Action needs to precede acquisition in the quest for health and fitness

By Kevin M

Maybe it’s a cultural thing here in America that when ever we need to strike out in a new direction we impulsively believe that it requires spending money to make it happen (see the National Debt for tangible confirmation). That might actually be necessary in some cases, but fitness is really more about motivation than it is about gym memberships or fitness equipment. Yet many people join health clubs or buy expensive fitness equipment precisely to give them that motivation.

I believe that thinking is putting the horse before the cart. Shouldn’t we first prove that we have the motivation and energy—and can make time in our schedules–before spending any money?

Here’s a fundamental fitness reality: before there was exercise equipment, there was plain, old exercise. Exercise equipment (and the gyms they occupy) is higher level stuff; before moving onto them—and the money they cost—first prove that you’re committed to plain, old exercise.

Establish a pattern before paying for ANYTHING

For a lot of people, working out falls somewhere between going to the dentist and serving on jury duty on the List of Desirable Activities, so it’s easy enough to see why we look for props to help motivate us to do it. A gym membership or a shiny piece of equipment, set up in a special place in the family room, can serve as a reminder of our commitment—of our financial investment–in our plan to get fit and healthy.

But why make a monetary investment at all? You’re already investing your time and your energy and that should be enough. In fact, if you can’t find the time or energy, no amount of money spent is likely get you where you want to go. (Fundamental fitness reality #2: exercise is repetitious and therefore boring; adding equipment to it merely delays but doesn’t change that outcome.)

The same is true of dieting. It’s beyond pointless to make an investment in a costly program like Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem before demonstrating that we at least have the ability to do something as basic as cut down on the amount we eat.

Fitness Freebies and near-Freebies

If you agree that action needs to precede acquisition in the quest for fitness, what’s the next step? No one exercise regimen is right for everyone, but here are some suggestions that will get you started and cost you nothing:

Walking. This is the most basic form of exercise and anyone can do it. You don’t need any training or special equipment, other than a decent pair of tennis shoes and you probably already have those. If you can’t at least walk regularly, any attempt at a more exotic form of exercise is probably doomed to fail.

Jogging. This is basically walking but with speed, with the one difference being that it may require somewhat better footwear since it’s more taxing on the feet. But you don’t need to start out jogging; you can build up to it by walking. Once you establish a walking routine, jogging is a logical extension. In fact short of competitive running, it’s an end game in itself and requires no complicated or expensive equipment, let alone a gym membership.

Biking. Even if you haven’t been a regular when it comes to exercise, there’s a better than 50% chance that you have a perfectly good bicycle gathering dust somewhere in your home. And if you don’t, there’s an equal chance that someone in your neighborhood or family has one that they’d be perfectly happy to part with for a few dollars.

Swimming. Many people live in apartment complexes or in swim and tennis neighborhoods where pools are part of the homeowners association (HOA) package. But it’s a fact that the majority of people never (or hardly ever) use them. If you have this feature in your neighborhood, take full advantage of it. After all, swimming is great exercise and you’re paying for it anyway!

Neighborhood fitness rooms. Many swim and tennis neighborhoods—as well as apartment complexes—also have fitness rooms, and they typically draw even less participation than the pools. If you have one, take full advantage of it, especially if you’re thinking about joining a fitness club. Work out at the neighborhood fitness room until you outgrow it, by then your commitment will be real.

Free fitness videos. You’re probably familiar with YouTube for the music videos and movie, TV and news clips, but the site is also loaded with how-to videos, including exercise videos. And best of all, they’re all F-R-E-E, FREE! Check them out before you pay for any video or infomercial program. You can find fitness videos that don’t require any equipment simply by typing “fitness without equipment” in the search bar. You can also get more specific by entering “back (or chest, or arm, or ab, or leg) exercises without equipment”. Affirmation hint: the makers of those videos have already figured out that it’s exercise—and not exercise equipment—that makes for good fitness.

When you’re ready, invest in some good second hand workout equipment

There’s a flip side to our own lack of motivation to work out that plays in our favor: other people are in the same boat! Because of that, you may be able to get their fitness equipment for a fraction of what they paid for it.

If you’ve established that you have the motivation to work out, and you’re doing it regularly, there are ways to buy equipment without paying the steep prices for new ones. Fitness clubs and hotels with fitness rooms usually have top quality equipment that they trade out periodically for the latest versions. Contact them and see if you can get a deal.

Check the classified section of local websites or newspapers to find people selling used equipment in your area. Craigslist is showing well over 200 ads for used fitness equipment in my area—ten to one at least half of it has hardly ever been used. And the price is negotiable on every bit of it!

Check out new equipment on manufacturer websites or at sporting goods stores, get all the information you can on the best equipment and the various options they have. Once you know what’s out there, what it costs brand new and some of the competing brands, you’ll be fully equipped to know a good deal when you see it. Don’t be timid about making low ball offers; even if the equipment they’re selling is top of the line, you may be the only serious prospect they have.

Save the money you’d spend on a gym membership or fitness equipment until you establish that you’re serious about working out. Only when working out becomes a regular part of your life over an extended period will spending money for it be a true investment. Otherwise, you’re probably just paying for high priced props!

Have you ever joined a gym or purchased fitness equipment that you hardly used? Can you offer other ways to exercise or to get motivated to exercise that won’t cost a lot of money?

By Kevin M

OK sports fans, The Big Game is over; it’s time to get down to real life. That means OUR lives, and not the ones of the stars on the field. Got a few pounds to lose? There’s no better day than today to get to it. Why?

I can think of seven reasons:

1. You doubtlessly over-indulged on food and liquor during this past weekend and doing without is looking pretty stinking good right now.
2. The long fooball season, with it’s succession of beer, chicken wings and pizza weekends, is finally over.
3. The brilliant plays and athleticism we saw demonstrated yesterday should inspire us to get in better shape.
4. The winter holiday season is well behind us.
5. There is no threat of broken New Year’s resolutions; you’ve probably broken all of them by now anyway.
6. Even though it’s still winter, bathing suit season is a mere 90 days away—still enough time to lose a meaningful amount of weight but no longer enough to be complacent.
7. There’s nothing better to do this time of the year!

So cancel the extra sports channel subscriptions, toss the left over junk food, put the beer in cold storage, sign up for Weight Watchers, take advantage of one of the many $10-a-month gym memberships and get rolling.

Can you think of a better day than TODAY?
 

Kevin M

Expense Reduction Strategies Forum–We’re taking on this weekly forum as a way of exchanging ideas to help lower the cost of living. This includes expense reduction and elimination, but goes beyond, even to include lifestyle changes that may bring savings on a number of fronts. Ideas on ways to cut personal, household or business expenses are welcome!

On July 20th in this space we talked about using a diet as a way to save some money (Is Now A Good Time To Go On A Diet?). As most of us understand, typical diet plans are expensive, requiring membership in the diet program, the purchase of healthier but more expensive foods, or even the purchase of food and meals directly from the diet sponsor. But our plan actually saved money and was infinitely more basic: diet by eating less food!

In this week’s edition of the Expense Reduction Strategies Forum, I’d like to take the health/expense reduction connection to the next level. We can save money and improve health by eating less, but even greater payoffs, both financial and in the quality of our lives, can be had by going even farther, by realizing a reduction in living expenses by taking better care of our overall health.

The Cost Of Doing Nothing

The direct expense of medical care and health insurance coverage are only the most obvious costs of doing nothing. There isn’t space here to go into all of the problems with the healthcare system but it’s more complex than most of us believe. There are no easy solutions, and certainly none that will satisfy all parties. If a workable reform plan does come about, it’s best to assume that it will be both imperfect and far into the future. It’s best then to assume that primary responsibility for our healthcare rests squarely with us!

Both health insurance and direct medical expenses are generally in direct proportion to the state of our health. But our level of health has two components: uncontrollable and controllable health conditions.

There are healthcare issues, such as cancer and congenital diseases and conditions that are largely uncontrollable since there is little that can be done to prevent them.

Alternately, there’s a laundry list of conditions which are largely within our ability to control: obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, stress and accidents among them. Ignoring risk factors associated with these conditions can ultimately result in degraded health and higher expenses for both direct care and insurance coverage. Health insurance companies often charge higher premiums if you have any of these conditions, or are a heavy user of prescription drugs.

But that’s only the beginning of what it will cost. Degraded health can lead to stress (over declining health), loss of productivity and even loss of happiness. Each of these factors have direct and indirect costs associated with them.

What It Will Take

It’s crucial to understand that our health is a long term project, not unlike building a career, a business or a retirement plan. Just as bad habits can degrade health over many years, making improvements may also take years. But what is the alternative?

There are many changes you can implement which will not only improve your health, but also save you money in the process:

Diet. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, it’s possible to implement a “diet” by reducing the amount of food you buy and consume. As a result of that effort in my family, we have been able to lower our grocery budget by an average of about 25%, and we’ve all lost weight. I myself have shed at least 15 pounds since the beginning of the year. Weight lost and money saved on groceries, a double win!

Exercise. The health benefits of exercise are covered everywhere, but in our media driven culture what isn’t always obvious is the fact that you can easily do it without spending a bunch of money on equipment or gym memberships. It costs nothing to walk a couple of miles a day, or to jog or ride a bicycle, but eventual improvements in weight, energy level, cardiovascular fitness and attitude can be substantial. How much money would you save if you could get yourself off of blood pressure medication?

Stress Reduction. So many health conditions are either caused or made worse by stress. No doubt life throws so many challenges at us so quickly that stress is inevitable. Still, some of it can be prevented. It’s doubtless that much of the stress we face is brought on by lack of balance. THAT’S something we can control. Lack of balance can be brought into our lives by spending more than we earn, packing our schedules with more activities than we can reasonably handle or by poor health habits. Identify and correct controllable sources of stress, and you can free up your mind and your time for more productive efforts.

Lower risk lifestyle. This is a category which is completely within our control. The usual suspects like smoking, drinking and drug use come to mind, but we can also add reckless driving and dangerous hobbies. It should go without saying that you can save money by eliminating or at least reducing smoking and alcohol consumption, which has also been shown to produce direct health benefits. And how much will it cost to wear your seatbelt and slow down a bit when you drive?

The Pay Off

Some of the payoff is in the form of direct expense reduction, but perhaps more significant are the financial benefits from the resulting improvements in attitude and outlook.

Cost of healthcare. Take better care of yourself and you have an excellent chance to cut down on the amount of money you spend for direct medical costs and for health insurance coverage. In and of itself this savings should provide sufficient incentive to take charge of your health.

Better productivity. It’s no secret that healthier people tend to be more productive than their less healthy coworkers. Increase your productivity and you may be more likely to keep your job in a bad economy, get a promotion in the future, or to develop the energy needed to trade up to a better paying job. Also, it may not be fair, but excessive weight and low energy level doesn’t help your image in the eyes of employers, whether in regard to promotion or hiring. Think of the career opportunities that could result just from losing a few pounds and putting a spring in your step.

Greater confidence in your future. We worry about many things in life, such as job security, saving for the future, and our children and family. But high on the list is our health. Let’s face it, how healthy we are has a strong impact not only on how long we’ll live, but on what the quality of that time will be. The better we feel about our health, the more confident we’ll be of everything else.

Sense of well being. This is probably the most under appreciated benefit of greater health. We can feel better about ourselves, move faster along the career path, and save a substantial amount of money doing so. But taken together, these advantages provide an overall sense of well being. When you feel good, you can take on just about anything.

Is any of this not worth trying?

What are some changes you’ve made or plans you’ve implemented to lower living or business expenses? What expenses have you been able to reduce? Are there any you’ve been able to eliminate entirely? Big ideas, small ideas, they’re all worth exploring.