I’ll be the first to admit it – I’m lazy and don’t want to spend a lot of time or money on fitness. My weekly fitness routine shows this. I do engage in exercise as I need to keep an eye on my weight due to the weight-increasing effects of a mood stabilizer and antidepressant.
I am a firm believer in using both weight-bearing exercises and aerobic activity. Weight-bearing exercises help you build and tone muscle while aerobic activity helps you burn fat. Hence, my weekly fitness routine consists of both weight-bearing exercises and aerobic activity.
Did I mention that I’m lazy? Just because I exercise doesn’t mean I can’t do it as lazy and cheap as possible. My aerobic activity is mainly walking up to 3 miles a day. Do I choose to? No, my car is broken down and I have to work, so I walk. But it helps with my weekly exercise needs. So five to six days a week, I walk quickly up to three miles each of those days. Bonus: walking doesn’t cost me anything!
Some days I find a ride and don’t have to walk the whole 3 miles every day. As long as I get 3 days a week of aerobic activity, I feel good about that. Once I get my car fixed, I do have an elliptical trainer that I purchased for less than $100.00 that I can use if I don’t want to walk anywhere. An elliptical trainer is great for someone lazy like me. Not a lot of effort goes into using it and I get great results. Cheap and lazy. Yep, that’s me.
For weight-bearing or strength training, this is where cheap really comes in. I prefer bodyweight exercises that use no costly equipment. Talk about cheap. I am up to 30 sets of exercises consisting of pushups, lunges, squats, crunches and various types of leg lifts. I do these two to three times a week. You can find bodyweight exercises online for free. Be sure to skip a day of weight training in between t allow muscles a chance to grow, tone and rest.
If you need more motivation, DVDs are a good, cheap option. For less than $20.00 you can get a good workout video that uses little or no equipment except your own body. How great is that? I prefer self-defense styled workouts as not only do I get a good workout, but I learn something as well. I’m so lazy I have to kill two birds with one stone so to speak.
Dumbbells are pretty cheap too. I have a small pair for arm toning and I do bicep curls with them. I won’t gain a lot of muscle, but I’m able to maintain tone in my arm muscles and prevent jiggly “bat wings” on the undersides with bicep curls and pushups.
If you’re really lazy, you can do pushups on the wall and hang on the back of a chair for squats. As long as you perform the exercise correctly, you will still get the benefit. Oh, you can also place your feet under a couch to hold your body still while doing situps or crunches until you strengthen your mid-section enough to balance yourself.