A girl's guide to cheap exercise and working out

by King Tj

Useful exercise tips for working out. How to beef up on a budget - with DIY tips and online resources to help you exercise for cheap

As a self-confessed bookworm and one who carried with her a childhood happily governed by fantasy-filled quiet time with myself and a few equally-inactive imaginary companions, I was not someone inclined to be noted for my physical prowess or any sort of stamina (rather, I was the slow, vertically-challenged runt people tended to rub on the head and refer to as 'so cute' whenever I got angry).

Being chucked into a tough spot lately made me relinquish my comfort zone and head off to a scary place I like to call The Gym. Somebody told me once that it's like getting free drugs pumped into you, and I could use a little free anything these days.

They lied. The gym wasn't really free - I did have to fork out a little bit for the monthly gym membership, but it was entirely (entirely!) worth it. (Note: almost all gyms have a special rate for limited time memberships, so if you have time during the day and on weekends, this is a great time to go - and a much cheaper option. Some gyms may even have student rates. The first gym I went to was in the basement of a college and only had 2 treadmills, an old elliptical and some weights. All I needed!)

For fear of sounding like an exercise nut, I think I should outline all the benefits exercise has given me before heading into the techniques I employed to buff up this little body of mine.

1. I didn't kill the administration officer at my local immigration office because I was too busy enjoying the endorphins, too tired from my workout, and too busy admiring the quivering biceps that were telling me to take them home and pamper them. Mine, of course. Not the administration officer's.

2. I saw some real freaks in the weights section who I'm sure will be in the news some day for murdering people of importance. I consider this a benefit, because you can't put a price on being present to watch someone prepare for some good old gangster revenge from the Dirty Thirties. Alternatively, who knows? Maybe the endorphin-release of going to the gym will actually stop them from thinking they're Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Or the Kray twins.

3. Gyms are the poor man's answer to the country club. If you're at a big one, take some friends along, get a cappuccino at the cafeteria, sit in the sauna (most gyms have this) and complain about / delight in how much arse you've seen in the walk from the locker to the shower. You may also discuss why people forgo all social rules when suddenly naked among strangers.

There are countless reasons why getting serious about exercise is great, but this article is more on how to find the useful stuff and not waste your time panting around and seeing no results. There are also lots of tools online to help you find workout routines. Unfortunately, there's so much junk out there too, so hopefully I can provide some links here that will be useful to the average non-athletic girl (such as I was).

What type of exercises to do

Weight training

As you've probably heard so many times, you should always incorporate weight training into your exercise sessions. Apart from being useful in the long-term, it's also incredibly motivating to feel yourself get stronger and watch your body strengthen. Fun! Don't let a fear of getting too muscular put you off from weight training because you needn't beef up too much - in fact, it's quite hard to do so immediately. Building muscles will always work well for you because, as you've heard, muscles build even when you're not working. With a little weight training, your body will always be working for you, and it certainly made me more motivated to continue exercising. It made me feel like there was something I was actually working towards. I loved feeling my arms every now and then and finding a new little hard spot I didn't know I'd been working out.

Too shy to head for the testosterone-filled weights section?

I personally found the weights section in my gym daunting at first, so I got some exercises online and bought a couple of cheap dumbells from the sports store to do it at home and figure out what to do first before I mortified myself (or so I feared) in public. The truth was that nobody gave a crap about what one dork like me was doing fumbling around the weight area and they were all too busy kissing their muscles and watching themselves in the mirrors to spot anything else that may have been amusing around them.

But if you're still rather shy, then this site has useful info on how to use dumbbells to target certain areas of your body.

If you're living in the UK, Argos used to sell great cheap sets of dumbbells, and almost all sports stores will stock them. I started off with just tiny 2.5kg dumbbells, and it worked well. Now I use between 4kg and 5kg, and I must say, I prefer them to the weight machines in the gym.

I used to stick to a lot of cardio exercise, and this was wonderful because I felt myself building stamina, but when I started working my muscles, it was far more motivating because I could really see myself getting stronger and leaner. A machine, I tell you. A bloody machine.

Cardio exercises

It is important to have a good cardio workout as well. Mix it up, and try running because it really is effective. That freakish-looking elliptical trainer in the gym is also a good one because it works out more muscles and burns more calories. It also looks like more fun than running does. In the end, I went for both (but that's just because I had a lot of time on my hands).

I also found just jogging and running around the neighbourhood very effective. Even more effective than the treadmill. I found it most effective to do short, high-intensity cardio workouts because I didn't get bored. Just 30 minutes on one exercise starting off with a few minutes slow exercise (e.g. walking), then pushing myself more and more until I do a short amount of flat out sprinting. Because it's only for a few minutes at a time, it was all manageable.

Also, don't make the mistake I made. Mix up your cardio workouts. I got really bored after a while of running all the time, and it would have been great if I had access to dance classes, squash, or other cardio workouts.

And don't let weather get in the way! I'm living in Norway right and no amount of snow, rain or wind can keep these Norwegians indoors. They put me to shame with all my complaining, so I discovered that exercise in all sorts of conditions was rather fun. Just wear proper clothes.

Use your own body weight

If you can't afford a gym contract or to buy your own weights, then there are super ways of using your own body as resistance. I was desperately bored waiting for my visa to process and growing out of my weights, so I looked online. Eventually I found a jock exercise site that scared me at first (and they tend to promote their book a bit too much) but they gave out quite a bit of free info as well. I tried a quick 12-minute resistance workout they used, and it was HECTIC. So hectic that I still do it regularly, but now I increase the number of repetitions. Their resistance workout consists of 6 different exercises including pushups, squats, this weird jumping thing called burpees and a yoga move called the plank. The nice thing about this is that it varies so you don't get incredibly bored, and you can feel yourself being able to do more and more of it more easily as the days go by. I wanted to list this site first because it really was instrumental in getting me out of my comfort zone and feeling strong pretty quickly. Just try to ignore all the intensity with which these jocks talk about exercise.

Nutrition

This is also quite important, because your body will work better when fuelled properly. I increased my protein intake a lot and, as a vegetarian, this proved quite hard at first. But I ate a lot of egg-whites which were great with all sorts of things (salad, soup, etc.). Then again, I eat strange things so perhaps I'm not a person to consult about recipes.

One gem I DID find was: Tofu. Ah, heaven! Cheap, easy, entirely lean source of protein. I eat it as a snack or as a meal, and now I always get enough protein. (Quick tip for cooking tofu: cut firm tofu into squares, cover in soya source, dried garlic powder, and leave in the oven for 11 - 13 minutes at about 200 degree celcius. This time may vary as I noted from the burnt tofu in my own oven and the completely uncooked stuff in my friend's.)

Finally, how to get it all going

Start slow, but don't be too easy on yourself. Don't get into a comfort zone. Learn to enjoy the exercise, and think of how good it is for you in the long-term. Taking care of my body and being pretty serious about it got me started doing a lot of other healthy things - like flossing, even!

Have the right motivation. Don't intend to lose a lot of weight in a month for some special occasion. It can be very disappointing, and you could get pretty sick. You will definitely lose weight through exercise, but don't rush it. Do it for yourself, for your health, for your confidence in your ability to stick to something. Exercise is fun! When you start using it for being healthy and taking charge of your own body, then getting motivated to continue will be much easier. Enjoy the exercise, OWN it and make it your bitch.

A few things to consider

Get a daily routine, but watch out for becoming too obsessed. Having other people around to talk about it or even to join in helps because they can keep you in check. If you are already inclined toward harming yourself through addictions or eating disorders, you do run a fear of beating yourself up too much for not killing yourself in the gym every day. It's really nice to have somebody to talk to about your growing obsession. Personally, my frustration with my visa situation led me to be particularly single-minded about exercise, and a good friend helped me to take a step back and remember that I was doing it for my health and that the obsession was potentially counter-productive.

Ah, the free exercise drug has really helped curb my fury, given me space to breath, and working out has turned previously unimpressive and limp limbs into appendages I can actually use to run away from bad guys and pull myself out of a hole. Empowering, I tell you. There are ample free resources online, which any simple search can bring up for you, but go for the sites that are serious about exercise and health and not the quick-fix, TV show weight-loss programmes. Not helpful.

Your body is your kingdom, and you have a right to live in a palace. Enjoy!

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