Best Cheap or Free Places for a Great Workout
If paying for a standard gym membership just doesn’t fit your budget, there are many inexpensive or even free options that offer effective ways to workout. From public or non-profit fitness centers to bodyweight exercise on the playground, you can train great without a membership fee.
Statistic Brain experts have estimated the average cost of a gym membership at $ 58 per month . Gyms can be a financial burden and this number can change depending on where you live and how many people sign up for that gym. But investing time and effort in fitness doesn’t have to be such a waste of money. In fact, we discussed how to avoid overpaying gym membership . If that still doesn’t help, it’s best to look for other affordable options in your area.
Most major cities have public or non-profit fitness centers
When I first came to Tokyo, I was willing to pay, even more than usual, for gym access . Unfortunately my heart (and wallet) was not ready for the prices at these local commercial gyms, so I left bitterly and without a gym. Then a friend of mine told me about a public city gym with a gym that was much more economical.
It turns out there are public gyms all over Tokyo . They are not only available abroad; you can find them in the USA in many major cities. These city-funded fitness centers put less of a strain on your monthly finances, but more importantly, they rarely, if ever, tie you to nasty contracts.
Keeping up to date can be tricky, though, so check with your local Parks and Recreation Department or your city’s website ( for example, this one in Edmonton, Canada , this one in New York , or this one in Chicago, Illinois ) to get started. about public gyms, fitness centers, or community centers near you. Alternatively, you can find free or low-cost fitness classes at local community colleges.
One of the commenters on our gym membership article noticed that she was paying $ 135 for the entire year – for her entire family! This is awesome . Even if you’re already getting a great deal, it’s still worth asking for discounts as some places offer discounts for families, veterans, and seniors. In addition, some cities even offer free access to their residents. Washington, DC, for example, recently dropped fees for its city fitness centers.
For what you pay for (or not pay in some cases), you probably fancy a dungeon-like room with a few rusty weights and a dude named Bubba doing curls in the corner. In my experience, this is not the case. The places I have visited have had impressive, well maintained equipment and clean rooms. For example, many Minnesota cities have amenities and classrooms that rival classic commercial lounges – no price or pesky vendors. You just never know if you don’t look at it!
Other than that, you can also visit public non-profit gyms such as the well-known Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) and Young Christian Women Association (YWCA). They have branches all over the world and they often have great fitness centers. However, they can sometimes be an even more expensive option, depending on where you live. However, it is still worth asking your local Y representative to find out what they charge and offer. Each YMCA subsidiary is independently owned and operated and varies in the services and facilities provided. And each Y offers financial assistance based on personal income, family size, and circumstances.
You Can Get Awesome Workout At The Gym Park
Take a walk in the city park and you will usually find at least a horizontal bar. Sometimes you will find other tools that will allow you to do abdominal exercises, push-ups , plyometrics ,lunges ,inverted rows, and a host of other exercises if you get creative enough. Trainers in parks may seem cumbersome and complicated at first, but give them a shot and you can get a circuit workout.
Usually equipment is either scattered throughout the park (in a separate chain), or grouped in one “training” area. Either way, the idea of a circuit workout is to start at a training station of your choice, do a set of exercises (they usually have signs on what to do), and then run, jump, jog, or walk quickly to the spot. next station to immediately do another set of another exercise. Continue to move from one station to another in this pattern until you have completed all the exercises, and repeat them as many times as you can.
Some parks number stations, but you can create the sequence yourself. The main thing here is to drive the entire route with a little rest. Try a challenging (and free!) Workout, or maybe even make it your daily routine.
Resources like Fitlink can help you find gyms and parks around you.
Playgrounds are ideal for outdoor exercise
Playgrounds are not just for children. They’re also great for adults looking for fitness, but don’t underestimate what you get yourself into. These monkey bars, for example, will reduce your grip strength, arms, abs and back muscles, especially now that you need to hold much more weight than you did as a child. If you enjoy a tough challenge, turn up the ante andwatch this video where you learnabout some killer monkey barbell exercises.
For those of you who love template workout, this article (or video above) from Nerd Fitness shows you how you can turn any park area into your fun, personal gym. The entire workout is divided into five segments: an explosive leg movement, a push movement, a pull movement, another leg movement, and finally a basic movement. The best part is that it suits any fitness purpose.
You can find additional ideas in the Bodybuilding.com article on Playground Exercise and Greatist Park Workout Template for Beginners.
And if you don’t feel like monkeying, sometimes a park bench is all you need to do agood workout .
Make bodyweight exercises more challenging
We’re big fans of bodyweight exercises , so it’s easy to find an inexpensive, no-nonsense option with them (I mean, come on, you can only do some with a door ). Bodyweight training was my favorite activity when I didn’t have access to the gym during my trip abroad, and it allowed me to improve my strength and maintain the shape that I had built through strength training . But after a while, they can also start to feel less provocative and stale.
While small changes can make bodyweight exercises more difficult, such as when you do push-ups, place your feet on an elevated surface (chair, sofa, or something else), you can also use additional equipment such as resistance bands and hanging machines (brand name this is TRX) . (For example, browse this chart to find many TRX exercises you can do.) Both work with your own weight to add variety and complexity to your workouts. In some cases, they make possible exercises such asdeadlifts with a suitcase ,atomic push-ups andpull-ups with a belt .
The initial cost of elastic bands and a harness trainer seems like a hefty investment, but trust me, they will last you a long time. I have owned a harness trainer for over six years and still use it extensively.
Get ready at home
Home workout is nothing new, but if we’re talking about accessibility here, it’s hard to go wrong if you workout in the comfort of your own home (and possibly pajamas too).
You can buy workout DVDs, but you can also opt for the 21st century option and stream your workouts directly to your TV (or phone, tablet, or computer) through monthly subscription services like DailyBurn or FitnessGlo (like Netflix for Fitness ). DailyBurn, for example, offers a variety of workouts for all skill levels and interests, including yoga, kettlebell training and Bollywood dance.
As of this writing, DailyBurn is offering a 30-day free trial at $ 12.95 per month thereafter. And if you don’t feel like paying for a streaming service, you can simply head over to YouTube and subscribe to one of the thousands of YouTube fitness channels ( we’ve listed our favorites here ).
All of this suggests that with a little ingenuity, time, and effort, you can give up expensive, modern conveniences and still exercise well. Sure, you can lose out in this swanky dressing room jacuzzi, but your fitness, health, and wallet will benefit a lot more.