Breathing in the intense aroma of freshly baked pie and cheesy casserole, you sit back in a recliner and snooze off for a midday nap. 

This is how a lot of students spend their much-deserved Fall and Winter Breaks.  However, Nora Hudson, assistant director of Fitness and Wellness, suggests finding a balance with your choices. “Break is a time to relax and de-stress but by getting creative you can turn everyday activities into fun ways of exercising,” Hudson said. 

Students don’t need to spend loads of money on a gym membership while at home — there are a ton of household objects that easily substitute for workout equipment. 

Chairs

Hudson suggests using chairs to perform triceps dips, leg extensions and even wheeling around using the quadriceps muscles.

If the chair is stable enough, step-ups can be performed by stepping one leg at a time onto the chair while simultaneously reaching the other leg back behind to engage the glutes.

Beds or Couches

Ordinary push-ups get boring; try using a bed to elevate either the legs or the arms while performing push-ups. These little tweaks in the exercise target different parts of the arms and can spice up old routines.

Towels

Use towels to stretch out tired muscles — pull the towel tight between both hands shifting from behind the head to in front of the body. Hudson suggests getting even more creative and using towels to “perform the ribbon workouts that have become popular.”

Sometimes no equipment is needed at all. AceFitness.com posts routines centered around body-weight exercises. Performing moves like the Superman, planks, lunges, crunches and squat jumps are a great way to stay active while at home. Another plus is that these exercises don’t take long to complete, which means more time relaxing and spending time with family.

Lots of people believe they are going to lose their fitness gains by taking a break from the gym. “This isn’t the case, unless you are sedentary for two weeks or more,” Hudson said.  Sometimes all it takes is just getting blood flowing through the body to reap the benefits of exercise.  This could mean dancing while putting away dishes, taking a walk after dinner or simply performing a few body-weight exercises during commercial breaks.

Although breaks are ideal times to de-stress and rest, all hope is not lost when it comes to maintaining physical health. “Whatever you do, just get moving,” Hudson said. “But make sure it doesn’t get in the way of what really matters — spending time with loved ones.”