“Free weights” training can be done at home, at a gym, or outside, using objects you might commonly use for gardening or household chores, or standard dumbbells and barbells. You can get a great workout at home without a lot of equipment, with some imagination and creativity.

• Load a backpack for resistance for upper and lower body strength training.
• Load books in a sturdy container for deadlifts.
• Use gallon jugs of water for any arm exercises requiring up to seven pounds of weight, or load jugs with gravel or sand for more resistance.
• Use dictionaries as low steps or to train grip strength.
• Use stair steps or sturdy crates instead of a store-bought tiered step.
• Build a step using cement or concrete blocks under a thick sturdy board to work the legs.
• Use the edge of a heavy chair, couch, or bathtub for triceps dips.
• Hang a pull-up bar in your doorway and do a few hangs or chin-ups every time you walk underneath it.
• Use a wheelbarrow filled with dirt, sand, or other materials for grip and arm strength.
• Do household chores and yard work while wearing a weight vest if you like.

Physical activities requiring carrying, bending, lifting, and moving objects are especially useful for developing the kind of strength you can use when digging a snow cave, carrying a heavy backpack, or helping to pull someone out of a crevasse. This sort of training can be very cost-effective but does require a little more thought and creativity initially, and it might be more challenging to determine what weight you are using unless you have a good scale handy.