When you’re working out at home, and you don’t have money for a home gym equipment, you’re basically just looking for anything with some weight. If you really think about it, there is heavy stuff all around that you can work out with if you want to.

Some items you can just pick up and lift. Others may require a little DIY to make into something you can use. Here is a list of some things you may have at your house or nearby that you can use:

1. 5-Gallon Jugs

The big 5-gallon water bottles for water coolers work best. Many of these have handles too. They weigh in at 40 lbs when full, so, definitely a substantial amount of weight. The size of them makes them impractical for a lot of upper body exercises, but deadlifts, rows, and sumo squats are some of the many options you have. You can even strap two together and do narrow parallel grip bench presses!

2. Gallon Jugs

When filled with water these are 8 lbs each. They can also be filled with water, sand, rocks, or whatever you have. They can be used as makeshift dumbbells. If using rocks or some other non-uniform filler, be sure to weight them to track what you are lifting.

3. Buckets

For buckets, the bigger, the heavier it can be. You can use a pole for a handle and secure a bucket to each end. Or you can lift the buckets by the handle for independent movement on each side.

4. Grocery Bags

The strappy reusable ones made of cloth. These are very strong and can be loaded with books or cans etc. Very versatile and can be used to perform a ton of exercises from curls and dumbbell presses to straight legged deadlifts and Clean and Presses.

5. Backpack

This is a good option if you want to walk or run with added resistance. Or, if you want to do squats etc.
Simply fill the backpack with books, or water bottles, or weights(!) And go. It is strapped to your torso.

6. Suitcases

Suitcases are great because they have handles! They are also designed to carry quite a bit of weight. Fill with books, clothes, basketballs, cans of beans, 100lb dumbbells etc.

7. Fillers

• Water – best for sealed containers due to the sloshing. Although, if you fill buckets with water and lift them in the living room, there’s an incentive for slow, controlled repetitions!
• Rocks – denser than water so will allow for added weight. Small, driveway pebbles will work the best. Less empty space in your containers, more weight.
• Sand – also more dense than water. Many entry-level plastic weights are filled with this.
• Trinkets – matchbox cars, marbles, be creative.
• Cans Of Food – canned groceries are heavy too. Use cans of corned beef or green beans to get beefy!
• Books – Dictionaries, Bible’s, hymnals. Any good sized book will work. Stacks of newspapers are also very heavy.
• Olympic Gold Medals – how many do you have laying around? Well, they’re pretty heavy too I’ve heard.

 

8. Chains

Chains are very heavy and the weight adds up fast. One great idea with chains is to hook the end of two chains to the end of a bar with the chains hanging partially on the floor. When you lift it up, more of the chain comes off the floor – making it progressively heavier as you move into the stronger range of the movements (i.e. the end of the motion)!

9. Rope

Very thick, heavy rope can be used in the same manner as chains. You can also do rope whips. This is something of a trendy exercise that is in fact a very effective and very strenuous exercise.

10. Homemade Equipment

I have seen guys use cinder blocks, buckets of rocks, on the ends of a barbell or broom handle. Some PVC pipe and 2-gallon jugs of sand… you get the idea.

11. Bags of Dog Food/Bird Seed/Kitty Litter

Dog/Cat food is available in 50 lb bags. If you’re a pet owner, start buying in bulk. You can carry these up stairs, or lift them overhead. Do squats, Calf raises etc. Sit down, rest a back on your feet and burn out with leg extensions.

12. Mulch/Soil

Outdoor products are also sold in large bags. Mulch and soil are some examples. If you are into gardening, maybe you’ll have some of these laying around.

Put them on your shoulders and do squats. You can hold one of them in front of you and do front squats. Front raises for the shoulders.

13. Logs/Wood

Grab a big log and you can do many of the same exercises that you can do with a barbell. The beauty of using logs is the great variance in weight. If you need more weight, grab a heavier log!

If you have stacks of unused planks of wood, you can strap them into bundles. Make handles of rope or cloth and tape.

14. Tires

This is another great tool that a lot of people will have laying around in a garage, or basement, even in the front yard! Tires are heavy and they can take a beating. You can tie a rope to it, sling it over a tree branch or swing set and have a makeshift pushdown/pulldown machine. You can drop them, throw them. They have other uses too. I used to use one to anchor my heavy bag in my basement.

If you have a really huge tire, like from a tractor or something, you can do tire flips.

If you have 2 wheels with tires on them, they can be used to make a very heavy (100 lb+) barbell if you have a pipe or bar strong enough to hold them.

15. Cinder Blocks

These weigh around 30 lbs each and have the advantage of having holes. This allows them to slide right on to a bar or a wooden handle. Or you can make handles out of rope or tape. Two of these and you have a respectable amount of resistance.

16. Bodyweight

There are a ton of bodyweight-only exercises that will rival any workout you can get in the gym. Besides your basic pushups and squats, there are Chinese (handstand) pushups, toe Touches, floor flyes, yoga… there’s a lot out there.

Here are some ideas for lower body exercises you can do at home with just your bodyweight.

17. Your Kids

May as well get some benefit from having them, right?! Put your Ninos on your shoulders and squat away! Or climb a hill. Have them lay on your back while you do push-ups. Push-presses are another example. Just like Milo, who carried a calf through to maturity and became incredibly strong, as your kids grow, so do your muscles!

*Bonus* Kids are the only mention on this list which can also hold on to you! They will love it too!

18. Furniture

This topic really deserves it’s own article. Especially concerning the large number of exercises that can be performed using a chair, two chairs, or a sofa. There are a ton of options.

You can pick up one end of the sofa. Then do Deadlifts, or overhead presses, or curls. Many mattresses have handles on the side. Press them overhead. Do upright rows, or power cleans! Chairs can be used for dips, elevated pushups. You can use beds, dressers, sofas etc to anchor your feet for performing sit-ups.

19. Furniture (With People On)

You can have your significant other, or roommate, or friend sit on the sofa when you lift it! Just be careful! The heavier the person, the more weight you’re lifting! A bench can be used in this way too.

20. Carpet

Rolled up carpet is almost perfect for working out with. If it is a large carpet you can lift it from one end, and leave the other end anchored on the floor. Or, if it is smaller, you can hold the whole thing like a barbell. Rest it on your shoulders and squat. You can even press it overhead, this calls the stabilizer muscles into play significantly.

21. Bowling Balls

Definitely, a significant source of resistance, if you happen to be a current or former bowler. If you have two of them with carrying bags that would be perfect for a lot of exercises.

22. Lawnmowers

Using a push mower is a good workout. Especially pushing it up a hill. Also, a riding mower in neutral is also a fairly heavy thing to push. I should need to say be careful. And be sure it’s not running. If you want to lift it you can squat in front of the handle and with both hands lift the lawnmower’s back wheels off the ground in repetition.

23. Car

Throw it in neutral and push your car down your driveway. Be careful with the hills, you don’t want to run yourself over or lose control of it and have it hit someone or something. This is a great way to build raw, explosive strength. If you’re a strongman or a cyborg, feel free to lift the front end!

24. Auto Parts

There are lots of heavy parts in a car. If you like to tinker on your vehicles, you may have some parts laying around. A couple of brake rotors welded to a metal bar would make an awesome homemade barbell!

25. Wheelbarrow

Wheelbarrowing loads of dirt, sand, compost etc is a great workout! It will work your traps and shoulders, upper arms, forearms, core, back, and legs! Seriously, if you just wheelbarrowed loads around daily you could be extremely diesel.

26. Trailer

Have you ever manually hooked a trailer onto a tow hitch and thought, “that’s heavy!”? Well, that trailer is a heavyweight you can lift. Of course, take your limits into consideration and be very careful!

27. Metal or Concrete

Depending on where you live and what you or your family do for a living, you may have some scrap metal, old pipes or blocks of concrete. Maybe you like to hoard gold and silver… those are very heavy, and dense. Boxes or cases of ammo are very heavy too. Got an old anchor in the shed?

28. Junk

Do you have an old plow, engine, sewing machine, wooden chest…? Maybe that old shelving unit or tool case? Perhaps you have a safe. Any kind of junk with some weight to it can be used, as long as you can lift it safely. There may be things at work that they are getting rid of that you can use. Keep your eyes open.

29. Sandbags

If you are like me and live in a coastal area, or other flood zones, you may well need to keep sandbags around for when the water creeps up. On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, we need to put sandbags in front of our garage and door step almost every time it rains!

These are very handy for working out. The neck, where the bag is tied is great for a handle, and they weight at least 20 lbs each. You can do kettlebell swings, lateral raises, curls

30. Outdoor Playground Equipment

If your kids have a playground area in your yard or neighborhood, there is a potential gym there. Especially monkey bars or a swing set. Pullups, dips, pistol squats, sissy squats, tons of an exercises. All these and more can be performed depending on the actual equipment present.

31. Buildings

While you may not quite be up to lifting the whole building,  alternatively you can just push against it real hard. This counts as isometrics and static contraction training. You can use a wall for resistance, or for stability in stretches or wall sits.

Also “Chinese” push ups are great for your shoulders and arms. These are performed in a handstand position, with your legs leaning against the wall for balance (unless you can balance in a handstand unassisted, in which case, kudos).

In Summary

Ok, so a lot of these examples kind of carry over into each other, and that’s okay. I just wanted to illustrate the numerous possibilities for things to lift for exercise.

There’s a lot of great ideas here for anyone who wants to buff up, but is not in a position to go to a gym or buy expensive equipment. Ideally, they will be able to save a dollar or two a week, and eventually buy a basic weight set. But until then, they can pump cinder blocks and buckets filled with canned green beans and gallon jugs of sand.

The point is, where there’s a will, there’s a way. So get in your pantry or garage, and find something heavy to lift!