Sofa Squats and Vacuum Lunges: A Quick Home Workout Guide

ExerciseAt Home

Jun 4

Fitness first. It’s a lifestyle. Make it your routine. What’s your mile pace? How many calories did you burn? The new Lulu drops today! Dude, my glutes are so sore… ugh, could someone please pass the ice cream? If the flash phrases and taught tummies of fitness fanatics send you into a fit of despair once summer rolls around, you are not alone. When the weather finally breaks, dedicated workout nymphs seemingly crawl out from the underground like a brood of 17 year cicada, bringing their already toned and annoyingly already tanned physiques out on display. Having lapped the New Year’s resolution dropouts and the 30-day free trial quitters, they emerge in their matching booty shorts and sports bras, swarming every sidewalk, trail, set of stairs or open mixed-use space, crushing any courage you may have mustered to finally fulfill that promise you made to yourself about getting healthy. But fear not, stay-at-home-bodies. You have options.

Home can be where the health is!

For those who find the mere mention of hitting a gym or running around a track just as appealing as a root canal, you are not necessarily doomed to a long life of listless couch surfing. With today’s technology, there is seemingly an app for everything and the fitness industry is no wallflower in this new world. But even still, many are intimidated by the glowing and gorgeous instructors gesticulating at them from their devices. And beyond the intimidation factor, not everyone has the ability to throw a mortgage payment at the latest piece of cutting-edge equipment. So where does that leave the majority? At home. And as luck would have it, that home is the secret weapon to getting you on your way.

Did you know that you could achieve a tighter tushy by knocking out a few intervals of couch squats while watching World News Tonight a few times a week? We’ve all heard about milk doing a body good if we consume it, but did you know a gallon of the white stuff weighs just over 8 pounds making it the perfect dumbbell? The truth is, you’ve been living in a fitness facility your entire life. Your home is filled with every piece of equipment you need to achieve the ultimate workout and the comfort provided in your own abode gives you the opportunity to take the smallest and simplest baby steps toward attaining your most desired athletic achievements. There is no judgement unless you have a dog and you can safely experiment and do what leaves you feeling good and maybe even a little sore. Instead of making yourself feel bad about missing the latest HIIT, bootcamp, yoga pretzled mash-up of the latest fitness craze, grab a broom, engage that core and start sweeping the garage. Because the only thing better than getting in a good workout is the opportunity to burn calories whilst acquiring clean floors. Now those are some serious fitness goals.

5 At Home Exercises

1. Cardio

Ever walk up a flight of stairs and find yourself breathless at the top? Good. That’s cardio. Start by walking, jogging, or doing any combo of the two up and down your favorite stairwell to get your heart rate up. This is a good way to get the body warmed up and primed for any lifting that may follow. Plus the gift it gives to your heart and head health is like feeding your belly a slice of cake. Its that delicious.

2. Glutes (basic squat)

Find a chair or couch that faces something you’d like to look at for 15 minutes. A sunset, the tv, a handsome neighbor mowing the lawn… stand in front of that seat placing your feet hip’s width distance apart with feet slightly facing out. Place your hands on your hips, straight out in front of you or overhead. Stare straight in front of you, relax your neck and shoulders back and down. Shift your weight back into your heels and slowly lower straight down keeping your hips square and upper body upright. As you lower, track your knees over your toes and continue to lower until your bottom taps the seat or comes close (if you feel it in your lower back you’ve gone too far). Engage your glutes and push through your heels to come up.

3. Upper Body Strength

Grab something of weight that you can handle but might find a bit challenging if you had to hold it for too long. A full laundry basket, two jugs of milk, two backpacks with a few books or canned goods in them to add heft. Place the weight of choice in front of you and assume a squat position. Firmly grab the item with the weight evenly distributed in both hands and use your legs to power up and lift the object off the floor. Relax the shoulders, engage the core and curl the item up towards your shoulders. Press item overhead for a full extension for an overhead press. Slowly lower the item back down the same way you came up. If your arms are jello when finished, fold the laundry tomorrow.

4. Legs

Grab your vacuum and pick a room. Start at one corner and take a large step forward pushing the vacuum ahead of you keeping the core engaged and upper torso upright. Make sure forward stepping knee tracks over the ankle and back knee hovers over the floor creating L shapes with each leg. Alternate legs for next step. Work your way across the room then turn around and switch directions. Repeat until entire floor is clean. If you wisely chose the kitchen, end at the pantry and reward yourself with one potato chip.

5. Core

It’s so much more than a 6-pack. To engage the muscles that wrap all the way around your middle and include your stomach, lower back and hips, clean something big like your car. Every motion of hovering, leaning, washing and drying your vehicle will activate this incredibly important group of support mechanisms. Just be sure to keep your attention to these areas turned on so as not to overextend and injure yourself. This is a great exercise to do every day so apply it to other areas of the home like bathtubs, dressers, etc. Keep it sassy by setting it to your favorite tunes. You’re only 3 songs a day away from a fit and fabulous middle.

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Lyndsay Camins

Lyndsay Camins is a freelance writer based in sunny Southern California. Mother to two humans and one furball, she is an avid cook, complete workout-aholic, and self-described arm candy to her equal parts loving and patient husband. A former force in the fashion industry, Lyndsay switched gears in her middle life to pursue a career in writing so that her 3am notebook scribbles might have an opportunity to be shared with the world. She will write for anyone, anywhere, at anytime for the sake and true love of the written word.