Unless youโre a trainer or professional athlete, you probably have difficulty finding time to work out in the course of a day. This goes double if the home or apartment building in which you live doesnโt have an attached gym โ youโll need to travel to a gym to work out. Even if your building has a gym, you may find that it’s a better call to use a gym outside of your building; some amenities arenโt worth paying extra for!
Fortunately, you can get a good workout, or even just a good stretch, in your apartment. There are many different exercises you can do with no equipment whatsoever (hereย and here are especially good โ but challenging! โ lists). With a little bit of equipment you can do a full regime of stretching, training and cool-down. Weโve put together a short list of relatively inexpensive items that will help you make the most of your time and your small space.
NOTE: Check with your doctor before starting an exercise regimen. We donโt want you to get hurt!
(1) Foamroller โ a foamroller is a rigid foam cylinder about six inches in diameter and one to three feet long. Foamrollers come in varying colors and rigidity levels.
There are three main things for which you can use foamrollers: muscle release, stability training and strength training. In our opinion, though, the best use is to give yourself a fantastic self-massage. It’ll work out knots and tame muscle pain like no other. There are lots of videos on how to use them. If you havenโt tried one out, do so โ itโs magical.
(2) Yoga mat (or other exercise mat) โ if you have hardwood floors, youโll definitely want something soft on which to lie while youโre stretching or doing floor-based exercises. Even if you have carpeted floors, youโll want the grip that a yoga mat provides. Of course, if youโre planning to do yoga, this kind of settles itself.
(3) A way to stream on-demand videos to your television โ if you donโt have an exercise regimen the Internet will have one (or a gazillion), likely for free or very cheap. A Roku, Chromecast or other device will let you view those videos (or your shows that you DVRโd) without requiring you to awkwardly prop your computer or tablet up on a table.
(4) Resistance bands โ great for stretching and for resistance training, these bands come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and resistance levels. You can even put together a pretty intense workout just using these bands. But theyโre also really useful for stretching muscles, in particular your lats, which can become extremely tense after sitting in a desk chair at your office.
(5) Exercise ball โ obviously useful for yoga, but also really good for stretching and forย different kinds of strength training exercises. Try doing a pushup with your hands on the inflated ball โ youโll see what we mean. Not only that, but you can use a yoga ball in lieu of a chair when youโre working or reading. Itโll force you to maintain core stability and sit up straight.
Have any other suggestions? Let us know! Weโll share the good ones on our Facebook page.
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Celebrate your workout by going to one of NYCโs amazing food fairs.
Or maybe you just want to have an awesome donut. We’ve got New York’s best right here.