There are a ton of bodyweight workouts you can do to get stronger, but sometimes adding in some extra weight makes for an extra good workout. And let’s be honest, curling a 400g tin of beans might not cut it, either. So how can you add in a strength-boosting amount of resistance, using just what you have in your cupboard?

“My clients have been doing their sessions in their living rooms or kitchens,” says Pennie, who’s just one of the many PTs who has been training her clients via FaceTime or Zoom using whatever they have in their home. “We’ve used chairs, coffee tables, sofas and drawers for Bulgarian split squats, dips, push ups, step ups, pike presses. We’ve also used bottles of water, books and, in one case,a 10kg bucket of rice. That worked pretty well to load her split squats.”

Here are some other Strong Women recommended makeshift weights you can try…

A DIY kettlebell

Add those aforementioned tins, a couple of bags of flour or some rice into a plastic or canvas bag, tie it tightly. Hold by the handles and use it in place of a kettlebell for virtually any exercise, like lat raises, squats, lunges and curls.

Home workouts: 3 ways to use household items as weights