I have the same conversation with myself every day of the week: ‘You need to workout today. If not for your waistline, then to rid yourself of the guilt you feel over what you ate yesterday.’ Sound familiar? Of course, there are some people who love working out. But me, not so much. It’s a struggle and I’m still waiting for the day when it’s not!
Oh and there is the cost associated with working out. I love Pilates, but its way too expensive. I also love going to fitness classes, but that’s also too expensive right now. I would love a trainer to hold me accountable and kick my butt, but (sigh) that too is costly. Notice a trend here? Exercising can be an expensive past time!
I started to rack my brain. I thought to myself, there has to be a way I could stay in shape without spending too much money (or any if I could avoid it). This is where the power of a Money Group comes in. I took my frustrations to the group to see if there were ways they could help me solve this dilemma and I was pleasantly surprised with what they had to say.
Here are 3 ways I went about finding fitness¦.with a small (or no) price tag:
1. Barter Services: Bartering has been around for ages but I never thought in a million years that bartering my marketing skills could get me free training in return. I found a great personal trainer through a friend who charges $60/hr (and that was his discounted rate!). Lucky for me, he was looking to open his own business/gym and needed help. I had just started my own marketing consulting company, Bratface Marketing, and offered to do his initial marketing in exchange for free hourly sessions. He didn’t hesitate at the chance to work together. I gave him at least 10 hours of free work and he gave me 10 free sessions – which would have cost me $600. Think about the type of services you can offer a personal trainer, a gym or Pilates/yoga studio etc. You will be surprised how open people are up for exchanging services. Katie, another Smart Cookie did PR for a new local Yoga studio and because she did it at a discounted rate she got a free one-year membership to their studio.
2. Go Online: Another great place where you can workout (weird, but true) is online. Many celebrity personal trainers and fitness experts are now joining the online community and making their exercise routines and secrets available to everyone. Now, not only can Gwenyth Paltrow and Madonna enjoy those tight bodies, but so can you! Their celebrity trainer, Tracy Anderson, is known for her intense workouts and for helping Gwenyth Paltrow get back into shape after both pregnancies. You are essentially getting thousands of dollars of training time for FREE! You can get a selection of her workouts for various body parts all on YouTube. In fact, we will save you time. Click here for a link to all of them.
3. Phone a Friend: Seems like a rather easy option, but when all else fails we know that we get a lot more done when we have a friend to a) support us in our workout regime and b) to hold us accountable to getting off our couch and breaking a sweat. I have always been a huge fan of this. I have a few friends on call all the time “ the ones who want to run with me and the ones who like to just head out for a power walk on the seawall. Whatever you wish you achieve that day, friends hold other friends accountable. Even if it’s just getting you to the gym or outside, we often seem more motivated when there is someone else involved.
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