Don’t waste money on an expensive gym membership!
Don’t have an extra $50+ a month to spend on a gym membership? Don’t have 2-3 hours to spare every day? Simply want privacy? You sound just like me!
Here is why you SHOULDN’T WASTE MONEY ON AN EXPENSIVE GYM!
PRIVACY
I don’t know if anyone can relate to this, but I started working out at home due to my introversion and body insecurity. The idea of going into a crowded place and grunting and sweating and twisting my body in all sorts of ways, maybe even trying to lift a weight that’s not even that heavy and failing, in front of an audience, scared the living hell out of me.
As a woman, I also feel like you have to be very careful what you wear to the gym and keep headphones on at all times because the gym bros will encroach real quick if you’re not careful.
EXPENSIVE GYM CLOTHES
Gym-wear is also extremely expensive, as celebrities and rich housewives everywhere have decided to make athleisure the trendiest new fashion statement. And going into a gym around others puts more pressure on you to have the newest and best gym-wear, or, if you having a clothing addiction like me, it’s a huge temptation to shop more. Overall, gym culture has become a huge profit turner and I don’t want to participate, and neither should you if you if you’re not a celebrity or rich housewife (props to you if you are).
CONVENIENCE & TIME
On top of this, unless you are lucky enough to have a super nice gym in your building or something, it takes at least 2 hours to drive over to the gym, workout, and drive home. AT LEAST.
In conclusion: Who wants to deal with all that?! No wonder so many of us talk about getting in shape for years only to fall further into unhealthy habits.
So, a quick background on how I created this workout plan:
Several years ago, my unhealthy lifestyle really caught up to me to the point where I was hiding any time someone brought out a camera and refusing to look in mirrors, and I decided I didn’t want to live that way anymore at all costs. (And that is actually the very first step in any health journey, by the way. You’re never going to change anything if you don’t really want to, so getting your mind in good shape is the first step in any good change).1 I was miserable in my own body, so I embarked on a journey to work on it and this is how I discovered an amazing at-home workout routine.
At first, I tried a lot of dieting and going to the gym, but the diets quickly went out the window when I’d go out with friends or get a little drunk, and there were a million places I’d rather be than at the gym after class (I was in college at the time), and I certainly wasn’t getting up at 5-6AM to work out before class. So ultimately nothing changed and the problem actually got worse because I was heavily restricting during the day and then binging 2000 calories every other night because I was so hungry. In fact, it’s actually been scientifically proven that diet mindset promotes binge-eating.2 So with diets and gym life failing, this is when I decided to be a little more creative and come up with my own healthy lifestyle that was sustainable for me. I started to do some research.
I found that you truly don’t need expensive equipment and fancy gym wear to be in good shape. I have abs, no flab on my arms, and am generally in the best shape of my life and all of this has been achieved and maintained in the privacy and comfort of my own home. Seriously.
HERE’S HOW TO DO IT:
Create a Personalized Routine
I researched the best workouts to target the specific areas of change I wanted, so as to create the most efficient workout (i.e. no more 2 hour “leg day” work outs at the gym). For instance, if you are super insecure about your lower belly fat, look up workouts that target lower belly fat and add them to your regimen. So often we just blindly follow the norm when it comes to work outs. Since everybody else is doing specific workouts, we feel we should follow suit. We just go on a merry-go-round of hitting all the machines designed for legs on leg day, and the same for arm day and so on. Since everyone else is doing an hour or two at the gym, we should too. This is ludicrous.
A girl wanting to tone her body or lose fat should not being doing even the same realm of workouts as a gym bro, body builder taking 2000 grams of Whey Protein or whatever a day! And if you want to tone a certain area, blindly hitting all the machines for that area in the gym is incredibly inefficient. For one thing, you’re going to be there for hours, and for another you probably won’t see the results you’re really looking for, or at the very least it will take a while and, let’s be honest, we’re all impatient, especially in this instant gratification smart phone world. We give up if we don’t see results relatively fast. You have to find what works for you, and this includes your body type, goals and schedule. 3
Floor Exercises
All you need to do is create a simple workout routine you can do at home that targets the areas you want to work on. You don’t even need equipment.4 Google “best workouts to do for <fill in the blank>” to create an at home workout that will save you precious time and is essentially free. Here are some great articles/websites to give you some workout ideas. Abs: Business Insider Magazine, Legs: Healthline Magazine, Butt: Beach Body on Demand Blog, and Arms: Women’s Health Magazine. There are so many amazing ab, leg and arm workouts that can just be done in your own living room with nothing but a floor and your body.
Weights
If you want to be really frugal, you don’t even have to buy weights or anything. The first year or so, no joke, any time I needed a weight I used random heavy objects around my house. Then I realized one set of basic weights are like $20 (Amazon) and a one-time investment, so I just broke down and purchased some. Either way, one set of weights (or a heavy flower pot) will generally do the trick. No expensive extra gym equipment necessary.
Cardio
Another big part of staying in shape is adding some cardio a few times a week, which you also don’t need a gym for. I actually do run at Planet Fitness occasionally when it’s really cold/hot or rains for a week. A Planet Fitness membership is only like 20 bucks a month and since I live in an extremely rainy place, I like to keep my gym membership just to have a treadmill and ellipticals to use when it’s gross out and I can’t run outside. I don’t really need the membership and I rarely use it, but I justify it because of the affordability. So if you absolutely insist on keeping a gym membership, I’d recommend looking into Planet Fitness. However, nothing compares to running in the great outdoors. Fresh air and sunshine are added boosts to your health, and who doesn’t like killing multiple birds with one stone? Okay, maybe that was the wrong metaphor to use, but you got the point.
If you don’t want to run, take up a sport a couple times a week. Play tennis, soccer, volleyball, or the newly trendy pickleball with friends, or join an intramural team in your area. Joining a team can even grow your network and help you make new friends. Lord knows, it gets harder and harder to make friends as an adult. So who couldn’t use the extra social activity of a sports club? Not to mention, the social aspect will help you to stick with this and create a habit. You will look forward to seeing friends, and be peer-pressured into not skipping exercise because everyone else is doing it (a rare example of good peer pressure)!
If neither of those sounds intriguing, consider swimming laps as a cardio activity. Swimming is actually one of the best full body cardio workouts there is. So if swimming is something you enjoy and you have access to a pool, try that.
Surfing, dancing, biking and other such hobbies are also great cardio activities that don’t even feel like working out because you enjoy doing them.
So you see, really anything can be counted as cardio, and there are so many fun possibilities. Cardio does not have to be forcing yourself to go run a mile on a treadmill. Have fun with it! The more you enjoy it, the more likely you are to stick with it, and the more likely you are to achieve your goals.
No matter what you choose, cardio is an absolutely crucial part to working out and, without it, it’s hard to see much change. Unless you’re looking to simply bulk up, cardio is necessary and should be included in your workout routine. Luckily, there are a million ways to implement cardio without paying for a workout class at a gym for $50+ a month.
So what are you waiting for?
Read some quick articles on how to create your at home workout routine and cancel that expensive gym membership you barely use TODAY! (Or at least switch to something more affordable like Planet Fitness). Implement some fun cardio that gets you up and out for free about 3 times a week on top of that, and you’re all set!
I do a 15-30 minute floor workout for abs, legs/butt, and arms every morning before I start my day (but after coffee) and I’ve watched my body absolutely transform with just this very simple commitment. Don’t believe me? You saw my before and after picture earlier, but here is more close-up proof of the results I’ve seen with this simple, easy lifestyle change. I promise you I did/do nothing other than what I’ve mentioned here along with dietary changes (which you can learn more about on my Nutrition Page) to achieve and maintain the body I have now. Sorry for the terrible pictures, but at least you know they’re real! LOL
I do take a rest day Saturday or cut my workout short when I’m running late, or even cut out legs when I know I’m going to be doing a lot of leg activity that day (such as when I take my weekly dance class). Obviously don’t overdo it or you won’t stay consistent either. If 3-4 days a week is all you can stand, that is a great start. I do believe with a short workout though it’s best to do it closer to at least 5 days a week to see results.
The overall take away here is that simple, fast, at-home workouts are incredibly effective and being consistent is the key to reaching your goals and maintaining them. Remember that, and you’re golden!
Now go out… or rather… stay in and do it! You got this!