5 Ways to Workout for Less

I was taking another look at the FSA eligible medical benefits from a previous post "What Medical Expenses are Tax Deductible?" when I noticed something odd.

According to the list, gym memberships and health club memberships are never FSA eligible, however diet pills and diet programs are eligible but only with a doctors prescription. In other words, the government doesn't believe exercise is worth giving you a tax deduction, until your health problems become so serious that a doctor has to prescribe you exercise! Millions of Americans can prevent chronic diseases such as Type II diabetes and various cardiovascular diseases if they had stuck to a consistent diet and exercise regimen in the first place.

Per year, Americans spend close to $19 billion in gym memberships and many memberships go unused. Thus, I have resolved to get through 2011 without joining a gym, but still managing to stay in shape. Here are some ways to work-out while avoiding the gym:

1. Utilize household chores
According to livestrong.com, vaccuuming burns165 calories per hour for an average, 145-pound person.
Try incorporating squats with an overhead press while lifting groceries into the cupboard. It allows you to tone muscles in your arms, shoulders, glutes, and quadriceps. Sweeping hardwood floor allows you to work out your chest and shoulders, as does painting a room. In fact, every time you go to sit in a chair, if you stand back up without letting your butt hit the ground, you can easily incorporate 50 squats into your day without hitting the gym.

2. Subscribe to a Fitness Magazine
You can get 12 issues with specialized workout routines in each of them with full color pictures, and breakdowns of how many sets and reps to do. Usually they will allow you to access workout videos that are available online where each move will include written and visual demonstrations. This is all for usually $10 a year, a fraction of a yearly gym membership.You are even eligible for free exercise equipment giveaways that the magazine company might run! Try fitness.com, Self, or Women's Health Magazine.

3. Play

Join a team sport in your local community. Or you could set aside some time in your week to wrestle with your dog, try some family yoga time, or even playing Twister would get you to stretch out some muscles! Alternatively, volunteer to teach a community dance class, play basketball at your local Boys & Girls Club, or volunteer to play each week with children in homeless shelters.

4. Workout DVDs
Utilize the library's free workout dvds. If your library is part of a consortium, you can even request dvds from other libraries in the area. My library consortium include DVDs for yoga, pilates, tai chi, kickboxing, and even pre-natal workouts. Did I mention this is all free?

5.  Go explore the outdoors
Walk, run, hike, swim or go Geocache (I promise to include a post on this soon). Some parks have fitness circuits with beams to improve balance, chin up bars, planks to do sit-ups, etc along the path. Running on the beach or up hilly areas can triple the amount of calories you burn.


Optional: Run by the gym and smile at all the people inside paying anywhere from $10 to $100/a month to run on a treadmill which you are doing for free! (plus Mother Nature, that frugal zealot, doesn't bind you into a 1 year contract with an initial enrollment fee).