40 Budget-Friendly Workouts To Keep You Fit and Healthy

It’s possible live a fit and healthy life and stay within the tightest of budgets. These 40 simple tips help you work out, take care of yourself and properly hydrate without spending hundreds of pounds.

1. GET SOCIAL

Try forming an exercise group with friends and set up meetings 2–3 times a week. Use free resources like a local park, high school track, community pool or someone’s home. Keep it fun and engaging for all by partnering the event with something like going out for coffee afterwards.

2. INVEST IN A DECK OF CARDS

It’s amazing how many workout routines you can build into a simple deck of cards. Aces are one, face cards are 13 and everything else is its corresponding number. Flip a card and perform pushups corresponding to each card’s value. Take a short breather and then flip another card, repeating through as many cards as you can.

3. FIND PASSES

Look for seven-day class passes and trial memberships. To avoid being charged, set a reminder on your phone to cancel if you’re not committed.

4. USE YOUR OWN BODY

Free workout options include walking, pushups, planks and walking up and down the steps of your house.

5. SEEK OUT DISCOUNT SITES

Many gyms, especially newer ones, offer great deals on discount sites like Groupon in an effort to bring in potential members. You can save up to 80% on a monthly membership if you’re willing to be flexible in what type of gym you attend. One month you could box, another you could do Pilates, a third you could do an outdoor boot camp.

6. GET RESISTANCE BANDS

You can get a premium set of resistance bands with all of the attachments you’ll ever need for under £50. If you travel for business or pleasure, many of these resistance band sets come with a travel bag so you can toss it in your suitcase or car and take it with you.

7. LOOK INTO CORPORATE WELLNESS

Some companies subsidise workouts and some specialised trainers and gyms accept health insurance or have arrangements with programs.

8. GET OUTSIDE

You can always go for a hike, run hills and do pullups or pushups in a park.

9. HIT THE BEACH

Try outdoor workouts on the beach or in the water such as swimming and surfing.

10. MAKE YOUR HOME LOOK LIKE A GYM

I mirrored one wall in my room from Home Depot. Friends come over to work out and they love it.

11. INVEST IN KETTLEBELLS

Kettlebells are small but effective. For someone at home, you don’t need a large collection of bells. One bell is enough for most people. It adds some weight resistance with movements at an affordable cost. They also don’t take up much room; you can put it in the car to travel to a park or other location for a workout.

12. DRINK WATER

You don’t need fancy drinks. Remember to drink water for overall hydration and body temperature regulation.

13. WORK OUT AT HOME

You can exercise right in the privacy of your own home, whenever you want, and not have to travel to a gym and spend money on gas.

14. DIY WEIGHTS

You can use gallon water or milk jugs as weights (fill them to the weight you want to use).

15. SWIM AT THE LOCAL LESIURE CENTRE POOL

Water workouts are just as diverse as the workout classes you see in expensive gyms. There is resistance training involved for building lean muscles and cardio, and you can also do intervals in the water.

16. EXERCISE WITH A PARTNER

You can split the cost of a training session and recruit different friends for different activities. This gives you variety while splitting the cost of a session — and everything is more fun with a friend.

17. LOOK FOR LOCAL FITNESS-RELATED MEETUPS

Some trainers offer free outdoor workouts to help spread the word about their services and many fitness-related businesses do the same, such as running stores and juice bars.

18. SHOP AROUND BEFORE JOINING A GYM

Gyms often provide three-day to one-week passes and discounts (sometimes you can even negotiate a lower rate) if you sign up after.

19. JOIN YOUR LOCAL SPORTS TEAM

Members of the public can join amateur sports teams for a small fee. The teams meet frequently and generally play around four games a month. Players may be expected to cover their own expenses, such as purchasing equipment.

20. GET A BIKE

You can find a good used bike if you keep your eyes on bargain shopping areas like Ebay, Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. You don’t have to spend £600+ on a bike to get a good workout. But I would invest in a good, new saddle for your used bike.

21. PURCHASE INEXPENSIVE ACCESSORIES

These could include a jump rope, exercise bands and set of dumbbells.

22. DO A HOME-STUDIO COMBO

Set up a schedule so part of the week you work out for free at home and then the rest of the week you pay to try out classes.

23. LOOK TO INSTAGRAM

Follow some of your favorite trainers on Instagram and take inspiration from them. Most of them are constantly posting videos of their workouts.

24. CHANGE THE TEMPO

The same workout moves can feel very different when you change up the tempo of your workout (i.e., shorter rest periods between exercises).

25. DO PERSONAL TRAINING IN BULK

Just like bulk shopping at Costco, training sessions can be bought in bulk for less. Most personal trainers offer discounted rates when buying training packages. Some will also allow you to break those payments into installments.

26. SHOP SECOND-HAND

You can purchase used weights and other equipment online, at resale stores or even sometimes at places like Goodwill or online at eBay.

27. BE A GOOD GUEST

Some gyms offer free guest passes to their current members to invite a friend who may want to join. Ask your friends if they have any guest passes and make a day of it.

28. USE YOUR SMARTPHONE

You can download apps like MapMyFitness on your phone to track time and distance. No need for a GPS watch that might break your bank.

29. CHANGE YOUR WORK DAY

Ask your colleague to have a walking meeting.

30. CIRCUIT TRAIN WITH BANDS AND SLIDERS

Bands and sliders are compact pieces of equipment that can be taken anywhere.

31. GET A BAND UPGRADE

You can get an anchor to attach the bands to an anchor point for push- or pull-type exercises. The only limit is your imagination.

32. CHECK OUT UNLIKELY WEBSITES

Eventbrite and local city and county Instagram feeds, etc., can offer workout classes.

33. TURN TO YOUTUBE

Many online trainers provide YouTube videos and one-week plans before the start of their new seasonal challenge. These plans and videos are free and give you a chance to try a new workout.

34. WORK PART TIME

Offer to volunteer or work at a fitness studio or gym for a discounted membership.

35. SKIP THE DRIVE-THRU AND WALK

Not only that, but park at the far end of the car park.

36. CHECK A GYM’S WEBSITE FOR FREE WORKOUTS

Many gyms offer a free weekly workout to introduce prospective members to their style of working out in hopes you’ll want to join.

37. JOIN THE YMCA

Most YMCAs are very affordable and offer classes in addition to providing gym equipment, pools, tennis courts and other sports facilities.

38. USE YOUR BIKE FOR EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES

Cycling can be used as a way to complete tasks on your “to-do” lists quickly.

39. RUN ON A PUBLIC TRACK

You can run intervals, different speeds and different distances on the track.

40. UTILISE APPS

Many fitness/ weight loss apps offer free workouts or, for less than the cost of a gym membership, premium options with a wide variety of workouts. Check your favorite apps to see what they have to offer.

Learn how to put all the components needed for a successful weight loss program together by contacting me on 07971 22 22 35 to schedule your time TODAY!

Blog Written by Tanvir Heer Coaching

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