I’m the aboriginal to accept that there are assertive times of the year back I affliction added about alive out—say, afore a leisure time that requires my continued acknowledgment in a bikini, or during holidays that activate with feasting and end with my accepting to attending hot in a tiny little dress. This year, both of these hit at the aforementioned time for me, so I absolutely got to cerebration about means to get a little added blast for my gym time—without accepting to feel awkward abyssal the weight room.Luckily, there are a ton of multipurpose, easy-to-use gym accessories to accept from. From BOSU assurance to cream rollers, I searched out artistic means to blade my abs (and aggregate else) by leisure time time.
BOSU Balance Trainer
Pronounced bo-sue, this half ball has become a staple in weight rooms and home gyms. For good reason, too—it can be used in enough ways to provide a full-body toning workout and a cardio session. According to the official BOSU Web site, the odd name refers to “both sides utilized,” since you can use the BOSU with the ball side either up or down to mix up your routine. The versatile tool lets people perform balance, strength, and power exercises together, says Chad Johnston, a Los Angeles-based personal trainer. In fact, when I bought one of these at a local sports equipment store, it came with a DVD of cardio and strengthening exercises. Potential cardio moves range from doing jumping lunges on top of or side to side on the ball; for balance, try doing the usual dumbbell curls while balancing on top. Feel easy? Flip the ball over so the round side is on the ground, and balance on that. “This really engages the core during what would normally be a single-muscle exercise,” says Johnston. For more creative BOSU moves, look online.
Body Bar
If you’ve been to a gym in the past five years, you’ve probably seen a pile of body bars in the corner of the weight room. “I work out at home with the Body Bar, and I really like the fact that they don’t take much room to store,” says Marilyn Kroner, the principal media representative for the company. The steel fitness bars are covered in easy-to-grip rubber, vary in weight from three to thirty-six pounds, and can work out just about every muscle group. For a lower-body challenge, try resting the bar on your shoulders, parallel to the floor, while doing lunges. Or use it like a big barbell for bicep curls and tricep skull-crushers, or hold it in the air while doing crunches. The Body Bar company recently made downloadable workouts for every muscle group—arms, abs, back, legs, and chest—available on its Web site.
