Get (or Stay) Fit on a Tight Budget
Exchange Your Pricey Gym Membership for (Nearly) Free Fitness Tools
Mar 20, 2009
When money gets tight, your personal trainer or pricey gym membership may be among the first expenses to slash from your budget. But that’s no excuse for reverting into a couch potato. You can still achieve fitness on the cheap, especially with Spring in the air.
According to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) fitness guidelines, substantial health benefits result from 2.5 hours a week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, or 1.25 hours of vigorous activity. (You need to do aerobics for at least 10 minutes at a time to realize health benefits.)
For more extensive health benefits, increase moderate-intensity aerobics to five hours a week, or vigorous-intensity aerobics for 2.5 hours a week. Incorporate muscle strengthening activities -- such as weight training, push-ups, sit-ups and carrying heavy loads -- at least two days weekly.
Aerobics, muscle-strengthening and flexibility exercises are the three elements of a balanced fitness program. Here are a few simple ways to benefit from all three without breaking the bank:
- Watch T.V. – No, you can’t just sit there! Check out an exercise video or DVD from the library. You’ll be surprised at the variety on the shelves, and you’ll appreciate field testing instructors and exercises without spending a dime. If you have satellite or cable television service, look for the FitTV channel. Here you’ll find a banquet of workout methods and instructors to follow, featuring yoga, belly dancing, weight training, fitness ball workouts, step aerobics, kick boxing, deep stretching, core strengthening and more. At any given hour, you can get a beginner’s-to-advanced level workout with a click of your remote.
- Go Online – Inspiration, advice, tools and support can be found on reputable health/fitness websites. You can design personalized meal or fitness plans for your fitness goals, and receive e-newsletters to keep your momentum going. Try Health.com, Prevention.com (click My Health Trackers tab), or NetWellness.org for starters.
- Work Outside – Think about it… modern man devised fitness exercises when he stopped working on the farm. The original exercise was work itself, making a living off the land, by the sweat of the brow. It’s not too late to try this in modern times. In fact, it will save you money at the grocery store, enhance your overall health and reduce carbon-based energy consumption if you simply plant a vegetable garden.
An added benefit is the number of calories you’ll burn along the way (based on a 140-pound person). (Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness by Bunny Guinness and Jacqueline Knox, Timber Press, Inc.) Just remember to hold your abdominal muscles tight as you lift and twist. This will protect your back from injury while simultaneously strengthening and defining your abdominals.
Calories Burned Per Hour:
- Carrying pots & other heavy loads – 507
- Tilling or gardening with a heavy power tool – 383
- Digging, spading & filling – 325
- Spreading soil with a spade – 325
- Laying turf or crushed rock – 325
- Weeding – 292
- Planting seedlings, bulbs & shrubs – 260
If planting a garden is too ambitious for you, simply raking the lawn burns 260 calories per hour. Collecting grass and leaves utilizes 260 calories an hour. Walking to apply fertilizer or seed a lawn burns 156 calories an hour.
In addition to the calorie-burning benefits of fitness, the HHS reports that “once the health benefits from physical activity begin to accrue, additional amounts of activity provide additional benefits.”
Some health benefits begin with as little as one hour a week. But research shows that 2.5 hours a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity consistently reduces the risk of many chronic diseases and other adverse health outcomes, including:
- Early Death
- Coronary Heart Disease
- Stroke
- High Blood Pressure
- Adverse Blood Lipid Profile
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Colon Cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Weight Gain
- Falls
- Depression
So achieving fitness doesn’t have to be expensive… it’s simply priceless.
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