15 Ways to Save Money and Exercise Frugally

1. Skip the gym.

One of the biggest costs for many people is the cost of a gym membership. It's not always worth the cost, especially since many gyms are a complete rip off and overcharge their customers, but it will motivate you to work out if you get into the routine of going to the gym daily. If you don't lack for motivation then you can work out by yourself at home, or at a community pool, or on a track or trail, you don't need to pay the monthly gym fee. Cancel your membership and use one of the options below. (Just remember to MAKE SURE it is actually cancelled. Many gyms keep charging people for months after the cancellation and its very difficult to get your money back once they've stolen it from your credit card / bank account.)

2. Cheap home equipment.

Do you really need an expensive home workout machine? No! The possibilities are endless, but some favourites include getting a barbell or a couple of dumbbells. With either of these, you can do a very complete, full-body workout. Or try jumping rope, or using a medicine ball, or a stability ball, or stretchable bands, or a chin-up bar that you can install in a doorway.

3. Walk.

Walking is free. You don't even need shoes (although you will probably want comfortable shoes) or fancy workout clothes (again, find some comfortable clothes already in your closet). Find a school track or a nice park, and you're all set to walk, jog or run to your heart's content.

4. Run.

Running can be expensive if you buy a lot of gadgets such as a heart rate monitor and other similar items. But really all you need is a good pair of shoes. Other than that, you can run anywhere anywhere near your home and get a good workout.

5. Swim.

If you have to pay to use a swimming pool, this isn't a frugal option. But you might live near a beach or a lake, where you can swim for free, or there might be a community pool near you for very cheap. And swimming is one of the best workouts there is. (Note: The YMCA is also available, but you'd be surprised how expensive it is.)

6. Even cheaper home equipment.

Don't have the cash for some dumbbells or medicine ball? Use stuff you already have. A stairway can give you a free step workout. Old paint cans can be weights. A sturdy tree limb can be a chin-up bar. Be creative. Or, alternatively, you probably know 10 people who have exercise equipment they're not using (it's extremely common) — ask them if they'd let you borrow them for free.

Failing that, go on Craigslist and shop for barely used bargains.

7. Sports.

Play basketball with some friends, or go outside and play soccer with your kids, or join a local league. The key is to get active. Archery is more expensive to get into, as is boxing (and not recommended with a boxing instructor) and tennis. But street hockey is relatively cheap, as is many other amateur sports which require almost no equipment.

8. Free fitness info.

Instead of buying a bunch of books and picking up a magazine every time you go to the store, visit the library or surf the web for some free exercise info. You are reading some right now.

9. Cheap workout fuel.

Instead of buying expensive workout supplements, you can just use what you normally have in the house. A great post-workout drink, for example, is chocolate milk: it has protein and carbs, which is really what you want after a workout. Other good sources of protein include eggs, low-fat yogurt, soy protein, and nuts. Check out Vegan websites for high protein recipes.

10. Bodyweight exercises and pliometrics.

Another great free workout that doesn't require any equipment is bodyweight exercises: pushups, chair dips, crunches, Hindu squats, Hindu pushups, lunges, squats and many more. Also try pliometrics, which can help you burn tons of calories.

11. Use the stairs.

If you work in a tall building, use the stairs every day instead of the elevator. Over the course of a month, you could burn a few pounds of calories.

12. Converse or contemplate.

Instead of buying an MP3 player to keep your mind company while walking or running, try free alternatives: conversation with a partner or contemplation while you're alone. They're actually very calming and worth giving a try.

13. Get an exercise partner.

Look for exercise buddies on Craigslist so you can go jogging and do other exercise activities together. Its cheaper than a personal trainer and well worth having a new friend with similar interests.

14. Invent your own exercise routine.

Write it down, post it on the wall near your TV / computer and on your fridge as a reminder to exercise while watching TV. Do jumping jacks while the water for your coffee boils.

Example: 5 x 20 PUSH UPS, 5 X 100 JUMPING JACKS, 100 BICEP CURLS (USING AN OBJECT AS A WEIGHT), 2 X 100 SITUPS.

Do this daily and it will make a difference.

15. Have sex more often.

Nothing gets the heart pumping more than a rigorous workout in the bedroom. Try some of the more difficult positions and tire yourself out. Huzzah!

How to get Rid of Fat Lines

Wrinkles in the skin on your stomach are caused by extra fat over a long period of time.

When body fat accumulates in the belly area, rolls form when you sit down or crunch up. If you repeat this movement often, fat lines will start forming in the area in-between where the rolls are. To get rid of fat lines, you need to attack not only the lines themselves, but also the fat that causes them.

Ergo, to get rid of fat lines you first need to shed the fat causing them. That means doing a lot of cardio exercises, possibly combined with weight training. Some trainers will tell you it can be done with weight training alone, but I recommend doing both with approx. 80% cardio and 20% weight training in order to shed the necessary fat while maintaining muscle tone. Trying to do it with only weight lifting will be more difficult if you lack motivation because you will tire easily due to low endurance.

Once you've shed the necessary fat then you can follow the steps below for getting rid of those ugly fat lines on your stomach.

Step 1

Shed the necessary body fat until you have "six-pack abs". If you have difficulty performing this step I recommend hiring a personal trainer to get the necessary advice. Its cheaper than expensive surgery and you will feel better knowing you've done it the natural way.

Step 2

Steps 2 and 3 are optional. They will speed up the reduction of fat lines, but they will disappear on their own if you do Steps 1, 4 and 5.

Treat fat lines as you would wrinkles or stretch marks. Apply moisturizing cream to them or massage with Vitamin E oil. Massage the chosen product into the skin and along the whole length of the lines. Repeat two or three times a day for as long as necessary. Creams and lotions that contain vitamin E will help soothe and regenerate the skin and with time will help get rid of stretch marks and fat lines, and even reduce the appearance of old scars.

Step 3

For best results apply creams containing alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) to your stomach lines. You can find body lotions with AHAs in the ingredients list, but if the lines are deep and quite noticeable, you should try a face cream, as the concentration of AHAs will be higher. To use, simply apply over the lines and massage until the cream is absorbed. Creams containing AHAs can be combined with topical steroid creams to reduce inflammation of the skin and improve the appearance of stretch marks.

Step 4

Remember for any of these steps to be effective you first need to lose the necessary fat and maintain your new weight once you've lost it.

Thus it is very important to maintain the same level of body fat otherwise the lines will keep happening (and returning) as long as your body fat is too high and you have rolling skin when you sit down. Maintain a healthy diet and continue to exercise regularly.

Step 5

Perform abdominal crunches and ab exercises on a regular basis to tighten up the muscles in your stomach and firm up the skin above it.

No belly fat + firm skin = no rolls + no fat lines.

The Listen to your Body Diet

This is a simple concept that many healthy people have been following without realizing that they are doing it. The problem is that many unhealthy people don't listen to their own body and end up ultimately messing up their body's internal chemistry and rhythms.

Pay attention to what your body is saying and you will discover the best strategy for your dietary goals.

Rule #1. Eat when you are hungry (but not starving!)

It's not as simple as it sounds. Most people eat based on time of the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner), not when their body actually feels hungry. Sometimes people eat when they're not even hungry simply because it is "lunch time" or they will be starving at dinner/supper time because they were waiting since 3 PM to eat.

Also remember that sometimes thirst is mistaken for hunger. If you only ate one hour ago and feel hungry, drink a glass of water, wait 30 minutes and re-assess the need for food.

Rule #2. Stick to Smaller Meals and Snacks if your goal is Weight Loss

The question "How much should I eat" is often mentioned by dieters, and the amount is hard to ballpark. Different people have different needs based on their exercise levels and height. If you eat small meals and healthy snacks that are between 200 to 400 calories you will feel content, eating a total of roughly 1600 to 2000 calories per day depending on your size. If you're finding it's not enough or you're hungry again in an hour, raise the food intake by 100 calories until the adjustment works for you.

Try the following routine:

Breakfast 400 calories.

Mid-Morning snack 150 calories.

Lunch 400 calories.

Afternoon snack 150 calories.

Supper 400 calories.

Evening snack 100 calories.

Total: 1600 calories.

The exact times should vary day by day and be based on whether you actually feel hungry or not.

Rule #3. Eat Healthy

As often as possible try to stick to food that is not processed, fried, frozen or high in saturated fat. Instead, eat whole grains, dairy, lean meats, fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, and healthy fats. Fruits, grapes, berries, nuts are awesome!

This doesn't mean you can't sometime indulge in ice cream or even bacon, but you should watch your calories when eating such foods.

Rule #4. Learn to Read Labels

Pay attention to labels on food packaging. Learn the differences between saturated (bad) and unsaturated (good) fats. Learn how many calories is in your favourite foods and drinks. Keep a journal of what you eat for a whole week once per month (don't do it constantly, its better not to obsess about it too much) and with time you will be able to count calories in your head without thinking about it. You can also get gadgets or Apps for your SmartPhone that can calculate calories for you. (eg. A nutritional scale for your kitchen can be quite useful.)

Try these 4 rules together and in combination with regular balanced exercise and you will see results.

The Path of Most Resistance

Do you dread going to the gym or exercising?

Do you have more negative memories about exercising than positive?

Do you treat your body poorly?

Do you talk about how miserable exercising makes you because you feel you aren't accomplishing anything?

Do you exercise less and less on a monthly basis?

Do you have fewer positive experiences with exercise every year?

If you answered yes to most of the questions above then you need to change the way you think about exercise and becoming a fitter, healthier, stronger, faster, more youthful you.

First of all consider the following formula:

TALENT X INVESTMENT = SUCCESS.

Talent is your natural talent to do something. If we were to rank your Strength for example on a scale of 1 to 20, with 10 being the average, how well would you rank? High? Low? And how high would you want that number to be? 14? 16? 18? 20 evidently would be amongst the strongest people on the planet and very rare. But a 14 isn't anything to sneeze at either.

Investment is the amount of time and effort you want to spend on a task. In this case the task might be losing weight, building strength, improving flexibility, or even just feeling better about your health.

Now lets pretend for a moment you are below average in your Strength. A mere 7. The local wimp who wants to be the next Charles Atlas (bodybuilder from the 1920s to 1970s). Is the young Mr Wimp going to accomplish anything special if he is only working on it 5 minutes per day? No, he won't, not when you consider there is 1,440 minutes in a day.

Now lets pretend for a moment young Mr Wimp decides he wants to really practice hard and aims higher, perhaps going for 1 hour per day. Well its better. But is 7 hours per week really enough to turn Mr Wimp into Charles Atlas? No, probably not. It will improve some of his muscle tone, but its not going to be anything spectacular. It might boost him up to an 8 or a couple more points higher given time.

No, what Mr Wimp really needs is a CHALLENGE. And its going to become a huge time commitment.

Think 3 hours per day, 5 days per week. Approx. 15 hours per week. If his goal is to be building muscle then he needs to lifting weights during those hours. He will be tired and sore afterwards, but if he has the mental fortitude to keep doing it then he will start to see results. Over time he will continue to challenge himself and build up his strength. If his final goal is a 16 Strength then it will take him years to accomplish, but it can be done if he invests the time.

He isn't going to accomplish this goal by being lazy and taking the path of least resistance. No. He has to take the Path of Most Resistance if he is going to accomplish this goal.

Now I am not suggesting you go out and buy Charles Atlas' book. Certainly not. You can do so if you really want to, but its really like any other bodybuilding book you might find. (According to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charles Atlas is the reason Arnold became a bodybuilder in the first place.)

That and the whole "15 minutes per day" slogan from Charles Atlas just isn't enough time investment to be truly effective.

What I trying to convey here is that it is really more a matter of will power if you want to succeed in a particular goal.

Yes, natural talent is good. But it will only take you so far if you don't have the will power to spend the investment of time in attaining your goal.

You can learn to self-motivate, you can hire a personal trainer, you can get yourself an exercise buddy... but the end result is you need to find the will power and the motivation to make that investment of time in taking the Path of Most Resistance towards getting your goal.

Because doing nothing or almost nothing will get you this far: Nowhere.

Lets pretend you are Mr Average with a 10 Strength. You only exercise 10 minutes per day. About an hour per week. Using our formula from further above how far will that get Mr Average?

10 Strength X 1 Hour per Week = "10 Strength-Hours" (sorta of like measuring Torque in "foot-pounds").

In contrast Mr Wimp's new exercise routine is...

7 Strength X 15 Hours per Week = "105 Strength-Hours".

Now who do you think will be growing muscle mass faster? Someone doing 10 Strength-Hours or 105 Strength-Hours? The answer is obvious. Before you know it Mr Wimp will have a 10 Strength or higher. He may eventually reach a point where he decides to change his name to "Mr Strong" (kudos to the children's book).

So how do you know where you rank on the Strength Scale of 1 to 20?

Well, there are several ways to try and figure that out for yourself. You could use the previous post I made titled "How to Test your Muscle Tone", but that won't give you a detailed result because its only 2 exercises.

What you really need is a comprehensive test for a variety of different exercises and a ranking / points system for each of the exercises. In theory you could ask your personal trainer (if you have one) to come with some kind of system for testing you and then giving you a ranking. Or if you live in Toronto you could hire me as your personal trainer and I could do it for you.

You could try and come up with a system yourself, but it will be tricky to judge since you're not the most unbiased person when it comes to your own fitness. What you really need is an objective judge.

Then once you know where you are you can say where you'd like to be. Go after that goal. Invest the time and every month do the test again to see how close to your goal you are. If you are start off at 9 Strength and your goal is 14 and you're up to 10 after only a month then in theory you only have 4 more months to go before you reach your desired level of fitness.

And there is nothing more motivating than knowing you're making progress and succeeding at your goals.

How to Test your Muscle Tone

Here are two commonly used methods for testing muscle tone:

#1. Muscle Tone for Legs Test: Knees bent

Put your back against the wall, bend your knees as if you were sitting. Hold for as long as possible.

Results: If you hold

Over 60 seconds: excellent
Between 45 and 60 seconds: good
Between 30 and 45: medium
Under 30: low

EXAMPLE: The Olympic ski champion Franck Piccard held this position for over 15 minutes.

#2. Muscle Tone for Arms Test: Push-ups 
 
Lying on stomach, hands resting on the ground at shoulder height, arms bent, push up the floor stretching arms up and come down. Count the number of push ups made in 1 minute.

Result: If you exceed

Over 30 : excellent
Between 25 and 30: good
Between 15 and 25: medium
Under 15: low

The world record for the most push-ups in 1 minute is 199. Source: recordholders.org/en/list/pushups.html