**Guest author: This post is written by fitness expert Drew Howerton, friend of the podcast and author of the weekly newsletter, Move To Improve**
Everything feels expensive these days. Marketing pros and influencers can make you feel like if you could just acquire one gadget or piece of equipment, then you’d be fit. But those fitness tools come with a cost. And that cost doesn’t necessarily translate to greater levels of fitness! Especially if your new spin bike or rowing machine ends up collecting dust, or worse, turns into an expensive place to hang your clothes.
You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to stay fit. In fact, there are many free and cheap ways to exercise and stay fit at home. Think about it—for the vast majority of human history, our ancestors stayed fit and active with minimal equipment and none of the fancy fitness tech of today. We can too!
Part of being frugal is knowing where our money is going and making sure we’re benefitting from what it’s buying us. Throwing dollars away is the worst!
If you’ve got a gym membership or Peloton subscription and use it frequently, that’s great! We don’t want you to cut it out of your life just because it costs money. But if you’re tossing your hard-earned cash at some lousy gym membership or rusty equipment that isn’t cutting it, that isn’t improving your health, maybe it’s time to reconsider.
So before you spend the equivalent of your grocery budget on the newest fitness item you saw on an infomercial or social media that you won’t even know how to use, be sure to try these free and cheap ways to exercise at home first!
1. Walk, run, hike, ruck, or carry (free)
As humans, it’s our signature movement! No species is better engineered to transport itself long distances on two feet than we are. All you need are decent shoes (don’t get fooled into the ultra-cushioned hyper-popular running shoe marketing schemes either. Our feet are resilient and need to feel the ground).
Walking and running can take place virtually anywhere, anytime, making it one of the best cheap ways to exercise. If you’re looking to hike, search for trails in your area – the AllTrails app is a great resource!
Humans are specifically built to carry weight for long distances. Rucking is a popular choice right now, and for good reason. It’s basically just walking with a weighted backpack. While you could buy an official rucksack and weights, that’s not necessary. You can just as easily load up a backpack you already own with heavy books. If you want to improve your grip strength (one of the greatest correlators to longevity) while you’re enjoying a fitness walk, carry some weights or weighted bags too!
Here’s a pic of Joel and the 35lb weight he carries around for exercise when he’s walking to and from the office 👆👆👆
2. Take the stairs (and other exercise snacks) (free)
Working short bursts of movement into your everyday routine has serious benefits—both short-term and long-term. Even an hour at the gym every day can’t offset the negative effects of being sedentary for the remaining 23 hours. At least every 1–2 hours (the more frequently, the better), get up and move for a few minutes.
Climb a few flights of stairs, walk around the block, do some chores, or just stretch at your desk. Including these quick and cheap ways to exercise in your daily routine will improve myriad aspects of your health. Things like blood pressure, glucose regulation, chronic pain, cardiorespiratory fitness, and even your mood and productivity at work! Your co-workers will thank you.
3. Dance! (free)
There’s not a more fun way to stay fit than this. And making your fitness regimen joyous will make it much easier to stick with. Getting up at 5am to do 200 burpees sounds like drudgery. A night out dancing with friends, on the other hand, sounds like a blast!
Dancing can burn several hundred calories an hour and keep your heart rate in a great moderate-intensity zone. Whether it’s a spontaneous breakout, a regular after-dinner family dance party, or taking actual lessons, dancing is a fantastic way to stay healthy, improve balance, and better your mental health.
4. Bodyweight strength exercises (free)
From beginner to expert level, there’s always a way to make bodyweight exercises just the right degree of challenge for you. You can progress and regress exercises as needed. Think in terms of the movement patterns:
- Upper body push (e.g. push-ups)
- Upper body pull (e.g. pull-ups)
- Lower body squat (e.g. squats)
- Lower body hinge (e.g. single leg hip hinge/deadlift)
- Lower body lunge (e.g. walking lunges)
- Rotation/anti-rotation (e.g. Russian twists)
- Carry (e.g. walking while holding weight)
There are endless cheap bodyweight exercises and ways to do strength training at home. You can try finding some with just a simple online search or your own creativity!
5. Use what you have (gallon jugs, book bags, chairs) (free)
I almost guarantee you have objects around your house that you can incorporate into cheap workouts. Whether it’s curling gallon jugs, doing lateral raises with soup cans, doing dips on a chair, or loading up a book bag to ruck! Get creative and use what’s around you to add some resistance to your at-home exercise routine.
The fancy workout gadgets we mentioned earlier can be alluring. Remember The Gazelle!? But those devices still won’t do the work for you. Plus, it’s kind of fun to challenge yourself to find cheap ways to exercise with items you already have in your possession.
6. Use apps, YouTube videos, etc. for home workouts (free/cheap)
This solution has never been more accessible in human history. Functional Bodybuilding has a great YouTube channel for exercise demonstrations. Yoga with Adriene is one of the most famous home-exercise Youtube channels.
Of course, there are fancy apps out there that offer instructive workouts. Although they cost a little money every month they still provide cheap ways to exercise and keep you motivated to stay fit. Some folks I know swear by Apple Fitness+. The Peloton app is really good – and you don’t even have to buy their overpriced equipment to use it. Heck, I even used Chris Hemsworth’s fitness app called Centr during the height of Covid. It’s great!
But here at How To Money, our favorite word is free. Know that there are a plethora of high-quality free and inexpensive at-home options too. Find what piques your interest and give it a try.
7. Sign up for university studies (free, possibly paid!)
Going the less conventional route could possibly help you earn some money or other compensation! If you live in a college town that has an exercise/health sciences department, and especially if there’s a graduate school, there’s a good chance that students and faculty are looking for study participants. Volunteer to be an exercise guinea pig!
While you’ll have far less control than when following your own program, this is a fun way to get active while helping advance cutting-edge science. We just mentioned how much we love free stuff. But getting paid to exercise is even better.
8. Find Accountability (free)
Whether it comes in the form of an accountability buddy, a workout partner, or just sharing our goals and progress in group chats or on social media, we’re much more likely to stick to commitments and reach goals when we tell people about them.
So speak your fitness ambitions into existence. Get a good friend to work out with you—or at least check in on your progress periodically. It’s amazing how much saying those words out loud to trusted peers will impact your willingness to get after it. It’ll help with the most important factor in exercising: consistency!
9. Find an active hobby (free)
My friend recently started rock climbing, and boy has it whipped him into shape! While technically it’s not “free” (he had to buy some equipment & a gym pass), he can go whenever he wants—inside or out. The point is, you get to choose whatever you’re into and stay fit while doing it.
Some folks absolutely despise running on its own. But you end up running a lot when you play a game of pick-up basketball or backyard soccer. So why not endeavor to play a sport regularly instead of concocting a massive exercise regimen? Even pickleball counts, y’all!
10. Join a big gym when they have a sale (cheap)
This option might not be free, but many commercial gyms are actually quite affordable. Especially when they have a seasonal sale going on. Keep your eyes peeled for those! Or maybe you know a friend who goes and can give you a referral so that you both get rewarded. After all, what are friends for!?
It can be tough to stick with it or workout as hard when you’re going solo in your home gym or neighborhood. If home workouts aren’t your jam and you really want access to a wide array of equipment, you can’t beat a big, cheap commercial gym.
11. Resistance bands & jump ropes (~$20–100)
These magical tools take up minimal space but can get you in shape in no time! Especially if you’re newer to resistance/strength training, resistance bands can be a great introduction into building strength and muscle. They’re highly transportable and easy on the joints. Tom Brady’s TB40 program has benefited many a resistance band user.
And jump ropes are an incredible workout! They’re not just for elementary school PE classes. All you need is a good rope with a few square feet of space to really get your heart pumping. Check out @jimmysaysrelax and @lauren.jumps on Instagram for cheap ways to exercise with jump ropes!
12. Buy a basic pedometer ($10–$100+)
Monitoring our daily step count is one of the best ways to exercise on the cheap and ensure we’re getting enough low-intensity movement throughout the day. You can find a basic step counter for less than 20 bucks. Or maybe your smart watch or phone already counts your steps. If not, a cheaper Fitbit model will do the trick too!
Health benefits start by achieving around 4,000 steps a day, but continue to increase through 12,000 steps and beyond. Whatever your baseline is, aim to slowly but steadily increase it over time. That nighttime family post-dinner walk isn’t just for smelling the flowers, although that’s nice too. Get to steppin’!
13. Bike to work—or anywhere! ($100–$500+)
Whether you go for the $100 used bike off Facebook Marketplace or splurge on a 4-figure bike, changing your mode of transportation can also change your health! Driving less also helps your wallet!! Most of our daily travel is within 10 miles of home anyway. In fact, roughly 50% of our trips are within a 4-mile radius.
Biking (especially in the city) is nearly just as fast as hopping in your car for those shorter trips. It saves money on gas and vehicle maintenance. And it’s great for your health to boot!
Joel’s been biking to work for YEARS. Loving every minute being outdoors 😉
14. DIY Home Gym (amount varies widely!)
You certainly don’t need to buy brand new equipment straight from the retailer. If you have a spare bedroom, garage, extra space outside, or even room for dumbbells next to the tv, you can invest in home gym equipment! There are tons of options online for secondhand equipment, often 50% or more off retail price and just as effective.
Craigslist used to be the place to turn. Facebook Marketplace is a go-to spot now. But you might even find equipment in “buy nothing” groups or from a gym selling old inventory. Just remember, it doesn’t matter how pretty it is – you’re only looking for cheap ways to exercise. A 35-pound kettlebell still functions perfectly well, whether brand new or pre-owned!
15. Share equipment with family, friends, or neighbors (cheap)
There’s no need to keep all your equipment to yourself! Odds are, you’re not the only person in your life who wants to find cheap ways to exercise. Maybe your neighbors have a squat rack you can use in exchange for access to your sauna. Or maybe you have a full set of dumbbells and your friend has the perfect backyard for outdoor workouts.
Think of this like how your local library or tool bank functions. You don’t need to own those books or tools. But it’s nice to be able to borrow them from time to time. Sharing space and equipment with other frugal fitness lovers in your life can be a cost effective way to cover all your bases—and build camaraderie while doing so!
Tips to Integrate Frugal Fitness into Your Life:
Here are the best pieces of advice I can give you to stick with it and be successful incorporating frugal fitness habits into your life.
- If timing is an issue, multitask! Can you take meetings while walking? Can you watch your kid while riding your stationary bike or doing bodyweight squats every commercial break? Catching up with a friend? Go on a hike together!
- Just like setting up automatic investments, you can automate your fitness! Make a habit of parking far away and walking to the store. Park several blocks away from work every day to get in 5–20 minutes of walking before and after clocking in. Make a rule to always take the stairs. Set out your gym/running clothes the night before so you can’t ignore them.
- It can’t only be about exercise and movement. Take care to also prioritize sleep, diet, hydration, community, and adequate time outdoors for a well-rounded approach to your health.
- Find accountability. Even if you don’t always workout together, having someone with whom you share your goals, progress, and struggles with can help you maintain consistency, which is the most important factor in achieving and maintaining positive long-term health outcomes.
The Bottom Line:
Working out doesn’t have to be expensive. There are a ton of easy and cheap ways to incorporate exercise into your routine. Free bodyweight exercises, online video resources, or trying a new sport in a public park can give you well-rounded workouts. If you have a few bucks to invest in inexpensive fitness tools like jump ropes or resistance bands, the long-term benefits far outweigh the cost.
Unfortunately, society has made it seem like only the wealthy and those with endless hours of free time and fancy athleisure clothing can get in shape. But if you just put in a little frugal intentionality, there are so many free and cheap ways to exercise and stay fit!
Related posts:
- 12 Frugal Habits to save money in everyday life
- 14 Money Challenges to jumpstart your financial progress
**Drew Howerton, writes a weekly fitness newsletter, Move To Improve, which simplifies health and fitness and encourages folks to live their best life! Check it out!**
