3 Ways To Get Fit For Free In Vancouver

Sure you can join a gym this month, but you may want to read about these killer workouts first.

SAVE YOUR MONEY | Are you a January Joiner? That’s the term used to describe people who resolve to get fit in the New Year by purchasing a gym membership or plunking down cash for a workout package. If you are one, check out Frugalbits Cheap Sheet every day this month for a higher than usual number of deep-discount deals on every type of workout imaginable.

Or you might want to try one of our favourite free workout alternatives. This past year, we looked at number of serious ways to get fit that required little or no expense. Here’s what we liked best.

Our Top 3 Get-Fit-For-Free Workouts

Jump | last April we reported on the joys of jumping rope. Not only does skipping improve your mood, energy level, agility, cardio- vascular system and bone density but, depending on what article you read, skipping for 15 minutes at 120 skips per minute has the same caloric expenditure as running six miles in an hour—that’s a serious workout. Read about it here.

Walk | There is more than one way to do a marathon, and in September we explored the idea of walking rather than running 42k. Walking a marathon is an excuse to go places (Paris this spring?), an activity you can do by yourself or with friends, and you don’t need any equipment to speak of. Walking a marathon won’t punish your body the way running one will, but unless you are solidly fit to begin with, you will need to train for it. Read about it here.

Bounce | if you like to work out, you will love the free mini trampoline workouts celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson posted on YouTube recently. Guaranteed to give you a cardio boost if you bounce her way, Anderson’s routines are easy to follow—and fun! If you bounce along to all four of her videos, you’ll have done a solid, low-impact high-energy 30-minute cardio workout that will leave you sweaty and spent. Read about it here. —C Rule