As the nation\u2019s economic woes drag on, many people are rethinking their investments in pricey gym memberships and home exercise equipment. After all, the average health club membership is $750 annually, including sign-up fees and monthly dues. A treadmill for home use can cost upward of $1,000.<\/p>\n
Many fitness buffs are finding that less expensive alternatives can be just as invigorating. \u201cThese days people realize you can burn the same number of calories for a lot less money,\u201d said Beth Kobliner, personal finance expert and the author of \u201cGet a Financial Life.\u201d She added, \u201cAll kinds of programs have popped up postrecession that offer lower-cost ways to exercise.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The alternatives mentioned range from joining the local Y or running\/cycling club, DVDs, websites, following YouTube exercise vids, etc. If you’re just starting out, these are actually preferred strategies: save joining a gym until you establish a regular exercise habit.<\/p>\n
I’d\u00a0also add checking out your\u00a0local Parks and Rec Department to the options mentioned in the article. When we lived in Ohio, the\u00a0city (Kettering)\u00a0maintained its own indoor gym(s) and running tracks. For a measly $120\/year, residents\u00a0could make\u00a0unlimited use of the facilities (cardio room, machines\/free weights and walking\/running track). Nearby Washington Township also had its own gym facilities – not quite as extensive as Kettering’s but adequate, nonetheless.<\/p>\n
Obviously, not all cities invest in the health of their citizens like this, but some do, so it’s an option worth\u00a0looking into.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thinking of making a fitness resolution for the New Year? More power to ya, although signing a long-term gym contract may not be the best first step.\u00a0Sure, there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,28],"tags":[742],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4348"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9649,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348\/revisions\/9649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}