| SolveYourProblem
eLearning Series:
Your Most Popular Exercise & Fitness Questions
Learn the right way to get into
shape...
( 50 articles
in this series )
Is
There Fitness for Free?
All the cool kids go to the gym or so it sometimes
seems. People are forking out hundreds of dollars per year
for a membership that may be used rarely, if at all. Sure,
the gym is great and all but what do you do if you can’t afford
the fees? Better yet, what if you’ve done the whole gym thing
but it just bores you to tears? For the millions of people
that choose to not go the typical gym route, there are actually
hundreds of available options for working out in someplace
other than your living room and many of these options are absolutely
free. There are few things that fire up a mood like a free
deal, so check out some of these ideas and let the enthusiasm
take you right out your front door and into a fitness world
that won’t cost you a dime!
Put your tax dollars to work
Paying taxes can be a fairly depressing business, especially
since you can’t be sure of ever seeing that money again. The
good news is that you can get a return on your local dues by
checking out the recreation facilities offered by your county
or municipality. The majority of tax-levying counties across
the country actually do put some of that money into services
for citizens. Call your local Department of Sports and Recreation
to find out about the kind of resources offered in your area.
At the very least you should expect to find tennis courts and
a swimming pool. Put in an hour of laps a few times during
the week and you’ve got yourself a nice body-shaping tool.
Tennis courts frequently double as basketball courts, so find
a friend to play a set or a game of horse. Larger counties
may offer more sophisticated services that include weight rooms,
fitness centers, walking tracks, and more, so it’s important
to find out exactly what’s available for your needs. Nearly
all county recreation services are free but if there is a fee,
it will be minimal. After all, that’s what all those taxes
are for!
Surf the Internet, not the ocean
When your routine needs some variety, surf the Internet to
find a free one-day pass to a local gym or fitness studio.
Plenty of chain gyms do this to entice potential customers
into signing on with them, but even smaller mom-and-pop centers
are offering passes. Do a fast Internet search to find printable
passes for most gyms. While you can’t make a regular habit
out of using free passes, it can be a nice way to mix things
up and surprise your body.
Pretend to be a kid again
You probably have your old bike stowed away somewhere around
your house, so why not pull it out, dust it off, and take a
ride? Bicycling is a fantastic way to burn calories and shape
up the lower half of your body, especially if you ride in hilly
areas that can surprise the muscles. If your bike needs some
fixing up, try to do it yourself or ask a friend. For those
of you who gave away the bike along with the bong, go to a
couple of yard sales to find one secondhand. You can typically
tell right away if a bike is in good condition or not, plus
at a yard sale you can bargain with the seller to get a better
price. While this might call for a small initial investment,
biking on public streets is totally free and gives you a great
workout. Remember to take safety precautions by always wearing
a helmet and attaching reflective safety tape to your body
if you ride at night.
Go to the dogs
This can be a cool double play if you handle your cards right.
Look up dog groomers and dog boarders in your phone book, and
then make some calls to find out if anyone needs a part-time
or contract dog-walker. When you find a job, you’ll be getting
fit and getting paid at the same time. Not only is that wildly
cool but it’s actually paying you to exercise. What could be
sweeter?
Check out the library
If you haven’t been your local public library in a while,
it’s not the same place you remember from childhood. Modern
library science has caught up with the rest of the world and
introduced compact discs, videotapes and even DVDs to the bookshelves.
Many libraries now offer exercise videos and DVDs for checkout,
so cruise over to your own local place and have a chat with
the friendly librarian. Checkout periods can vary from as few
as three days to as much as three weeks, so it’s important
to use whatever tapes and DVDs you check out as soon as possible.
Having to return an exercise tape you didn’t even look at can
be discouraging, so make a point to work out with your temporary
tape as soon as possible.
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2005
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