Apr059 Exercises You Can Do With Your Sofa
Investing in a home gym can be one of the greatest investments of your life (besides going to H4, of course). Having equipment to train with at home can come in handy: maybe you miss a workout with your trainer, the weather keeps you locked in, or the apocalypse is brewing outside your house – there is value in having a home gym.
With that said, sometimes you don’t have the time, money, or space; so what is a person to do? The answer: get creative.
Using your own body weight and household items and furniture, you can get a great workout in, perhaps even better than if you went to the gym. In this post, we will go over a list of great exercises that you can do with just your sofa.
Try these moves the next time you’re feeling too lazy to leave your sofa! The video shows the workout, and the description of each exercise is written below.
Seated Squat Jump
No workout would be complete without squats, right? This takes the basic squat and adds a new level of difficulty to it by adding a plyometric jump at the end. If that’s too easy you can make the it harder by filling a backpack with books, canned goods, small animals, and children (I’m joking about those last two). You can also make it easier by taking out the jump, but still exploding through the feet to the top.
Bulgarian Split Squat
This is a great single leg exercise that we covered not too long ago in another post, but it deserves to be mentioned again. It’s a great way to strengthen the lower body without adding too much load, but if you need to, add some weight in the same way that you did for the squat, or add a pulse to each rep.
Single Leg Glute Bridge
This is another exercise that we’ve covered in a recent post, but it’s such a phenomenal exercise to target those buns that we want to give it the spotlight again. It’s also a great way to add hip extension into a body weight workout (which is often lacking in body weight training). You can do this with the shoulders elevated, or with the foot elevated.
Glute Ham Raise
The glute ham raise, otherwise known as the Nordic curl, is a great body weight exercise that is super challenging, so you shouldn’t outgrow this one. In the video I have my feet underneath a sofa, but you can also enlist the help of a willing partner to hold your feet down. Keep the glutes squeezed and don’t let your hips pop out!
Feet Elevated Push-up
Ah, the push-up. I know, we can hear the sighs now. So much has been written about the push-up that you might think you’ve outgrown them since middle school gym class (let’s not talk about those awkward times). Well, the push-up is one of those exercises that deserve the attention. This classic exercise is a great pushing movement, and there are tons of ways to make it harder. One simple solution is to raise the feet onto the sofa, thus making it harder. You can also add weight to a backpack and throw it on to add a bit more of a challenge.
Plank Shoulder Taps (feet elevated)
A variation of the plank, this one makes it a tad bit harder by elevating the feet on your sofa, and raising one hand to touch the opposite shoulder. Repeat with both sides, and go for reps per side or time. This is a great way to challenge core stability.
Side to Side Plank Walk (feet elevated)
Similar to the plank shoulder taps, we are starting this in the full plank position. From here, all we do is walk from one end of the sofa to the other. The key is to maintain stability and try not to wobble around like a wet noodle. It might seem easy at first, but try going for a few reps each side; it will get immensely harder.
Knees to Chest
Another core exercise, this is a basic movement that you can do on the floor, but why not do it from the comfort of your couch? This is a question we must all ask ourselves. At least while doing this move, you’ll feel like you’ve earned that Netflix movie marathon.
Leg Raise w/Hip Extension
Leg raises are as reminiscent of gym class as push-ups; that’s why in this variation, we add a hip extension at the top, which really engages the core much more. For even more of a challenge, focus on lowering your body to floor nice and slow.