How to do strengthening exercises at home without breaking the bank?
The recovery of many conditions treated in physiotherapy requires muscle strengthening through weightlifting exercises at home. The principle is simple: To improve the strength of our muscles, we must accustom them to lifting / pushing / pulling a certain load and then gradually increase this load as they get used to it.
For example, if our life situation requires that our arm be able to lift 20 lbs, but at the present stage our arm is only able to lift 1 lb, the solution is to practice with 1 lb, then with 2 lbs, 3 lbs, 5 lbs, 8 lbs, 10 lbs, 15 lbs, to finally arrive at 20 lbs.
For those who are already worried about the possibility of having to spend a fortune on a large collection of dumbbells only to be used during the short period of recovery, do not worry. It is likely that you already have what you need at home to substitute these dumbbells!
Here are some ideas of household items that can act as dumbbell substitute according to the weight you need:
1 lb: A 500mL bottle of water (full).
2 lbs: A 1L milk carton (full), a 750mL bottle of wine (full), a grocery bag containing 6 oranges.
3 lbs: 9 oranges.
4 lbs: 12 oranges.
5 lbs: Replace the oranges with a good old full-sized dictionary, held in a grocery bag. Eat the oranges.
10 lbs: 2 full-sized dictionaries.
15 lbs: Add some books from your library! Sum up their weight with a scale.
20 lbs: All your books. Replace the grocery bag with a backpack or a milk crate.
There you go! Now you have everything you need for frugal bodybuilding!