Staying Fit: Budget Friendly Tips

By Lynn Difley
In keeping with our Blog theme currently, I’d like to offer some suggestions for budget minded exercises. It needn’t cost an arm and a leg to workout, you can keep both arms and legs, as well as the rest of your body in tip top shape without spending your hard earned cash or your kids inheritance.
Walk. Last time I checked, it was free. Walking is the best all around exercise for keeping a handle on the waistline. It is recommended to improve the cardiovascular system, blood sugar, cholesterol, circulatory system, and mental outlook, to say nothing of its benefits as a bone and muscle builder, and it’s joint friendly.
The truth is that walking, done for 30 minutes minimum most days of the week is the single best thing you can do for your health, short of stopping smoking (but you already did that I hope). Take your walk in the morning to get a jump-start on the day, at noon for a great energy boost at a time when your stockpile is dipping, or afternoon to put an end to a great day. Anytime you take it, a walk is a great way to increase your fitness, improve your health and it’s absolutely free. Even more points are earned if you take your walk with a friend, loved one, pet or outside in the fresh air, all are proven stress reducers as well as mood elevators.
If you have errands that are just a little too far to walk, consider riding your bike. OK, so you haven’t had it out in a while. Go find it, dust off the cobwebs, oil the gears, pump up the tires and you’re ready. You don’t have to invest in a high tech racing model, your old trusty Schwinn will do just fine. The Cliff Bar people have issued a challenge, the 2-mile Challenge, and you can enroll and keep track of your mileage along with others. The idea is to reduce carbon emissions, a worthy cause, but you will benefit as well, getting exercise, fresh air, and saving money on gas and auto maintenance. They have maps so you can find out the 2-mile perimeter around you and plot which of your frequent runs to the store, post office, or activities fall within the two-mile radius. Most people find that once they take the two-mile pledge, they find it so much fun that they increase the distance, and since the web site 2-mile challenge.com keeps track of it for you, you are encouraged to increase and compete with others taking the same healthy, and free step.
Next week we’ll talk about some free strength building exercises you can use to keep up your massive muscle bulk and maintain high metabolism calorie burn and maintain high metabolism calorie burn.

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