Think of this list as a menu of exercises that you can pick and choose from; feel free to add your own menu items.
Remember to stretch for at least five minutes before performing any of these exercises. Even though activities like power-walking and cleaning seem relatively harmless, stretching still warms up your muscles, allowing you to get the blood flowing more quickly.
1. Power-Walk. Many people love to go jogging. However, jogging takes a serious toll on your knees and doesn't necessarily do much more for you than a brisk walk. Thus, we recommend power-walking for exercise. Although power-walking doesn't burn quite as many calories as jogging, most doctors agree that power-walking is better for you in the long run anyway (it exercises more muscle groups). Here's how to do it:
As you walk, keep your elbows at 90-degree angles, and move them back and forth rapidly with every step.
Press from your heels as you walk, and you'll feel the burn in your lower thighs and backside.
Try power-walking in areas where you'll have to walk uphill. You'll burn more calories and tone your muscles quicker.
If you don't feel that your heart rate is up quite high enough, try alternating jogging and power-walking. You should be sweating and pleasantly red, but you shouldn't feel as if you've just run a marathon. Find a happy medium.
If you get a cramp in your stomach, slow down a little and breathe evenly. Most stomach cramps during workout sessions come from the exerciser not breathing properly. So fight the tendency to hold your breath while you work out. Take long, even breaths, and the cramps should go away.
2. Jump rope. Don't smirk. Jumping rope isn't only for little girls in pink dresses and pigtails. It's a fantastic way to get cardiovascular exercise while staying within the comforts of your home. Five minutes of jumping rope has the calorie-burning power of jogging one mile. Of course, you have to engage in real jumping-rope action--going quickly, not doing those little "double hops" in between each turn. Rent "Rocky" and learn from the master.
3. Use workout videos. There are tons of good titles out there, most of which are relatively cheap. But avoid celebrity or high-profile videos, which usually get bad reviews from the experts. Try to find a video with a lower-key veteran of the exercise world. You can pick these up for cheap at most video stores. If money is very tight, record a few ESPN shows and use those.
4. Tone up without those fancy home gyms. They're pretty much a waste of money. You can get the same toning effects without fancy machines and without the guilt. Almost any kind of strengthening or toning exercise (like push-ups, squats and sit-ups) can be done by using your body weight as natural resistance. Gyms aren't nearly as necessary as you think.
Pick up a couple of issues of an exercise magazine to develop a list of toning exercises that target your "problem" areas. Use heavy soup cans for exercises in which weights are needed. You can also pick up a set of cheap rubber bands at a physical-therapy office (they usually give them to their patients for free, so you can probably talk them into giving you a set for a couple of bucks).
5. Make use of your stairs. Play some music on the CD player and start walking up and down the stairs. Push from the heel, not the knee, and alternate between going up every step and skipping a step. And don't hold onto the handrail. Keep your heart rate up, but stop if you feel dizzy; the stairs are not the best place to collapse in a heap. As you advance, start walking up and down with soup cans.
6. Dance. Blast the radio and enjoy. Stomp those feet. Flail those arms. Move to the beat. Don't worry; no one's watching. It's cheap, easy and sweaty.
7. Ride your bike or roller-blade. Again, don't forget the safety equipment. Rollerblade to the market to pick up some milk. Bike your way to work and back. You'll save money on bus fare, and you'll arrive at work with your beta endorphins pumping.
8. Take a hike. Again, make sure you have the right shoes. Unfortunately, there may not be places around you to hike, but there's no reason that, on a sunny Saturday, you couldn't hop in your car and head to a hilly outskirt of the city.
9. Clean. Cleaning burns tons of calories. Chase the dust bunnies and burn the fat.
Peruse all of those exercise magazines in a bookstore to get some more ideas for cheap exercises. Once you've decided on the activities you want to fit into your life, sit down with a piece of paper and plan out your exercise week based on the available times in your schedule.
