Can't get your family to the gym? Then bring the gym home. We asked Nashville mom and fitness coordinator Elizabeth Petree for her ideas on ways to stay fit using "equipment" from around the house.
| What to Use |
How to Use It |
How You Benefit |
| Instead of weights: plastic jugs with handles, partially filled with sand |
Lift them from the ground, away from your sides, overhead, and out in front of you. Careful -- don't drop them on your toes! |
Great for strengthening young chests, arms, and shoulders |
| Instead of a step device: the bottom step of the stairs |
Use it like step exercising equipment, stepping up and down, leading with one foot. Bottom step only! |
Works kids' leg muscles and cardiovascular systems |
| Instead of an exercise video: a favorite music CD |
Shake those booties to songs that last 3 to 4 minutes; encourage crazy moves that get kids twisting, bending, jumping, and lunging |
Another fun way to exercise young hearts and legs |
| Instead of resistance bands: an old pair of panty hose |
Step on the waistband, pull on the panty hose legs, and watch the panty hose stretch and stretch |
Strengthens biceps, triceps, and shoulders |
