If you want to work out but hate the gym, how about transforming your houseboat into a mini home gym? With a little creativity and flexibility, you can exercise in any small space you want, even one on water. In fact, you don’t really need a lot of space or equipment to give your body a full workout, all you need is some floor space and motivation.

Small space exercise

Most exercises can be performed in small spaces. Exercises that work large muscle groups will provide a bigger caloric burn relative to the time spent exercising.  Squats, push-ups and lunges can be done against your own bodyweight or by using resistance bands, dumbbells and medicine balls. You can also vary your exercise routine to avoid getting bored and help you achieve different results depending on your goals. To build up strength, perform exercises slowly, perhaps do 15 repetitions of squats 3 times and then change to a different exercise.

Exercise equipment for small spaces

You are likely to be limited on the amount of exercise equipment you can store, so you may wish to have one main piece of equipment, or smaller pieces that are easy to store away.  But if you have limited storage on your houseboat, this doesn’t mean you have to do without or compromise your workout program.

Jump rope: Jump ropes are fantastic for your body; after all, look at a boxer’s tight, toned body. When you jump rope, you are toning your upper and lower body and giving your heart rate a great boost. But if you don’t have enough space to swing a rope on your houseboat, then ghost jump instead – simply mimic the movement without using an actual rope.

Swiss ball: The Swiss ball has become a popular piece of exercise equipment. The Swiss ball can be used for a variety of exercises that target all muscle groups. In fact, Swiss balls have evens have even become popular alternatives to chairs at home and in the office, because they are less stable they force you to engage your core muscles and make your body work harder.

Yoga mats: Yoga mats are great for any floor-based exercises. Along with yoga, these mats can be used for body weight resistance exercises and stretching. And when finished with, you can roll it up and easily store it away.

Resistance bands: Resistance bands are portable, lightweight and allow you to add different levels of resistance to your exercise program. You can use resistance bands for a wide variety of exercises including lunges, back rows, squats, shoulder presses, arm curls and extensions.

Dumbbells: For some people, all they choose to use to exercise with is a simple set of dumbbells. Dumbbells give you a broad selection of exercises you can do and they are ideal for exercising on your houseboat.

Whatever space you have available on your houseboat, you can still get a great workout and stay in shape. Knowing what exercise equipment works for small spaces makes it easy to stay healthy and active no matter where you are.