In an attempt to cut down on personal expenses, we’ve done a number things. One of the most significant is actually making meal plans for each week. Our grocery bill used to be over $600 per month!! Now we find we can get by pretty well at about $75 per week simply by planning exactly what we will eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner each week before doing the grocery shopping.
But I digress… What I wanted to cover in this post is how to save on fitness. We’ve typically always been gym members for as long back as I can remember. In fact, I used to spend a large amount on gym memberships having belonged, in the past, to both the “Globo” and Crossfit Gyms simultaneously. But now with our attempts to cut costs, one thing we’re looking at is saving nearly $100 per month by chucking our gym memberships.
But once we have no gym membership, what are some alternatives? Fortunately, having also been a personal trainer in the past, I have some answers.
Here are my top 10 FREE, no gym required, DIY workout tips (in no particular order). Actually, they aren’t all free, – some require a little up front cost and then they become FREE!
- Go running outside. Make running fun. For me, running has always been a chore. I enjoy it for about 10 minutes and then I just want to be done. I get bored easily. Last year I started running a little more outside and began tracking my routes and stats with the Endomondo app for my BlackBerry. Once I began doing that I found it became more interesting. Being able to look back at my running and see how I did in comparison to previous runs makes it more of a game. The app also posted my times to my BBM profile and Facebook and in doing so publicized my progress and I’d get support from friends and family.
- Get some weights (for cheap). Several years ago I began looking on Kijiji for cheap weights. Every so often I’d come across some decent looking weights for $10 to $20 and I’d pick them up. I received a nice score of great weights one time for $10 and to this day I still use those at home nearly exclusively. You can also find benches and other gym equipment cheap, but really you only need some weights to get a good workout in. Heck – you don’t even really need them, though it does make some exercises easier.
- Install a homemade pullup bar. Several years ago I posted this article on TheFitBlog.net about how I built a home made pull up bar in my basement. It was super easy and took only an hour to install. I’m not even that handy. For me, pull-ups are a key exercise that I love to do and has gifted me with some great strength conditioning over the years. It also cost less than $20 to build.
- Get a skipping rope. Seriously. Get something under $5. This is possibly one of the best cardio exercises I’ve ever done. And once you’re good with skipping singles, learn how to do proper double-unders. Check out my article, Tips for Double Unders. These are when the skipping rope does two revolutions per hop. I once did over 100 consecutive double unders and then nearly passed out (see Death by Double Unders). They are fabulous.
- Learn some routines. Learn a few routines of exercises that you can do for 20 minutes and get a good (and quick) workout in. For example, do 10 rounds of the following: 10 burpees, 20 lunges, 20 bell squats (with 25lb weight), 5 pushups, 5 situps. This kind of sequence is popular in Crossfit and can be adapted to no end. Get a couple of good routines that you can do a few times per week. Learn some standards like Tabata squats. Watch YouTube. I’m not joking here. There are literally hundreds of thousands of videos on YouTube of great workout routines.
- Play some sports. I play tennis a couple of times per week during the warmer seasons, for free at a public court. I have also participated in pick-up sports leagues in the past. Meetup.com often has local sports meetups that you can participate in for free. I’ve gone to a local meetup (via meetup.com) for playing basketball and volleyball – both for free. This is not only a great way to get some exercise, it’s also pretty fun and a good way to meet people.
- Set a pushup or situp goal. This has become somewhat popular in recent years. Set a goal of say 100 consecutive pushups and every day attempt to do as many as possible, always pushing for one more. There are apps available for the iPhone and Android (and other platforms) that actually help keep track of this for you.
- Go for a walk with someone close. Sounds a little cliche, right? But Sonya and I have been going for a number of walks with our daughter every week for the last year and they have actually been incredibly good. It’s not only a good way to get some exercise in, it’s also a fantastic time for conversation if you can go for a walk with someone else, void of gadgets and distractions. We will both be in the worst of moods, but half way through a walk, we’ll be deep into a great conversation – sometimes about important things, sometimes not so much, but I always finish a walk feeling good.
- Read crossfit.com. Every day crossfit.com posts a new workout – many times that can be adapted so that no equipment is required. Follow a couple of the crossfit workouts one week and be prepared to get addicted to the approach.
- Checkout what your community center has to offer. I know my local community center has a number of free (or very low cost) programs, including some yoga and a fitness bootcamp. There’s nothing like working out in a group setting. Feeding off of the intensity of the rest of the class and being motivated by a group exercise trainer.
