I just cancelled my gym membership. It’s part of my policy in trimming down my finances, but I’m not going to let that work against my ongoing task of trimming down my already close to perfection physique. Ok, that’s an outright lie–I haven’t used the membership during most of the contract and I’m ashamed to say I already had weights at home that I could have been using this whole time.Some people like having a place outside of home that they can go to just to burn off those calories. I admit, I’m one of those people, but I’m trying (real hard) to limit my expenses to the bare essentials, which in my life boil down to the bills I need to pay and the food I unfortunately must eat. My little one bedroom, besides being packed with guitars and furniture, is pretty much lined with bookshelves, which leave an area in the ‘living room’ –about the size of the average dinner table–available to work out. It’s either this, or $58.70 a month coming off my Mastercard. Remember my last blog about paying your phone bill with one of those gift cards? That gym membership putting my card over the limit was the reason I needed to do that in the first place*. If you do a search, there are lots of good articles out there showing you ways to burn calories, save on memberships and work out from home. The best part is, they require no weights and can be done, for the most part, in one spot.
Make sure you consult your doctor or at least know what you’re doing. The one benefit of gyms is that they have trained personnel on hand to show you the proper technique with weight-bearing exercises, but the very same applies for exercises that use your own body weight. You can even develop back and knee problems by not learning how to jog properly or doing so without the proper attire, so, read up and do your homework. Above all, don’t overexert yourself. Our bodies are made in such a way that results take time.
Better yet, go outside and learn a sport or play one of your favourites. Sports and exercise develop hand-eye coordination and improve the flow of feel-good chemicals to the brain. So if you’re feeling a little down, go out and throw a frisbee or hit some tennis balls around. Playing with a friend is a good way to strengthen that bond of friendship and also hit them up for a few bucks once you’ve allowed them to demoralize you on purpose in your chosen sport. NOTE: Losing is important, in that people feel sorry for you and are more likely to give you food and water…or money…take your pick.
*well, the real reason was that I forgot the payment was going through that month. More reason to cancel!
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Tags: Budget, Depression, Exercise, George Panayotou, Gym, Health, Home Workout, Screw You Recession
