Picture your local gym in January. The air is heavy with stale sweat, Kiss FM and a palpable sense of confusion. Queues for the treadmills, queues for the showers and queues for the mirror (because if you didn’t take a selfie it didn’t happen, right?) So this year, to save you from tears and expensive joining fees, we’ve compiled a list of tips to help you get fit without breaking the bank or your New Year’s resolutions. Scroll on for some innovative ways to get in shape for free.
1. Join a running club
From cities to the suburbs, Britain is not short of running clubs. In London, there’s the Nike-affiliated Run Dem Crew, an ever-expanding group of creative professionals who come together every Tuesday night to pound the streets of east London and further afield. Intimidated? Don’t be. Runners assign themselves to a particular group according to the speed at which they feel comfortable, from the Tortoises who jog over ten minute miles to the Elite who race sub seven minute miles and compete in marathons across the world. In central London, Asics’ Oxford Street shop also hosts weekly running clubs, with Monday nights aimed at complete beginners.
And around the rest of the UK? Nike have free Nike+ Run Clubs all over Britain through Facebook groups where members can virtually connect with other runners and meet up with them IRL. If you can’t find a running club quite near enough, why not use Facebook to set your own one up?
2. Make exercise part of your daily routine
If the thought of getting up an hour early on a cold, dark, wet January morning to squeeze in a pre-work jog fills you with despair, why not make exercise a part of your daily commute? If you live within a few miles of work, commit to cycling or walking three or four times a week. If that’s not possible, get off the bus, train or tube a few stops early, or park your car a little bit further away. Walking just a few miles extra every day will have a noticeable positive impact on your physical health and at the same time allow you some vital time away from the fifth circle of hell – rush hour.
3. Turn your living room into a gym studio
Revive the games console gathering dust in your living room or hijack your boyfriend’s Xbox (31 is probably too old for multi-player ‘FIFA tournaments’ anyway). Try Shape Up or Zumba Fitness for Xbox or My Fitness Coach for Wii.
If you don’t own a games console then hit up eBay or Amazon’s ‘used’ section for bargain deals on cult fitness DVDs like Ministry of Sound: Pump It Up – remember the video for Eric Prydz’ ‘Call On Me’? This is that with instructions – or else anything featuring Davina McCall. Invite a friend round and let the living room become your gym studio, holding classes ranging from High Intensity Interval Training to Insanity or Essexercise workouts.
4. Take your work out to a local park
Parks are amazing places to work out. Not only can you take your dog, but you are also less likely to bump into someone from work, or, as has happened to me on multiple occasions, Justin Lee Collins. In recent years, councils across the country have installed fully functional fitness areas in parks with bars for pull-ups, press-ups and sit-ups and outdoor versions of gym equipment including cardio, strength and toning machines. Make the most of these, they won’t cost you a penny. Find a gym here.
5. Follow a motivational Instagram account or two.
Instagram accounts like Nicole Mejia's Fit and Thick are the perfect way to skip out on a personal trainer, but still get taught a variety of workout techniques. Nicole's videos show you simple tricks to get in shape, all the while catering for people who have minimal space, time and equipment to play with – which makes them perfect for small flats and even smaller budgets. For more Instafit accounts to follow, check out my previous list for Refinery29.
Photo: @ajodudu
6. Start a football team
With the England women’s national football team running rings around the men’s, football is no longer a man’s game. Power League operates artificial football pitches in 45 sites across the UK, Ireland and Scotland where anyone can book a pitch and set up a five-a-side match for the price of a vodka lime tonic (once you've divided it up). Plus, if you’re actually friends with your work colleagues, you might be able to get your company to cover the cost of a weekly match.
7. Train with a friend
One of the biggest hurdles to getting fit can be motivation, particularly in January. Enter the workout friend, that one person who begs you to come to the gym with them (“I’ll train you!”) every time they get drunk. Now is the time to take them up on the offer. With the workout friend at your side, you won’t be able to mutter false promises about going for a run later, plus you’ll have a hype man to cheer you through every press-up. This is also a handy tip if you’re competitive.
8. Be a friend’s plus one
If you spent your December pay cheque on bottles of Prosecco, tequila shots and coconut water for inevitable dehydration the morning after, don’t panic. With a little help from your less broke friends, their existing gym memberships and the power of guest passes, you can gain access to complimentary towels and watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians whilst working up a sweaty sheen. You'll just have to fit in with their schedule.
9. Check the internet for free classes
When you’ve run out of friends, Lululemon’s Covent Garden branch sometimes host free yoga classes taught by renowned yogis from around the world, Asics run an in-store bootcamp and Sweaty Betty and Nike each boast extensive timetables of complimentary classes in various London-based stores throughout the week. Elsewhere, city councils provide fitness classes that are free-to-join and come as reasonable as £1 per class. Just give it a Google.
10. Go Dancing
Not ready to swap your Friday night out for an early Saturday morning jog? Go dancing, but just don’t drink. Breaking out the entire dance routine to J Bieb’s "Sorry" while stone-cold sober may sound intimidating now, but when the dancefloor is filled with intoxicated partygoers you will look as well choreographed as an early-2000s Britney by comparison.
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