Frugal Fitness: Free Version

I already posted about gym options that are more affordable, but what if the gym isn’t your thing?  Exercise can be free!  Usually the best kind is free!

Here are a few ideas of things you can do that are free, or close to it:

Tennis

A lot of communities have courts you can use for free—like at parks and high schools, or community centers that only charge a few dollars.  If you already have equipment—free!  If not, ask to borrow from a friend, check your local thrift stores, garage sales, and Craigslist.  And even brand new, the equipment isn't terribly pricey if you aren't looking at professional level quality.

Before little Landon arrived, we used to meet our friends nearly every week to play doubles!  McKenzie and I actually met at a tennis clinic in high school and have remained dear friends ever since. 

Bike Ride

For a birthday present a couple years ago, my parents gifted us a set of bikes.  Then this last Christmas, a baby seat was another gift so that we can enjoy bike rides as a family.  It isn't the most intense exercise for us, but the fact that we are out and about moving and enjoying nature still has its perks!  Again, if you don’t have bikes and you want to go on a bike ride, see if you can borrow from a friend, check local thrift stores, garage sales, Craigslist, and even some venues have affordable bike rentals.  Groupon, and sites like it, might also have bicycle rental promotions in certain locations.  You’d be surprised at how many people probably have a bike collecting dust in their garage and would love to let you borrow theirs!  This new site, Spinlister, is still growing, but it is a really cool concept for bike rental both locally and while you are traveling!  Check it out!    

Jogging

Just take a jog around your neighborhood or at a local nearby trail.  Free and good exercise!

Workout Videos

These have not proven to be the best option for me to stay motivated, but I need to work on it because you can get a slew of options with workout videos!  From yoga to cardio, and everything in between.  Many of them require no equipment other than your own body for weight resistance, and once you own the video—it’s free!  Look for videos at thrift stores (who doesn’t love a retro video with neon and leotards?!) and second hand entertainment stores (like FYE), on Craigslist, or borrow from a friend.  There are also some cool apps on smart phones that are inexpensive or free (like the Nike App) and with YouTube, you can find all sorts of videos and even subscribe to channels that offer very vigorous workout options—all for free! 

I am not even scratching the surface when it comes to free or really inexpensive options for exercise.  Please comment and tell me what you do or what your ideas are!  These are all pretty obvious examples, what are some more unique ones or other obvious ones I didn't mention?

Frugal Fitness: Gym Time

Fitness, exercise, working out, training—the list of what you can call it goes on and on.  But we all know that taking care of ourselves physically is important.  Depending on your personality and attitude, it might be the thing you look forward to, the thing that gets you through the day, the thing you dread, or the thing you don’t get around to doing.  And for some it is entirely free and others it is extremely expensive.

For me, I am kind of in the middle of that mess.  I go through phases of loving working out and then others of dreading/avoiding it.  I don’t spend gobs of money on fitness, but I do spend a little bit.  Usually once I start a good routine, I realize how much I do enjoy it and how good I feel when I make it a priority.  But if I get out of the habit, then it is hard to find the energy/time/desire/etc. to get my booty back in shape.  I am sure this is representative of a lot of other people in regards to working out. 

Here in AZ, wintertime is the better time of year to exercise outside (less expensive) due to reasonable and bearable temperatures that don’t endanger your health (intense exercise in 115 degrees isn’t usually a good idea, folks!).  However, I am very safety-conscious, and since it gets dark a lot earlier, it was hard for me to find the time to go during day light when someone could watch my baby and working out indoors just wasn’t working out for me.  So I broke down and got a gym membership.  A few thoughts on gym memberships:

Gyms can be extremely pricey and have expensive start-up fees, sneaky cancellation fees, and tricky salesmen who try to hide the fine print.  I think many people can’t afford the regular standard gyms anymore.  But I have noticed a lot of “no-frills” gyms are starting to pop up in a lot of places.  No-frills = more affordable.  The no-frills doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t perks, but they just might not have the overly-excessive benefits that some high end gyms have.  They might not have child-care, they might not have every single machine, the locker room might not have blow-dryers, they might not have racquetball courts—you know what I mean.  So if something is really important to you, make sure they have it before you sign up. 

Two gyms that fall under the no-frills and affordable category that I have personally been to are:

PlanetFitness

Gold’s Gym

I currently have a membership at Planet Fitness.  They have two membership options, one that costs $10/month, the other $20/month.  You get access to some more benefits if you have the more expensive membership, which includes unlimited guest privileges (you can take a friend every time you go—motivation!) and access to tanning and massage beds.  They do not have child care and their class options are more like brief instruction. 

Kelly, me at Planet Fitness working out (she came as my guest and to motivate me!)

I used to be a member of Gold’s Gym and it had very similar membership plans.  They did have a child care center, more options for classes, and unlimited guest privileges on the more expensive membership.  They did not have tanning and massage beds.

Both of these gyms seem to have more and more locations, you should see if there is one near you if going to a gym is how you get the best results! 

Do you know of any other gyms that are affordable? 

Stay tuned, because I have another post coming up on other options for free or inexpensive exercise that are not gym-related!