As far as exercise goes I would agree with everyone and say that just getting up and walking, hiking or chasing the kids around , would be a cheap and healthy alternative to gym membership. If you want some actual equipment to help you with toning and muscle building, the resistance bands and homemade weights are an option. I read online that someone made some 5lb weights out of some half gallon milk jugs. He had some with smooth handles and filled them with a concrete mix.
These are some great alternatives! I know that I have used these before and had some great luck with them. However, you do have to be cautious with the bands because they can break and when they do they hurt like a son of a gun!
I only use a pillow, a barbell made out of solidified cans, a jump rope and a resistance band. The resistance band was the only thing I bought from the store. The rest are all household items. The jump rope was something I had when I was still young and honestly, you can do a lot of ab crunches using your pillow.
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These are great suggestions! I personally have dumbbells and a treadmill at my house, but when I am away for a weekend or so I'll just do bodyweight exercises instead. Push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, burpees, tricep dips, they're all great alternatives to buying weights yet you can still feel the burn and build lean muscle doing them!
You can even just get a very effective workout using your own body weight. You can create an amazingly difficult workout just by doing pushups, squats, burpees, jumping jacks, etc. You can also have a quite intense workout doing yoga. You can even find good yoga dvds at the library now days. I even find just doing the house cleaning can be a pretty decent workout as well. You certainly don't need to spend money or have a gym membership to be fit.
I actually use this little portable round plastic called "Figure Twister", (you can search for it on Ebay) and it's quite effective in trimming your arms and stomach because you sort of "twist" your stomach as you step on it. When I was using it actively I must say that it made me lose some weight.
I would agree, and further that exercise equipment is completely unnecessary if you know a good workout plan that involves using only your body.
Sprinting and walking costs nothing, two of the best exercises you can do. Combine a session of sprints with plenty of walking throughout the week and you will be following a good template for health. We should aim to walk around 10,000 steps per day.
I agree, walking is a free alternative to exercise equipment. Before relocating, I lived in a home with a large amount of stairs and instead of purchasing a elliptical or stair climber, I walked up and down the stairs in my home 3-5 times per week. It was a great workout. A jump rope is very affordable and offers a excellent workout when used properly.
This is a great tip. I only live on the 3rd floor of my apartment (and work on the 4th floor of my office building), but I have started using the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. I also have started walking up and down the escalators when I get in and out of the train station during my commute. On some weekends, I will go to the park and walk around for about an hour - it is relaxing and I get to walk around a bit aimlessly. I agree with most people on this forum - walking, jogging, running, taking the stairs, etc. are all great things. However, we need to continually push ourselves as our bodies get accustomed to what we're doing. For those who want to eliminate exercise equipment altogether but have a great workout, I would suggest watching fitness videos/DVDs and checking out free sessions at the gym with a professional.
I use household furniture as long as they remain stable such as a chair or the arms of a couch to do push ups or triceps dips. I also take advantage of the stairs or a step or two since my house has two floors. If I'm in an aerobic exercising mood, I'll run up and down the stairs for 20mins-30mins to work up a good sweat. Used 1/2 or 1 gallon milk jugs that I fill with water are also a good alternative to weights, and utilizing empty floor space around the house for dancing to upbeat music or running in place is a free way to get a good workout for me.
You are quite right, Sandra. I've never been one for exercise equipment beyond my own body, but I do think at least one set of hand weights could beneficial, even just 3 or 5 pounds could make a difference. Another alternative is gallon water jugs - the ones with the built in handles. Once you've used all the bottled water, you can gradually refill the jugs to give as little or as much weight as you feel you need for lifting.
I have been saving money by not going to the gym and using my condo gym instead, which the value is already included in the condo fee everyone needs to pay. I don’t feel as motivated going there as I do going to an outside gym. However, it’s still a way to save quite some money. If you don’t have a gym like that (which I would guess it’s most people), a good idea is to buy resistance bands and use them at home! You can get them really cheap at Ross or some store like that. Also, there are GREAT apps for working out and they are so easy to follow, you can use them at home. I like one called Fitness Buddy a lot, and also SWORKIT Lite.
This post has given me a lot of ideas man, concretely I've tried the resistance bands and so far so great. I don't really like going to the gym because I'm quite shy and I'd feel ashamed working out in public.
I've started just using a pull-up bar that cost me about $30 and just body-weight exercises at home. Usually, I'm someone who needs to go to the gym to have a great work-out, but I've fallen into a nice home-work out routine that doesn't take nearly as much as my day. Resistance bands also work great as well to workout different muscles. I think the key is finding a good home workout routine that works for you. That will help get you away from needing to go the gym to use the equipment there.
There is a small gym in our office where we can do a workout for free. Although there is no coach or trainer there, those who know how to use the exercise equipment can save by not going to the real gym. As for improvised exercise tools, all I need is a hand grip since I don't do much on weight. I would lie on the bed and stretch my arms above my head before pressing the hand grip exerciser. That does justice to my abs.
I think with exercise its all about motivation and there are different ways to go about exercise-and exercise can be very fun at times. You can just dance in your room to some Youtube music videos or if you like going outside you can find motivating ways as well to work out. The fresh air outside can be fun and if you need motivation- you could check out farm girl jen(she's around 50 years of age) at the banshee moon channel-which is kind of goofy and cheesy-but when you really watch this youtube channel(banshee moon)it gives you a lot of ideas and motivations to workout. I like the kettlebell workouts a lot-but swimming is good as a non-weight-bearing exercise.
Hi, Sandra, your tips are very good to save some money. Something more easy to use without paying any money and have great results are the exercise equipment that is set in the parks. We have here all kind of working machine for exercising the parts of our body, all we need to do is to go to the park and start working out!
