Water bottle waist bend
When I first heard about Wellness Expert Namita Jain’s, “prop workouts”, I was skeptical. It sounded like a gimmick to me. She recommends using household objects to work out with—why go to the gym when you can get fit at home?
For example, she wants us to use Bisleri bottles for bent-over rows and shoulder shrugs. Or use chairs for leg extensions and tricep dips. Towels for calf stretches. She’s got to be joking right?
“I feel that exercises can be simple, safe, convenient and yet just as effective”, says Jain. A Wellness consultant with a Mumbai hospital, Jain has been in the fitness business for 15 years, amassing several certificates— Clinical Exercise Specialist from the American Council on Exercise, a Pilates Master Trainer, and a certified instructor from the American College of Sports Medicine. (Phew!)
“I’m not competing with gyms, but not everyone’s a gym freak. It’s all about personal choices. I am targeting people who’re hardpressed for time.”
So, if you’re too busy to pack a bag, drive to the gym and queue for a treadmill, you’re better off standing in your kitchen doing curls with a bottle of Bisleri?
Jog
“It doesn’t have to be your kitchen. You could be an avid traveller who’s stuck in a hotel room, or an expectant mother or workaholic. A gym just might not fit into your scheme of things. But using these household props, it’s possible to create a timeefficient workout for such people.”
Jain says that a 2-litre water bottle works just as well instead of dumbbells because “they’re sturdy and easy to grip.” But so’s a bag of sugar. Or rice. Or dal. “No, the key is to choose objects that don’t dangle and are not bulky. Remember, lifting weights doesn’t mean you can use anything and everything. Spare the bags and the sacks.”
In Jain’s world, a chair is not a chair. It’s a tricep dip. “Chairs are great for leg extensions and tricep dips. In a tricep dip, you grip the edge of the chair, and bend down, and your entire body weight acts as resistance,” she says.
“I also use a bath towel in my calf stretches. For beginners or people with tighter hamstrings, straining the legs could be tough. A towel comes in handy. It straightens your leg and helps you stretch effortlessly.”
Chair dip
But what about barbell squats? And lat pulldowns? What about all that fancy clunking machinery that gym members pay so much to use—is she seriously saying we can get the same effect at home using chairs and water bottles?
“Look—an exercise like a barbell squat could be equated to wall-butt raises, which works on your thighs and glutes,” she says. “You’re bending your knees in a 90-degree angle in the exercise, pushing your feet against the wall, and raising your glutes. It looks simple but it’s tough and as challenging an exercise as any.” Jain maintains her goal is to get everyone to exercise—and I can’t fault her for that.
Wall butt raise
And there are other pluses—it’s free, there’s no travel time. Besides, the concept of exercising in strange places with strange props isn’t exactly revolutionary.
We’ve been told to stretch and waggle our feet on planes. I’ve seen exercises that office workers can do at their desks. I’ve even seen entire workouts designed for people confined to prison cells.
I think my reservation is that it just feels a bit silly. A bit inappropriate. But I can’t deny my inner voice telling me that it wouldn’t hurt to give this a try.
So, I pick the bent over rows and the shoulder shrugs. “Try doing them regularly and the results should show in a month,” she assures. With my bottles of mineral water in hand, and my trainer standing over me, I begin.
