This is a page about how to work out when you don't have money to spare for a gym membership.
First is a list of basic equipment with cheap or free ways they can be obtained
Skipping rope.
This is a terrific piece of workout equipment because it works every part of your body and builds endurance ,balance and coordination. Ropes are very portable too and take up almost no room.
If you wish you had a treadmill but they are too expensive or you don't have the space , consider a skipping rope .
You very occasionally see these in Charity shops.
Sometimes Boot fares/yard sale/jumble sales might have them.
A skipping rope is basically a piece of plastic tube,thin and whippy with 2 handles.
You can make one for free with a piece of electrical cord cut from a dead machine. Add two handles made from wrapping the ends with toilet roll to desired thickness and then finishing off with duct tape/gaffer tape.
I have a very thin one made from speaker wire bought in the £1 shop (enough for at least 2 ropes)and using two long ,slightly wider tubes (felt pen outers) as handles.The wire is knotted at the outer end of the handle.
This type of rope is good for practicing trick jumps as it is much slower in action and gives time to learn a move. You can add beads if you want more weight,before adding the second handle.
Children's skipping ropes are often too short for adult use and may be too twisty for even a child to get good use.
The rope type (nylon or natural), rely heavily on the users whole arm to turn them while the plastic kind are more for use with a wrist action which is more the kind of thing you want in keep fit.
Sports shops have speed ropes at about £5-£15 or they can be purchased online.
Boxers sometimes use leather 'ropes' because they are durable and the weight gives them more of an arm workout.
It is worth inquiring on freecycle/freegle for a rope or any other workout equipment.
Dumbbells /Weights
Dumbbells come in different weights .
The kind that allow adding or subtracting the end weight are useful.
Sometimes you can pick up whole sets from charity shops or boot sales because people tend to get a keep fit urge after festive holidays and then give up in just a few weeks of buying the equipment.
The smaller kind are good for getting started or for things where you only want to add a very little weight(like holding a dumbbell while running,adding to a backpack for more weight or just getting the feel of a new move.
Don't disregard single dumbbells at a good price as unmatched weights in either hand can add a whole new aspect to a workout
Barbells are the longer version .Usually these have heavier weights as you will be lifting them two handed.
You can make your own weights using gallon and half gallon milk containers filled with liquid,earth or sand. Bags filled with sand. Rocks from the garden. gravel. Even womens tights/hose can make good weights and are shapeable.
Pull up bar
If you have access to any old iron piping,you can make a pull up bar.
However people use rope,wooden beams,the door frame,open stairs ,even tree branches ;in fact anything on which you can grip with your hands and pull yourself up. If it can take your weight safely,it can be used.
We have two pull up bars. One is the type that hooks onto the door frame and has various hand positions.
I bought this because the one we previously used kept getting walked into and this one gets used a lot more for its various hand grips ,it was about £30 online.
The other one we have is the kind that is just a straight pole. It telescopes inside the door frame and you secure it on two circular holders screwed inside the frame of the door. You need to remove it between use if it is low enough to walk into.
Hanging leg raise straps
These are so that you can hang by your arms (you lean on your triceps)from the pull up bar and raise your legs with your core muscles with minimal swinging.
These can be bought online but they do seem quite pricey.
Mine are home made using 2 no longer needed Karate belts doubled over and knotted. They loop over the handles of the pull up bar and the belts can still be unknotted if the owners wanted them back.
If I hadn't had access to various no longer needed belts,I would have hunted for some wide webbing or old strong belts.
You can also use old inner tubes and pad the arm part out with a kitchen roll or foam.
Resistance bands.
For helping you to do pull ups when you are not strong enough yet.
Mine is a 26" inner tube with numerous puncture repairs.
It ties through itself onto the pull up bar .When I want to use it, I hook my foot into it .
I have heard suggestions of medical grade elastic tubing being used but I don't know where you could get some. Inner tubes are easily found and at the moment, our pound shop has them for £1 obviously.
They are often used instead of weights as they can be hooked down by a foot and then pulled against or tied to immovable things and used to 'row' with.
Floor Mat
I used to use a camping Mat for my exercise mat.
It was just thick enough so that my boney neck didn't get sore from the floor when doing exercise .
Then when I started skipping ,I wanted to have a bit of noise reduction so that I could skip indoors as we have no carpet and so I bought some of the interlocking floor tiles meant for putting under exercise equipment.
The tiles are flat and don't curl up and catch the rope.
You can use a Blanket if you do floor exercises and if you need more cushioning, a big piece of corrugated cardboard underneath or instead.
I have seen cushioned floor made of tyres with a floating wood floor above,made inside a wooden frame,the example I saw was for judo and covered the whole room.
This summer my son bought me a big piece of wood(the kind you see covering broken shop windows).
He cut it down so that it was manageable and I skip in the garden with it covering the grass which adds some cushioning.The wood is smoother than the grass so the rope doesn't catch and I get an air conditioned skipping area.
Stability ball
These come up every now and again on Freecycle. I have seen one in a charity shop but the price was almost the same as on line so it is worth checking the going price before deciding if you would be getting a bargain.
I tried really hard to find a way around buying one new. I thought of a space hopper(kids kangaroo ball) but decided that wasn't really big enough.
Eventually I had to concede that buying one new was probably the only way to get one.
When buying new,look for puncture resistant. The ball isn't puncture proof as such but wont go 'BANG' suddenly if it gets a hole in from something sharp,it will slowly deflate instead.
A new ball should have a pump with it and a couple of spare stoppers for putting in once it is inflated.
Mine came with a bag for carrying it deflated. Some even have booklets of workouts.
They aren't essential but they do add more challenge to a workout.
Ankle weights
You can buy these ready made but they are just a flat bag of sand sewn into 3 or 4 sections with a bit of velcro to hold them on.
You could easily make them from plastic shopping bag folded over smaller sandwich bags secured with tape.
Keep a length of velcro for each weight so that you can strap it to your ankle and undo it again after.
You can use them on wrists too.
Weight vest
This is a sleeveless waistcoat with pockets ,in which you put weights.
A fishing waistcoat would be an alternative or you could make something using bags and tape as with the ankle weights. Some people prefer a back pack as it already has the straps and buckles and pockets.
You can put them on your front if the weight feels wrong at the back of you.
Tights/panty hose could be filled with bags of sand to use instead and wrapped around your shoulders.
Dipping bench
Use a chair. Lean forward, back to the chair,so only your hands are holding the sides of the seat. Your feet are either flat on the floor or straight out so only the heels are touching the floor. Dip down so your upper arms are parallel to the chair seat,
To make it harder, put feet up off the floor on another chair.
Free machinery, is it worth it?
You often see exercise machines on Freecycle/Freegle lists.
The question you need to ask yourself is;
Why are they giving away such an expensive piece of equipment?
The answer is usually two fold...
They don't use it any more (it may be completely unused)
and it takes up too much space.
So you need to decide whether the same problems will find you wanting rid of it further down the line.
We used to have an exercise bike,it lived in our bedroom and proved so noisy that it was impossible to use after the children were in bed which was the idea behind buying it. If used during the day, it was noisy enough that anyone downstairs had to listen to the huff,huff,huff sound of it through the TV.
If you want to know how noisy a treadmill is,go to a running shop and ask for a gait analysis. They will have you run on a treadmill. Treadmills are noisy. If you live in a flat, they are not going to make you popular with your downstairs neighbours.
Then there is the problem of getting the thing home if you decide you would like it. A trailer is handy if you have help to carry the machine to it. Cars where the back seats fold down and there is a tailgate might cope. Otherwise a van would be needed. Don't forget to calculate cost if you have to pay someone to fetch it for you.
Of course if you have room,then a freebie machine is nice to have .So long as you are not trying to share the space with other things. Remember that sooner or later,you will stop folding the machine out of the way as it is heavy or a lot of bother.
So if you decide against machines ; for running,use either a skipping rope that you can take outside to the garden , a stairwell and use indoors downstairs
or
run outside!
You will need some shoes for running outside and these are probably going to have to be bought new if you are not to injure your feet.
Clothes
You can run in any clothes. My son sometimes runs in his shirt and ordinary trousers. I suggest at least a T-shirt and sweat pants as you will be cooler . In colder weather a wool hat and gloves are useful. A light jacket or tabard for night time visibility and rain resistance is handy though you will be wet anyway because of sweat.
If you look in the charity/goodwill/thrift shops you will find exercise clothes,often originally very expensive clothes for much more sensible prices than the sports shops because the after hols brigade yet again gave up on their good intentions.
I have bought myself Ronhill leggings, Nike running tights, Reebok shorts,2 kappa running shirts and Artura Cycling shirt and trousers all from charity shops . I have seen a triathlon swimming costume,wet suits and flippers and numerous mens shorts and sports tops.
For floor exercise you can wear a singlet/tanktop/vest and shorts. You don't really need shoes unless you are doing a lot of running about or jumping. Shorts should have a soft elasticated waist for floor work or you will find yourself feeling the waist band getting harder and harder.
Bikes
For cycling,a bicycle is a much better investment than an exercise bike. For a start,you can use it outside and it is a real form of transport.
Bicycles are often given away for free but they have come down in price a lot in the last 30 years.
If you decide on buying a second hand bike,check out its joints for buckles and bends,its cranks for looseness and generally for rust. Beware of fancy shaped frames ,they may be hard to get parts for.
You don't need special shoes to ride a bike but if it has toe clips(straps) you will need to be able to fit your shoe inside it if you have to ride it home.
Buy a lock .Even if you only ever go out for a quick ride every so often, you will want to leave it outside of public toilets or the bike shop now and again. Taking it into the building is no guarantee of it not being stolen.
There are contraptions called 'trainers' for use indoors when you want to use a road bike as an exercise bike. I haven't tried one but the professional cyclists use them for warming up before races.
Workouts
If you search on line,you will find so many workouts that you will be spoiled for choice.
Youtube is a good place to look.
Watch a few . The people doing the demonstrating should be able to actually do the workout they are suggesting and look as though they know what they are talking about.
Check that they are not selling something and not expecting you to make them your 'personal trainer' .
If they mention buying their 'shakes',protein drinks','supplements' or a discount on a certain set of workout books or discs, find someone else.
Workout software
This is another way of working out. You need something on which to run the software of course.
If you already have the hardware(PC or console) then look for reviews on the software you are interested in.
Some programs are just for party type fun or for children so if you really want to use them for working out, it is good to know before spending money on them.
Youtube may have video reviews which are especially helpful.
Books
The same goes for books.
The internet makes it much easier to find what you want because you can read other people opinions before committing your hard earned cash.
Remember the library will have workout books.
You can always write out the workouts in a notebook with plain old pencil if you like the workout but don't have money for the book.
It is a good way of remembering the workout in notation form.
Charity shops are usually awash with workout books.
Videos/DVDS
These can be very motivational providing you have somewhere to play the disc/tape when you want to .
You really need to be able to play it in the room in which you wish to workout.If you have the workout on disc, this could be on a laptop so you could even be in the garden.
You may get tired of the repetition .
