The Secret to a Perfect At-Home Workout Is In Your Kitchen Pantry
Just because gyms are closed and your favorite workout classes are no longer available (at least in person), that doesn't mean you have to skip working out during your time at home. In fact, it's easy to workout simply using some of those items in your pantry! From canned goods to bottles of wine, you can get a serious at-home workout. And who needs a kettle ball when your Kitchen Aid is just as heavy?
Why you should keep moving your body at home
Whether you realize it or not, there is a huge connection between our emotional being and our physical one. I have found that the gift of the physical body is that with a little bit of intentional movement, it can actually change your mood, spirit, and even your outlook no matter what's going on around you.
It can bring a sense of empowerment and control over a situation that isn't keen on bringing answers to our frustrations and confusion anytime soon. Not to mention all the great chemicals that are released with exercise—like good ol' endorphins, serotonin and dopamine. These chemicals help regulate mood and have proven to have positive effects on everyday life as well as our sleep and eating habits. So whether its 10 minutes on your kitchen floor or a walk with your family; move that body of yours. We only get one!
So if you find yourself without any workout equipment, but are itching to move your body, here are a few easy at-home workout moves I developed using some pantry goods and kitchen appliances. Get ready to sweat!
Plank Pull Through
This movement requires anything from a can of oats to a bottle of wine. With your palms under shoulders and heels pointed up to the ceiling, find your high plank position and pull the oats across the midline using the opposite hand. Use your belly button as the checkpoint for pulling the can across. This movement can be done anywhere and increases your stability as well as builds that lean muscle through your abdominals.
Skillet Oblique Twist
Using your cast iron or favorite skillet, take a seat and pull your navel in towards your spine. Slightly lean back taking your shoulders and trunk behind your hips while staying lifted. As you hold the skillet to your chest, twist your upper body to try and send your elbows to either side. The more angled you are, the most intense this exercise is! Leave heels on the floor until you advance in this exercise!
Butterfly Sit Up and Stack
This one can be done with the whole family and is a fan favorite for children. In a line, take your smallest cans and place them behind your head. Bring your feet together and let the knees fall open in a butterfly position. Take the spine to the floor. extend your arms behind your head and grab a can with both hands. Use the momentum and your core to sit up with control and begin making a can pyramid in front of you. The more cans, the more sit-ups!
Low Rise to Reverse Fly
Using medium-sized cans (picture shows apple sauce and tomato can), take your hips behind you and hinge creating a crease in your hips. Your weight should be in the heels, belly button pulled to spine. Hold that position and extend your arms straight down from your shoulders. Pull the elbows up towards the ceiling and slowly extend it back down. With a slight bend at the elbows, take the arms out to the side while pinching your shoulder blades together. All the while holding that hinge position!
Kitchen Aid Goblet Squat
Although this picture does, in fact, show a Kitchen Aid, the "heavy object" does not need to be that specific; it made for a hilarious picture. A jug of milk or blender would work just fine. Hold the object at your chest and pull the shoulder blades down and back. Keep the core tight and have the feet about hip-width apart, toes pointed forward. Take the hips behind you like you're trying to sit in a chair, knees in line with the second toe. Watch for the chest wanting to drop, stand back up and squeeze that booty forward!
Great job! For even more ways to move your body, I post lots of workout tips over on Instagram. Or even get your own personal at-home workout sesh with me in my one-on-one personal training! And yes, you can obviously do some of these moves with those same pantry items.
