Gym subscriptions seem so expensive to me.  You pay all this money to have to drive somewhere that smells a little funny and the showers aren’t as nice as the one at home.  You have to work out when you can fit a visit into your busy schedule and then you give yourself grief when you get to the end of the month and you realise that you’ve not even come close to making the cost worth it.  Better to get yourself some free exercise, here’s five ideas to get you moving for free:

Walking – Get those legs moving with a walk.  If you’ve only got a short amount of time walk around your local area or a nearby park, if you’ve got longer you could get out into the countryside and follow a footpath.  Sometimes I just like to mull over my thoughts while I’m working and at other times I like to have a purpose – seeing which houses have made improvements, spotting number 8’s (a particular favourite of my 4 year old!) or seeing which houses still have the Christmas lights attached in the middle of summer!

Stretching – We spend so much of our time sitting; at a desk, behind the steering wheel or in front of the TV.  A good stretch can do us all the world of good.  While your sitting, work out which parts of you feel sore or tense and then get stretching.  

Core – Our core muscles are so neglected (probably because of all that sitting!) so engaging those muscles and realigining everything will help to improve your posture.  

Parkrun – If I ever have any childcare on a Saturday morning, you’ll find me at my local Parkrun.  It’s a free, weekly, timed 5K run in a local park filled with people of all shapes and sizes and running abilities.  If you don’t feel up to running the whole distance that’s not a problem – run, walk or a combination of both, or you can volunteer in a number of different roles, some of them more active than others.  It’s not a race as such, but the beauty of it when you’re starting out is that there’s a tail runner who follows everyone around the course, offering encouragement (along with all of the other volunteers), and ensures that they come last rather than anyone else.   You need to register on the website and print out your barcode before you go.  #dontforgetyourbarcode.

YouTube – This may not be the best place to find free inspiration!  I started looking one evening for an exercise video and, vefore I knew it, I’d been scrolling for far longer than intended and missed my opportunity to actually do any exercise!  There’s thousands of different types of exercise on here for every type of fitness level and intensity.  Just make sure you actually do some more movement than scrolling requires!

If you’re struggling for ideas or motivation to get you moving each day read my January prompts here or follow me on Instagram to get a gentle nudge in your newsfeed each day.

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