Frugal Fitness Solutions

**Nada.Leona** · 10-19-2006, 10:41 AM

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpo...86baaf&k=89796

40 frugal fitness tips

The truth is you need little or no money to get fit.

These tips, some courtesy of Body&Health readers, will help get you started. A lack of money can't be your excuse for not exercising anymore.

1) Walk. Walking is hugely underrated, yet its something almost everybody can do, says University of Alberta exercise psychologist Wendy Rodgers. The average person walks 4,000 to 5,000 steps per day. Aim for 10,000 steps. Make sure to walk briskly to raise your heart rate for maximum benefit. But even a stroll through a shopping mall is better than sitting on the couch, Rodgers says.

2) Buy a pedometer to help keep track of your steps. You can get one for about 10 bucks, although they come free in some breakfast cereal boxes.

3) Take the stairs every chance you get, even if it's only one flight.

4) Park farther away from work or from the front door of the shopping mall or grocery store.

5) Jog or run.

6) Don't use your children as an excuse not to exercise. Take them along for a walk or run in a stroller, wagon, or on a bike.

7) Buy a dog from the SPCA or borrow the neighbour's pooch. People who walk with dogs walk longer and more often than those who don't.

8) Turn on your radio, CD player or MP3 and dance up a storm for 20 to 30 minutes in the privacy of your own home. Jog on the spot, bop around, throw in some karate/kung fu type kicks and just have fun, advises reader Lynda Musiowsky. "All you need are runners and a great attitude."

9) $12 buys you a library card and borrowing privileges for all sorts of exercise videos or DVDs, says reader Miranda Diakiw.

10) Use the lowest stair or stairs in your home or outside and create your own step workout.

11) Turn your canned goods into weights. A five-pound bag of sugar weighs as much as a five-pound weight. For a more challenging strength workout pour sand or water into empty milk or bleach bottles. Gradually increase the sand or water over time to keep your muscles growing stronger.

12) Grab a chair or the kitchen counter and do some push-ups and leg lifts.

13) Pair a favourite TV show with some sit-ups. Just hook your toes under the sofa, suggests reader Marilyn Thomas.

14) Take the treadmill/rowing machine/exercise bike hidden away in the basement or under a pile of laundry and move it into a prominent place like the TV room. Exercise psychologist Wendy Rodgers calls this "a cue to action" because for sure someone will get on the equipment even if it's to walk or pedal for just a little while watching TV.

15) Thinking of buying a piece of equipment to workout on at home? Check out the classifieds for a good deal. Someone's "clothes hanger" could be your ticket to fitness.

16) Pick up a ball or play tag with your kids. Activity is good for the whole family.

17) Pass on hired help and do your own housecleaning and yardwork. Done vigorously and continuously, housework burns 346 calories; yardwork, 250 to 400 calories. Washing the car uses up 245 calories; washing the dishes; 122 calories.

18) Call up some friends for a game of shinny street hockey or pickup b-ball at a neighbourhood playground.

19) Pick up cheap, used sports equipment at second hand sport stores and discount department stores.

20) Check with your community league or local rec centre for any exercise classes or team sports you can join for a pretty affordable price.

21) Got rope? Jump it for a total body workout.

22) Exercise with a friend. It will increase the chance of you sticking with your new activity.

23) Dust off the bicycle you forgot about in the garage or pick one up cheap at a garage sale.

24) Swim.

25) Laugh. Great big belly laughs. Every day. It's good for the soul as well as your abs.

26) Carry around a computer bag or backpack weighted with five or 10 pounds of stuff for exercises like one-armed rows or squats you can do throughout the day.

27) Buy a stability ball. Miranda Diakiw got hers for $9.98 at Superstore and uses it as an office chair at work. Balancing on a ball works your core muscles. Working your core muscles at work is almost like getting paid to work out.

28) Stand up and go for a walk or just stand by your desk and stretch for five to 10 minutes every hour. Sitting hour after hour is the major reason most people have back pain, says Rodgers. Hourly activity breaks at work make for a more fit, healthy, engaged employee and help to add up to the 60 minutes of daily activity recommended by Canada's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living.

29) Check out the company gym if you have one. Studies show only 20 to 40 per cent of employees take advantage of company-sponsored gym. There's a treadmill just waiting for you.

30) Ask your employer for some free space, send out an e-mail to see if others are interested, and bring in someone to teach a yoga or Pilates class on site once or twice a week and split the cost.

31) Organize a hockey, basketball or baseball game with the people you work with. Challenge other departments or other companies, says reader Jon Fraser.

32) Check with your boss or human resources department to see if there's a program that will help pay for all or part of a gym membership.

33) Find out if your local gym offers discounts to recent college grads.

34) Go to open houses. That way you can try out classes at various fitness facilities before you buy a membership or a class, suggests Miranda Diakiw.

35) Sign up for a gym during peak sale periods, which usually occur after the holidays or just before summer.

36) Paying $40 or $50 for a monthly gym membership may seem like a lot, but if you thrive in such a high energy setting and actually do work out regularly, it works out to about $2 to $4 a visit if you go three to six days a week, says Panchuk.

37) Check if your health insurance company offers lower premiums to people who workout regularly or have a club membership.

38) Call up a trainer, tell him or her you're on a budget and see what they can provide you for $50 or whatever you have to spend, Panchuk says. Many provide a free consultation to discuss your goals. And one workout session can provide you with a program and tips on technique you can then do on your own. Arrange a session every one to two months to upgrade your routine so your fitness level keeps improving.

39) Call up a trainer and arrange a session for you and a couple of friends to split the cost.

40) There are lots of sport drinks on the market, but water is cheaper and will quench your thirst better while you exercise.