This story was first published on January 8, 2013.
If you regularly venture into a gym, you may have noticed things have gotten a little busy over the last few days.
You may have encountered difficulties getting a turn on your favourite piece of equipment, classes packed to capacity, faces you’ve never seen before with bodies decked out in the latest in fitness fashion.
Two weeks into the New Year and many of us are putting our “get fit and exercise more” resolutions into action in the best way we know how: by spending money.
The easiest and often most expensive way to do that is to sign a contract, commit to weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments and obtain a gym membership.
The reality is that many of us who sign up to have a club deduct from our accounts will never get much of a return on our investment. Indeed, many will go to the gym a handful of times and then put away the sneakers – or return to the great outdoors for exercise instead. That’s why gyms are much emptier in November than they are in January.
So, without joining a gym, how can you commit to your new year’s resolution to get fit?
As personal trainer and nutritionist Katherine Rothwell recently told us, there are plenty of alternatives to paying for the privilege of stationary running on a treadmill at the gym – starting with simply getting up a little earlier and running outside.
“Running is a great exercise because even a short run of 10 minutes can deliver great results,” she said. “For time-poor parents it’s fantastic as you can literally run straight from your own home, either on your own or with a pram.”
And if you need to be close to the kids, then there are plenty of ways to start exercising at home. Rothwell told us that purchasing a set of dumbells is a good way to get started with your do-it-yourself gym.
“There is so much you can do at home. You don’t need a gym … There are many websites that provide online programs,” she said. “You can definitely do a lot of fitness stuff at home. Push-ups, squat jumps, star jumps, running on the spot or skipping can give you a really good workout.”
Another excellent way for getting fit is to enter events – a 10k run, triathlon, ocean swim or even a marathon. Enter with a friend, focus on a goal (be it simply completing the race or a particular time) and the gentle nudge of competition should be motivation enough to have you sticking to a training routine. Training schedules for such races are usually easily and freely available online.
There’s also the option of looking for locally run classes in your area – especially for yoga and Pilates. Usually, it’s possible to pay-per-class or purchase a 10-class pass, meaning you can test your motivation and commitment to the new routine before signing up for a 12-month deal.
Let’s face it, it’s not just the cost associated with joining a gym, but also the time factor that matters. As much as we’d like to get to a gym once, twice, three times a week or even every day, there’s always a certain something that gets in the way: life.
But “life” provides plenty of opportunities for exercise too. Spending time kicking a ball around the park with the family, taking a walk around the block at lunch, leaving the car at home, getting off the train one stop early, catching up with a friend while enjoying a weekly bike ride.
Do you need to join a gym to get fit? How else can you start exercising? Let us know below.