5 Free & Frugal Fitness Tips

It’s January. And, if you’re anything like us, chances are your Facebook timeline and office water cooler conversations are all clogged up with one thing: fitness regimes. Gym memberships, Wii Fits, fancy new trainers, home workout equipment, endless Bokwa classes…you name it, our friends, family and colleagues are probably lycra-clad and doing it. It’s the age-old curse of January.

If you’re tired of your nearest and dearests’ expensive attempts to get in shape (we bet that pricy gym membership will be lost down the back of the sofa in a month!), never fear. We’ve come up with some brilliant free and frugal fitness tips to get you active without a big budget. Sweat bands at the ready, ladies!

1. YouTube

Forget splashing out on the latest trendy fitness class (zumba, bokwa, pole dancing…), instead of expensive sessions in the gym, hop, skip and jump online to find your perfect fitness class. You’ll find full classes in absolutely everything, from pilates and yoga to black belt karate and salsa fitness workouts.

There’s something to suit everybody out there, but there are some YouTube fitness gurus who get a lot of attention. Cassey Ho provides a bubbly, no-mercy version of pilates designed to get your abs working like nobody’s business. Want to learn the ancient art of yoga from your living room, for free? Yogasync.TV will do the trick! Meanwhile look up Bexlife for an all round fitness and wellness approach. Aaaand rest!

2. Get tidying

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Hate housework and lack the motivation to hit the gym? Why not roll two of your least favourite tasks into one by incorporating exercises into your weekly chores? It might sound daft but there are plenty of calorie burning chores you can capitalise on to make cleaning fun and fitness-friendly. Scrubbing, hoovering and washing windows can all be ramped up with lunges and extra moves to become a really good workout.

3. Take a break from the telly

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If you’re anything like me, you’ll love a slobby telly marathon. Great for letting all your cares drift away, not so great for your fitness regime. Instead of using ad breaks to make another cuppa, why not take 5 minutes to burn some calories?

An ad break is the perfect length of time to squeeze in some exercise – and there’s an immediate reward once your favourite show comes back on. You could even make this work while you wait for your next online bingo game to get going! Here are a few ideas you can try no matter how energetic you’re feeling:

• 3 repetitions of 1 minute arm circles will burn 20 calories
• Running up and down your stairs during an ad break will burn 42 calories
• 4 repetitions of 1 minute squats (in front of the sofa so that your bottom is almost touching the seat) will burn 80 calories 

4. Soup can tricep curls

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Forget investing in expensive exercise gear, there are plenty of items in your home you can use to improve your fitness. Soup cans are a great example and awesome for working the upper arm area. Grab one in each hand and lift your hands behind your head. Alternate lifting one and then the other straight up above you. Do this for one minute, rest, then repeat 3 times. Good old Heinz.

5. Go hoopy loopy

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O.K. so this one’s not free but it is pretty cheap and really fun. Hula hooping burns an incredible number of calories (more than step aerobics!) and it’s fantastic for your posture and your muscle tone. Just 15 minutes of hula hooping every day will have you feeling the burn and getting trim in no time. And, if shaking what your mama gave ya for 15 minutes every day doesn’t sound like much fun, there are plenty of tricks and special moves you can learn too, just take a look at the free YouTube videos!