Fitness on a Budget

You don’t need to have a lot of money to get into shape. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it! Here’s some fun ways you can exercise, without breaking the bank.

No Equipment Required

• Walk or Run – You don’t need any equipment,  just a good pair of running shoes. Want to burn extra calories? Run a marathon, or just train for one. The varied terrain, with hills and wind, allow for extra calorie burn when comparing to the indoor treadmill.

• Go old school. The Plank, Lunges, Jumping Jacks, and Push ups, for example, are equipment-free and effective ways to workout. Just because something is common, doesn’t mean it doesn’t work anymore!

• Take a dip in the Ocean. Swimming is a great way to workout, and swimming in the Ocean is free. Of course, my fear of sharks usually keeps me away from such a fantastic swim. I figure that there are plenty of other ways to workout.

Exercises with Inexpensive Equipment

• Workout Videos – Whether it be Dance, Yoga, or Taekwondo, there are plenty of workout DVDs out there to choose from. Workout DVD’s are great because you can exercise in the comfort of your own home, yet still get the benefit of having an instructor lead you through the exercises. Oh yeah, you can also press “pause” if needed!

• Stability Ball – You can get a full body workout with just a stability ball! You can get one for under $20, and you can get a fantastic body with this one piece of equipment.

• Frisbee – Chasing after a frisbee is a fun way to enjoy your inner child, and still get a great workout. I was able to go to my local grocery store and buy a frisbee for $1.00

• “Play Ball!” -You choose which sport you want to play, whether it’s basketball, baseball, soccer,  or football. With most of these sports, you can get away with just buying a ball. It’s all about getting with friends and having fun.

• Jump Rope – You can get a jump rope for cheap, and get a great cardiovascular work out in a decent amount of time. It’s also fun to challenge yourself with skipping the rope or jumping on one leg at a time.

Exercise for Free, or at a Discount!

•Get bored easily? Rather than buying workout DVD’s, why not borrow them from your local library? Once you are done with a workout DVD, you can move on to the next one.

•Free Trials. Gyms will often give potential clients a free trial to lure you in. If you are interested in getting free gym time, this might be something you should take advantage of. It may be a month or just a week long, but either way, it’s free.

•Bargain. If you decide to move forward with a membership at a gym, be sure to get a deep discount in the price. They may say that they can’t lower the price, but chances are, they can. And trust me, they would rather give you an amazing price at their gym, than lose you as a customer.

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Fitness joy for Twinkie

Believe it or not, I wasn’t always a fan of exercising….

When I thought of exercising I just thought of sweating, lifting weights, and trying to catch my breath. It has taken me years,  but I have come to love working out.

I think the trick is just finding something that you love, and it becomes easy to stick with it. I started out with Dance. Dance worked for me because I love music, and it was just so much fun to move with the music. I could dance for hours on end, and I have before.

If you are in an exercise routine that you absolutely hate, try to find an alternative that still gives you the same benefits. Again, if you actually enjoy what you are doing, you will make the time to make it happen, won’t make excuses on why you can’t keep it up, etc. You want to be happy with what you are doing with your time, exercising included.

So what is an exercise that you love to do?

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Why you should give Yoga a try

There is a lot of hype about Yoga, and the health benefits of doing Yoga on a regular basis. I have been a bit reluctant to try it out for several reasons. First of all, I like to do cardio works outs that make me sweat (funny how I used to not like that part of exercising), and something where I feel like I am burning a ton of calories and making some progress in my weight loss or maintenance. I tend to do exercises like running, swimming, and the elliptical machine. After those work outs, my body just knows that it worked out. This again shows me that I am making some progress, and I feel good about what I have done. So now back to Yoga. When I think of Yoga, I have to admit, I thought it was just a little boring and maybe a little too easy?

I went to my first Yoga class a couple of months ago. Let’s just say all of my previous thoughts about Yoga were pretty much dissolved. I realized I wasn’t nearly as strong as I thought, and by the end of the class, not only did I sweat because of the amazing workout, but I was calling myself a “pansy” for not being able to do some of the “simple” and “boring” moves that I thought Yoga was all about. By the next day, the way my whole body felt, I knew this was something my body needed and wanted more of.

Not to my surprise, I wanted to do some more research on the benefits of Yoga.

Flexibility

I thought this was a bit of an obvious find, but still wanted to mention it. Not a lot of exercises will help with flexibility like Yoga does, and I believe that by gaining some more flexibility with Yoga, it will help out with your other exercises that you are doing. Worried you aren’t flexible enough? No need to worry. Do the poses the best you can, without causing yourself pain. You will soon find poses you couldn’t do, with time and practice, eventually you can do them. Everyone is at a different level, and you don’t need to feel like you have to be a pro your first time around.

Strength

If you want and all over toned body, Yoga is for you. Remember how I said I felt like a “pansy” after Yoga? There is a good reason for that. You have to use your muscles for the poses, and if you aren’t strong enough just yet, you can be by doing yoga on a regular basis. If you can’t do the pose yet, don’t worry. Keep practicing on a regular basis, and you will find you can start doing poses you couldn’t do a month ago. You can see your progress right before your eyes! If it makes you feel any better, there were strong guys in the class who were still struggling with some of the poses, which leads me to my next benefit of  Yoga.

Balance

Yoga will help you with your balance, which is one of the reasons some guys who were very strong still had some struggles- they were learning how to balance their bodies, and use their muscles in ways they never had to before. You will notice the more you practice these poses using your balancing techniques, you will start to get a little better and better with each practice.

Reduces Stress

Even though your first Yoga experience may be more difficult that you could have imagined, it might just surprisingly be quite relaxing all at the same time. If you are in a class setting, usually the Yoga instructor will put on some soft and relaxing music, and may even dim the lights (depending on type of Yoga). With Yoga you get to focus on breathing, flexing, relaxing, holding positions, all at the same time. If you ever have a tough day at the office, Yoga might be a good way to relieve the stress, which is obviously something good for your body-inside and out.

“Where can I do Yoga?”

-If you have a gym membership, that might just be a great place to start. A lot of gyms will have Yoga classes, as well as others like Spinning, Aerobics, and Dance. Find out what classes your gym offers, and if you are new to Yoga, feel free to talk to the Instructor before or after class and let them know if you have any questions, or if you need help with some of the poses.

-You might want to try a Yoga Training DVD, which is great because if you want something convenient, you can do this in the comfort of your own home. It can be like having your own personal trainer at whatever time of day you want to do Yoga.

-The Internet not only has plenty of reading material on Yoga, but it also includes Yoga videos. Try doing a search on Yoga in your Search Engine, or even go to a site like YouTube for Yoga instructional videos. Just realize the instructor may not be licensed, but still may know what they are talking about. Take it for what it is.

If you haven’t already given Yoga a chance, I urge you to now. If you are already reaping the many benefits of Yoga, feel free to comment about your experiences with Yoga.

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