There’s plenty of non-negotiable life admin that doesn’t care how many candles are on your birthday cakes. Whether it’s brushing your teeth, eating your broccoli, or getting a quality night’s sleep, if you want to be in the life game for the long haul, you’ve got to tick these boxes. Exercising is no exception, but it’s not always easy to get enough of. Whether it’s bad weather or movement restrictions, having a few choice pieces of workout equipment at home will keep both body and mind in optimum health. Trouble is, a lot of training equipment can be dangerous. Yep, we’re talking to you weight plates and toe crushing dumbbells. They’re not the kind of things that the unexperienced or younger generations can have fun with unsupervised. Fortunately, there are a few items of home workout gear that everyone in the family can enjoy. Keep reading how to gear up a gym in your garage that’ll make fitness fun for young and old.
Sandbells
Sandbells are a soft neoprene bag filled with sand. They’re floppy and have an off-center mass so your body has to work significantly harder to stabilize the weights when you perform the repetitions. They’re fun to throw to one another and don’t hurt if even the heaviest one lands on your foot. Let the games begin.
Swiss Balls
Stick a big colorful blow-up ball in a room and nobody can resist having a little play with it. It’s for this reason that every Swiss ball comes with a fun factor of 100 out of 100. They’re also a super powerful training aid that offers an unstable platform that’ll challenge your core in a variety of creative ways. The only danger they present is if you bounce it too close to mum’s favorite porcelain vase. Ball games at their best.
Resistance Bands
The resistance band is light, inexpensive, and can easily be inconspicuously stored away from anyone who hasn’t learned about their ferocious bounce-back-ability. Okay, so they do have a small risk if you have a super young family member who pulls it, but the stretch (and impending accident thereafter) will only be proportionate to their strength. For the most part, everyone can enjoy these, and they can be taken anyway to train outside while getting a full body workout.
Suspension Trainer
These are crafted on the same principles as the Olympic rings. They use the weight and position of a person’s own body to create the resistance needed to build muscle and strength. They’re also an excellent fat burner because they let you push out high reps. Most of all, they’re super fun for everyone to use and even create a little swing if you’re inclined to set it up for the little ones.
Bas Rutten is a legend in mixed martial arts and his training system is the only cardio you would ever want to do. It will never end up like the treadmill gathering dust in your spare room. This system is the closest thing to a real sparring partner and an all-in-one device that’ll teach you how to throw every punch, kick and block you could ever hope to execute. It’s the futures version of the outdated boxing bag that can be customized for a person of any age and height. Most of all it’s got the highest fun factor of any product on this list.
Yoga Mat
Unless you have a shaggy rug, which you’d probably not want to train on anyway, nobody likes getting down on the floor. It feels like insult to your evolution. Yoga mats cushion the blow and encourage you to get low for moves like the plank and sit-ups. Yoga pants are not necessary to use them.
Craft a set up like this and you’ll give yourself and your family a lifelong gift that will not only get everyone fit but also create a positive and fun relationship with fitness. Remember, your little ones will never do what you tell them, they’ll only copy what you do.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.
