Fitness doesn’t have to be expensive. How 3 Real People Stay Fit for Free

Forget the excuse that exercise costs too much. These three people, all members Start a community todayStay active without being tied into an expensive gym membership, paying for an app subscription, or buying fancy home equipment.

They lace up your walking shoes And going out the door, searching YouTube for workout videos, dancing with your grandchildren, and even finding years-old workout equipment.

Here, they share the following—and free exercise routine He works for them.

carol wells

Workout Routine: Stretching, walking, workout videos, dancing with your grandchildren.

Carol Wells, 62, sees her 2-year-old grandson twice a week. So, for part of her exercise routine, they both dance together. She says, “I got Bee Gees videos – I grew up with the Bee Gees – and he really likes them. I like the fact that he likes it too. And it makes it a lot easier for me to exercise.”

Moving to music or a video with her grandchildren is an important part of making exercise fun for Wells, especially when the winter weather near her Effingham, Illinois home keeps her indoors.

She has a routine that she follows as often as possible, mixing a mix of activities throughout her day. “I try to do three workouts a day and at least two,” she says.

Here’s how Wales fits into the movement without spending a lot of money:

• Stretch: She starts her day with 10 minutes of stretching Youtube video.

• Morning walk or workout: After stretching, she goes out for a one to two mile walk, weather permitting. In the winter, she often needs to exercise indoors, so she posts a video of her taking a walk in one of theyes2next Or Leslie Sanson To take some steps. “I practice for 15 to 30 minutes at a time, and I really enjoy it,” she says.

• Afternoon walk or workout: She aims for another activity session in the afternoon. That could be dancing with her grandchildren or working on another video, possibly involving some Low impact, bodyweight strength training. She doesn’t lift weights because of arthritis in her shoulders and elbows. If the weather is nice, she takes walks in her neighborhood or at a nearby park. “Walking is my favorite thing. It’s the best exercise for me. I love nature, and I’m an amateur photographer, so I like taking pictures of birds, flowers, and the sky,” she says. His goal is to cover four to five miles a day.

• Evening Workout: After dinner she exercises again. She’ll search online for workout topics, like “Zumba to ABBA,” or working out with Fleetwood Mac music. She Finds Lots of Workouts She Likes keep going.

Kathleen Wilkins

Workout Routine: Walking, YouTube workout videos, using “old” equipment he’s had forever

Kathleen Wilkins, 66, likes to exercise close to home. “I don’t want to get in the car and drive somewhere,” she says. She’d joined a gym in the past, but after a few visits she always stopped going, and then got stuck with payments for months.

Hence, she has made a routine consisting of lots of walks, workout videos etc. simple household appliances.

Wilkins has been retired for just a year, so she can fit a lot of traveling into her schedule. She walks the streets of her over-55 mobile home community in Thousand Oaks, California several times a day, covering about two miles each time and five to six miles per day.

She walks with a neighbor after breakfast and sometimes before lunch. After lunch, she walks with another neighbor who uses a wheelchair, and she takes care of that neighbor’s dog. “She’s a French-mix bulldog, so she gives me resistance training,” says Wilkins.

Wilkins can complete her two-mile walk in 30 to 35 minutes, although she sometimes slows her pace to match her walking companions or stop to chat with people she has not seen in a while. He doesn’t mind taking his time: “A mile is a mile. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to get there, or how fast you’re going.” Plus, she likes to get to know her neighbors and use her walks to socialize.

To add strength training and more cardio to their routine, three mornings a week, Wilkins and a group of neighbors exercise together in their community clubhouse. They choose from a variety paul eugene youtube workout video Which lasts for 30 to 45 minutes.

Keeping up with his fitness schedule, he recently got rid of two old pieces of workout equipment that he’s had forever – a ab roller And a rotational disk. They help him build core strength and stability.

Judy Wentz

Workout Routine: Daily walks, workout videos, stationary biking, resistance bands, hand weights

Judy Wentz, 58, exercises for management she has pain from fibromyalgiaWhich forced him to retire about four years ago. She says, “I am working on my health more than anything now. If I keep moving around, the pain doesn’t get time to get to me. When I go to bed at night, sometimes it affects me. But I work on overcoming it.”

Fibromyalgia means she needs it Keep her workouts low-impact. She usually starts her day with either a walking workout video or a 20 to 30-minute video on her stationary bike. “If I’m having a really bad day, I’ll do this chair exercise To start,” she says.

Wentz and her husband go on walks together every day, regardless of the weather. “Walking helps me mentally and physically,” she says. She likes to walk to a destination, like an Italian ice shop, a downtown restaurant for lunch, or simply walking to the post office in her hometown in Bedford, Penn.

When she first started walking, she could only walk to the end of her driveway, or maybe half a block. Now, on most days, she walks a total of five to seven miles. And she continued walking for 1,322 days.

Along with walking, he likes many types of home workouts. She’s tried silver sneakers at the gym and senior center, but she prefers more variety. “I get bored if I do the same thing all the time,” she says. “I’m always trying to find something new and exciting.”

She does strength training at least twice a week and cardio two to three times a week, incorporating her favorite workouts into a calendar she created for herself. “Every week is different,” she says.

Some of the free workouts they tried include:

She also attends a support group called Lose Pounds Wisely (TOPS).

Her workouts and lifestyle changes have helped her lose weight, and she has been off diabetes medications for two years: “I’ve never had so much energy in my life. I can’t even stand myself some days.”

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This article was originally published on TODAY.com