Saving Money (Not) at the Gym

For most people, bodyweight exercises are better than weight machines anyway. I know it can be frustrating if you can't do even one push-up. But if you try doing push ups from your knees, maybe you can do that and gradually with the help of prayer move on to traditional push-ups. Or if you are somewhat verticle with your shoulders higher than your feet, you might be able to do push-ups and graduate to traditional pushups. Put your hands on a couch or coffee table and try to do your push-ups. Some exercises may be difficult to do, but if you are clever you can find ways to build up your strength. Negative resistance can help. For sit-ups, try using your hands to get into the sitting up position and slowly let your self down without your hands helping. This may be possible, even if you can't sit-up without help from laying down. Pull-ups can be like that, too. I'm guessing most average people can't do even one pull-up. But if you use a stool to get your chin above the bar, you can lift your feet and slowly let your arms extend and lower yourself. Those are forms of negative resistance and can help when you aren't able to do the exercise in the "positive" way. You can also create some weights by saving plastic milk jugs and filling them with enough sand or water that you can still lift them. A few bodyweight exercises sometime during the day can make an incredible difference. Some people say do it everyday, and if it is easy, you probably can. If you are trying to increase your strength and capability, 3 times a week is probably good. If you are strong enough to do massive amounts of exercise, you might follow a different regimen, but you probably don't need any suggestions from me, either.

A membership at the YMCA is $30 upfront and $37 a month. No contract and you can quit at any time.

I never liked the Y because it seemed like a competition of thin people, showing off their shapes in tight outfits. I do like Curves though. It is women only, $29 a month, and there are women of every age and shape there. I go three times a week, and they make it fun with awards, and t-shirts for attending. I am almost up to 300 workouts now, and they do a celebration for each 100 workouts. It is the first time I really like to go work out. On my days I don't work out there, I do walk a couple of miles.

Gym Rat, you need to calm down. Dr. Chumley's point is a valid one. I may have 10 minutes, but that doesn't mean I have time to go to the gym. My gym, the closest one to me, to which I have a per visit membership, is about a 15 minute car ride away. Once I'm there, it would be silly to stay for only 10 minutes, so I stay (when I go) for about half and hour. Due to several illnesses and injuries, the treadmill is all I can do. Well, duh! Walking is free! What the heck am I doing at the gym anyway? So, a 15 minute ride there and one back, and a half hour at the gym equals one hour. I truly do not always have that amount of time (or the shower time afterwards because the gym is always tougher). And by the way, any time and energy (though little is needed) that I spend on communicating with God cannot be substituted with time at the gym. If you think this is a valid substitution, I think you're on the wrong site.

Yankee Rose and others,
I don't think the point was to discourage anybody from using a gym. Rather it was recognize that if you pay for a gym and don't use it, you will be wasting money and adding to your discouragement. For people who like a gym or find it convenient or who have been going regularly for some time, it obviously works. But I think statistics would show that there are a lot of "gym dropouts", maybe more than there are gym rats. Everybody has to find what works best for them. The truth is, for most people who are out of shape and haven't been working out, some daily calisthenics is probably the best place to start. But as was also mentioned previously, exercise like eating and sleeping is a habit that must be developed and sustained. It is much easier to get the benefits of exercise if you get into a routine.

People at my gym know me, encourage me, ask if I'm ok, and have helped me maintain a 35-pound weight "release". Trying new things, familiar faces did it for me once I stopped judging the thinner ones in Lycra. Live and let live! Depends on time of day, staff, etc. Signed a happy, calm, successful weightloser/mainteiner.

Don't forget the 4 legged friends that need exercise. I walk my 2 girls twice a day around my neighborhood about 20 minutes each time.

Although I do have a gym membership at the job (an inexpensive monthly fee deducted from my paycheck), I find it hard to go at times. You see, I'm an outdoor person who doesn't like to be cooped up at the office more than necessary. Trying to cram my exercise into a lunch hour can be rather challenging at times. So as Norris recommends, I go for a lunchtime walk.

These days I use the gym to change in after work when I go trail-running. This to me is better because I can relax as I trail run and knwo that I'm going home afterwards. Also, we have a Thursday night program at NJPAC (Newark) where there's free music that encourages dancing by those attending, which is another form of exercise I enjoy.

I'm not knocking the gym-it can help if you're on a regimen and/or the weather's inclement. But I do prefer movement outside the gym.

Thank you.