Smart Ways To Build Muscle Using Household Items

Are you interested in packing on some muscles right in the comfort of your house, without the need to spend a lot of money on a gym membership or buying weight machines or free weights? That is what this article is about. You can build muscle and become fit with the items you already have at home – no need to buy anything.

For starters, I would advise that you get some dumbbells; they are quite affordable if you buy used sets. However, you don’t have to buy them if you have no money to spend; there are household items that you can use as a good replacement for a pair of weights. For example containers of different volumes (1, 2, 3, 4, 10 and even 20 litres) filled with water can be used as a replacement – remember 1 litre of water is approximately equal to 1 kilogram.

Another option you have for building muscle is using your bodyweight as the resistance. I am sure you already know about a few common exercises that are used for muscle growth, examples are: squats, pull-ups, chin-ups, press-ups and squats. These are known as bodyweight exercises because they require no equipment.

Another very effective bodyweight exercise is the triceps dips. You do this exercise with one or two chairs/bench depending on the variation you are doing. When using one bench, sit on the edge and place your palms behind you on the bench, then lift your body with your arms and lower your body towards the ground and then raise it up again – repeat continuously.

You can use your bottles or Jerry-cans as dumbbells and do it the same way you do triceps presses and biceps curls. These items can also be use to work out your shoulders by lifting two of them to your shoulder level, and then returning them back slowly. You can do 8 – 10 repetitions of 12 sets.
Ensure you are lifting items (bottles or Jerry-cans filled with water) that are heavy enough.

When it comes to press-ups, a lot of people usually get disheartened when they realise they can’t even do up to ten repetition when they first start. 

If you have been living a sedentary lifestyle for too long, it would be difficult. However, the good thing is that you would build up strength gradually and finally be able to do even more than 10 reps.

Doing crunches is an easy and equipment free method of building your abdominal strength and muscles. It entails lying on the floor, then you bend your knees and put your hands at the back of your neck and use your stomach muscles to lift your torso midway up, then you lower your torso slowly back down.

Have your heard of the reverse crunches? This exercise helps to work out the lower part of your abdominal muscles. To perform this exercise, lie on the ground, raise your legs up till it makes 90 degrees with the floor, and then use your stomach muscles to move your legs to your head... then gradually lower your legs.

Pull-ups and chin-ups are two exercises that require either a bar or support. These exercises are popular in fitness programs and gyms because they are very effective in helping a person pack on muscle. In the beginning you may not even be able to do 5 repetitions at a go; however you would gradually build strength and be able to a lot more than what you started with.

Although it might look like you have to go to a standard gym to build muscle and stay fit, however the fact is that you can pack on considerable muscle mass without having to buy expensive weight machines or paying for expensive gym membership.