The Baked-Bean Tin Workout and Other Cheap Ways to Get Fit at Home

Baked-bean plank
Planking is a fast route to a flat stomach, "but adding in a move with a tin of beans or similar will work the oblique and transverse muscles down the side of your abdomen", says Rob Jones, a personal trainer.
Lie face down on the floor, hands beneath your shoulders and toes tucked under. Have a tin of beans ready next to your right hand. Push up into a press-up position, then lift your left hand off the floor, reach round and grab the beans, and drag them across to the left to where you'll soon put your left hand back down. Place the hand back on the floor next to the beans, then repeat by lifting the right hand off the floor and dragging the beans back over.
Keep going for as long as you can and hold the plank with your body in a straight line and your head in line with your spine, looking at the floor.
Stair stretch

Lie on your back in front of some stairs (preferably with a mat beneath you for comfort). With arms by your side, palms facing down, place your toes on the first or second step with your knees bent. Lift your hips into the air and simultaneously raise your right foot off the step and kick your heel up towards the ceiling. Place the right foot back down. Keeping your hips in the air, repeat with the left leg. Keep your hips level throughout and try to get a rhythm going.
Do as many as you can in 30 seconds and aim to build up to more.
Broom twist

Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding the broom out horizontally in front of you with your hands wider than your shoulders. Lift it over your head so it is directly above your shoulders. Engage your abdominal muscles and, ensuring you have enough space around you, start to twist from side to side. Make sure you keep breathing and pulling your abdominals in. Twist for 30 seconds, rest and repeat.
Tin-can deadlift

Grab two tins of baked beans or something similar and hold one in each hand, end to end. Stand with feet wide apart, toes pointing slightly outward, then bend your knees down into a deep squat (like a sumo wrestler). Keep your knees over your toes, your weight over your heels and your back straight. Bring the tins close to the floor in between your legs while maintaining a straight back. As you drive back up to stand, lift the tins up to beneath your chin by lifting the elbows up and out to be level with your ears. Do as many deadlifts as you can in 30 seconds, rest, then try once more.
Sofa push-up

"Placing your hands closer together will put more emphasis on your triceps," says Rob. "And placing your feet even higher, on the arm of the sofa, will start to work the shoulders and upper part of the chest."
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