Working Out On A Budget

by Dave Klecha

There’s a couple of common issues that most beginners in exercise face. One is the expense. As I mentioned before, my future sister-in-law recently dropped $1800 on a bike, which she only uses to train for and race in triathalons. Gym memberships can cost anywhere from $50 and up per month, and most of the equipment you can buy for use at home is also a significant expense. And, for instance, if you find your body can’t handle weight training, or your schedule doesn’t allow for an hour of road biking per day, you might dump a lot of money into something that will only get used a couple times then, if you’re lucky, sold on E-bay for half what you paid for it.

The other problem is one of intimidation and, I know, even as a big ol’ Marine, I felt it sometimes heading to the gym. I mean, you want to go to the gym, you want to work out, but unless you can manage a complete lack of concern about what others think of you, it can be intimidating to go there and work out at a beginner’s level.

So, improvise!

For example, if you want a scalable hand-weight, you can use gallon jugs of water. One gallon of water weighs about 9 pounds, and the jugs are ideal for using in squats or stair-stepping exercises. Use a sock to make a loop through the handle and you can use them to do curls or most any other exercise using barbells.

Running or walking can be done just about anywhere, of course, and you can generally get a pedometer pretty cheaply and use it to measure your pace and distance traveled. Also, mark out distances along your route with your car, using the tripometer’s tenths of a mile gauge. I just scoped mine out this afternoon and worked out that my turnaround point is about three quarters of a mile from where I start, giving me a mile-and-a-half workout. I also noted a landmark for the 1.5 mile mark for when I want to start running a full 3 miles.

Last weekend, I also built myself a pull-up bar in the basement. The total cost was about $15 in materials–a 2×4, a 4-foot galvanized steel bar, lag screws and athletic tape. To give a quick rundown: I cut three 18″ lengths of the 2×4, then drilled a 3/4″ hole in each about an inch from one end. Then I took the bar and the lengths of 2×4 into my laundry room where I have exposed floor joists. I screwed the 2×4 lengths into the joists so the 3/4″ hole is toward the bottom, then inserted the galvanized steel bar. Wrapped in athletic tape and, quick as pie, you’ve got your own pull-up bar.

Now, most people getting into shape again for the first time aren’t going to be able to do pull-ups, so you can either get a partner to help take some of the weight or stand on something that’ll get you most of the way up to the bar. The important thing is to go trough the motion with some weight, if not all, through many repetitions. Even after you can do one or two, you’ll want keep doing some with the assistance.

In fact, your ability to work out in the comfort of home, for less than the hundreds or thousands of dollars you might spend at the sporting good store, is only limited by your ingenuity (or your ability to Google for other ideas).

Good luck with your workouts!