That's gotta hurt.
No, not wiping out on the ice on your driveway, but checking the credit card statement after the holidays. I'm sure you're wanting to keep your spending down in the new year, but if you're trying to get healthier for 2018 this is when the most money tends to be spent on fitness, gym memberships and so on.
It's not always the cheapest thing to get fit, but there are some ways that you can make fitness more affordable.
You don't have to belong to a gym to get fit. It definitely can help and is convenient, but most people forget fitness is free. If you're just starting out, you can get incredible benefits from starting a walking program. You can go running, hiking, biking, free public skating, swimming, or even use neighborhood tennis courts when the weather gets better.
The next thing is fitness at home. From body weight circuits to yoga and ab and core workouts, all you need is a good chunk of floor. The number one resource for the home workout is going to be YouTube. You can find any type of workout you could ever think of, from yoga tutorials, high-intensity interval training workouts and everything in between.. Want to do a shoulder workout and only have some cans of soup? You can find a way to a way to get a workout.
The art of haggling seems to have died, but you can still negotiate a better gym membership. Big health and fitness clubs used to be the only game in town, but now there is so much competition for your money. There's CrossFit, personal training studios, boot camps, P45, yoga studios, running clubs and more, so big gyms will do more to get your business. Don't be afraid to say what you're willing to pay, and see if they can accommodate you. From selling memberships myself, trust me, sales managers have more wiggle room than you might think.
The busiest times in a gym tend to be 7 to 10 a.m., and 5 to 9 p.m. A good gym will sell a cheaper off-peak membership that you can only use during certain quiet times. They might already have this option but just don't promote it, so you may need to make the proposal. Gyms would rather have a bit of money than nothing, especially when it's going to be used when it's less busy.
There's no way around it: personal training works. It's the ultimate way to get to your fitness goals, but it's not cheap. There may be some ways to get a better deal though.
The first thing is when buying more sessions the price should come down per session . Another option is to ask for some free sessions on top of this. As a trainer, I would always give away free sessions if it meant the person is going to buy a bigger package, so make sure you ask for a few bonus sessions to get more value.
Find out the hourly rates and say what you are willing to pay. Again, with so much competition, sales targets and quotas to hit, they are more likely to take your offer if it's within reason. Freelance trainers especially are more often able to offer a discounted rate if it means you are bringing them business.
You can get a great workout in 30 minutes, and any trainer worth their salt should be able to provide this. If an hour session is $60, see if you can pay $30-35 for half an hour. This can work for the trainer as they can book two half-hour sessions and make at least, or a bit more, than they normally would for the hour.
Whether it's you and a friend or two, or a bigger group, you can approach a trainer or instructor and put together a group deal that ends up being less per hour then if you were to train solo. This is an ideal situation for you and the trainer. You'll be getting cheaper fitness, a great group dynamic and the trainer will now have an added income in a previously empty time slot. They'll be pretty likely to create a good price that's giving them more per hour than they would usually get. They also get exposure to potential new clients who might want to do one-on-one training later.
More from HuffPost Canada:
- Canada's 1st LGBTQ-Only Gym Fills An 'Obvious Need' For A Safe Space
- Top Fitness Trends For 2018 That Will Motivate You To Get Off The Couch
- 10 Unique Ways to Stay Fit Without Joining a Gym
You've probably noticed the costs involved with getting fit. You do have options though from training at home to using some of these tips to make getting healthy as affordable as possible. Just make sure to salt the driveway so you get there in one piece.
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