By: Joann Bally CSCS
We hope you are convinced that fitness and exercise, always important, are even more important in stressful times. Still, some people may be concerned that they have to make a big financial investment in exercise, whether it be health club membership, purchase of equipment, or fees for instructors or trainers. If this is holding you back, here’s a program you can probably do for free—without any monetary investment.
You probably have some decent walking shoes around. If all you have is high heels and/or flip-flops, go to a discount store and get yourself a pair of cheap, but comfortable sneakers of some sort. Now here’s your program.
Go out and walk for half an hour every day. You can even do it in two 15-minute segments. On two or three non-consecutive days, cut your walk back to 20 minutes and use the other 10 to do body weight squats or lunges, pushups, and abdominal crunches. You can cut back another minute or 2 on some days and do some stretching at the end.
Got a few bucks to spend on this? You can get a jump rope, elastic resistance bands, or exercise book for less than the price of lunch, and an exercise video for just a little more. Join that health club if you can (or keep your membership and use it more), or buy some dumbbells and an exercise bike to use at home. If you like classes, look at your local parks and recreation or adult school offerings.
Are you thinking you don’t have time to exercise? There are 48 half-hour segments in a day. We’re only asking you to use one of them. Lots of people get some of their best ideas when walking, so you may be able to put some of your exercise into a work slot. Most important, exercise gives you better sleep, sharper thinking, and less illness, so in the long run, it opens up more useful time than it takes up.
Browse this site and check back later as we offer more resources on keeping fit in hard times.
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