Natural Health Care

Finding ways to work out on a budget can be difficult. With expensive exercise equipment, the rising cost of gym memberships, and over-priced personal trainers…it just makes sense to get back to the basics of physical fitness. All you need is your own body and a few minutes to use it, and you can be on your way to a more lean, athletic physique in no time.

When I say get back to the basics, I mean the basics…push-ups (in their many forms), dips, and pull-ups can really do wonders for the upper body. Unlike machines, using your own body weight forces you to exert more effort to control and balance your movement making your overall workout much more effective. If you want to work on your legs, lunges, squats, and short sprints are the way to go. Although you may need to add some weight to yourself for lunges and squats, you still don’t need to buy any equipment or go to the gym to do it. Be creative. Try using cinder blocks, a bag of cement or dog food, fill a backpack with sand, just use your imagination to find the weight that you need.

If you want to burn fat, do some basic cardio. Run, jog, do some jumping jacks, get old school. Instead of typical sit-ups or crunches, try hanging from a pull-up bar and lift/bend your legs up to your chest curling up as much as possible. It’s much less stressful on your back and neck than sit-ups or crunches and you will see results much faster.

I’m not saying that you should avoid exercise equipment or gyms all-together…I’m just trying to convey the idea that you can save some money and still get into great physical shape. Machines are excellent tools for getting into shape and building lean muscle, but sometimes living within your means means working with what you’ve got.

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