pullups.
Towels
If you have hardwood floors, you can use towels as makeshift sliders to help you add resistance to lots of exercises. My favorite towel exercise is the leg curl, which allows you to hammer your hamstrings and glutes (some of the hardest areas to hit without any equipment.)
Bucket
Fill a large bucket with heavy items for a homemade weight that functions a little bit like a kettlebell. You’ll only be able to use this for certain exercises where you’re holding a weight beneath you in your hand, such as single arm carries or the contralateral single leg deadlifts shown here.
Pillow
I’ve been experimenting with using a pillow instead of a medicine ball for upper body power exercises. This won’t work with fancy down pillows, but it seems to work well with old, bulky pillows. Use your best judgement with these and don’t piss off your downstairs neighbors!
Laundry detergent or gallon jugs
Got a moderate-weight item with a handle? Use it for arm and shoulder exercises. You may need to experiment with different weight and rep schemes to find what works best for your current ability levels.
Hopefully these suggestions give you some ideas for effective ways to load exercises at home. Remember that you can get a lot out of an exercise without ever adding weight, so there’s no need to try to squat your dog or do ten thousand shoulder raises with a soup can.
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