You DON’T have to be RICH to get FIT!

Many people blame a lack of cash for not being fit, but getting fit doesn’t necessarily require a lot of money. Sure, it’s much nicer to workout inside an air-conditioned gym, more comfortable to use nice gym quality equipment, and more fun to burn calories in a class with friends – but you don’t have to join a gym to get fit.

This past fall, my husband and I were in Wellington, Florida leading a boot camp at Ultima Fitness. Steve, known for using creative fitness tools, shared his fall spirit by leading participants through a workout with pumpkins instead of medicine balls. At first, everyone giggled at the idea of doing squat trusts with pumpkins but, once their muscles started burning, Steve was the one who got the last laugh.

Fitness tools can be very expensive when setting up a home gym. One Kettlebell or a Medicine Ball alone can be $70 each and free weights typically run a dollar a pound, which adds up fast. Even used equipment can be insanely over-priced in my opinion. 

Not only can fitness equipment be expensive, there are so many choices and brands to choose from it can be overwhelming. Most people don’t know what brands to trust, nor do they know how to use everything.  Plus, shipping can cost more than the products themselves when shipping heavy weight equipment.

If you’ve faced this struggle and want to start a home gym, I suggest starting with Bodylastics resistance bands. The customizable starter set only sells for $45 and provides you with a door anchor, four bands, four handles, four leg straps, workout DVD, instruction book , travel bag, and 88lbs of adjustable resistance bands with a lifetime warrantee.

They even have a strong man edition which has a whopping 254lb set of Bodylastics bands for the big boys which you can actually carry around with you, unlike a set of 254lbs of free weights. Since Bodylastics offers free online workouts at www.LiveExercise.com, consumers can learn how to use the bands properly and get a fresh new workout every day for free.

Although Bodylastics tops my list of most affordable and practical fitness tools for the price, you’d be surprised what you could use around the house, like two 1-gallon jugs of water. Each gallon, weighing approximately 8lbs, can be used as a set of dumbbells to do walking lunches, bicep curls, shoulder press, squats, tricep kickbacks, chest press and even weighted crunches.

Even if you have nothing but your own body, there are many weight-bearing exercises, using your own body weight, that are fantastic for getting in shape like push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers, squats, lunges and plank, just to name a few. These exercises are not only simple, but extremely effective. That’s why we use these exercises as part of our online BCx Boot Camp at FitStudio.

Not only do you not need equipment to get in shape, you don’t need to necessarily pay for a trainer to get the guidance you need. With fitness sites like FitStudio, you have access to a team of fitness experts who are dedicated to help you get all the information, instruction and encouragement you need with just one click. FitStudio offers a vast video library (as pictured above) demonstrating various exercises you can do at the home or gym.

For example, with our BCx Boot Camp community, people from all parts of the world are “working out together”, encouraging each other and experiencing the similar results and camaraderie our local boot campers experience who are paying $300-$400 for the program.

I guess what I’m trying to say is there’s really no excuse to not to get fit anymore. There are endless tips and information to help anyone get fit anywhere, anytime, with any amount of money. Of course there will always be health clubs and trainers ready and welling to help you, but don’t be discouraged if you have nothing but a computer.

CLICK HERE to get your own set of Bodylastics Bands.
CLICK HERE to join BCx Boot Camp at FitStudio