When you can't afford gym equipment...

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Replies

  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
    It's hard on your lungs to run outside in below freezing temperatures without a muffler/scarf (they even make special one for running. Then there's also the ice that can be dangerous. I guess it depends where you live.

    *sigh* Another myth.

    Where I live we run in -40C and our lungs are just fine, and so do millions north of 50 all over the world. There's a 100 mile ultramarathon in Antarctica and nobody's "lungs freeze".
    "Hard on your lungs...without a muffler/scarf" is hardly the same thing as "lungs freeze".

    Personally, my cutoff is about 37-38 degrees (found this through trial and error). Anything below that and it's just not enjoyable.
  • NKF92879
    NKF92879 Posts: 601 Member

    It's hard on your lungs to run outside in below freezing temperatures without a muffler/scarf (they even make special one for running. Then there's also the ice that can be dangerous. I guess it depends where you live.

    *sigh* Another myth.

    Where I live we run in -40C and our lungs are just fine, and so do millions north of 50 all over the world. There's a 100 mile ultramarathon in Antarctica and nobody's "lungs freeze".

    OP: If you aren't motivated to get outside during the Winter and have no inside gear, then it's going to be bodyweight exercises ie: squats, 1-leg squats, pushups, dips, jumping, running on the spot, lifting ice cream pails full of water (or ice cream!). Sounds boring, but at least you'll be inside and exercising.

    Have fun!
    E.

    I was just relaying information from a friend with a Master's Degree in Health and Fitness Awareness that was confirmed by my doctor.
  • apriltrainer
    apriltrainer Posts: 732 Member
    pushups, pullups! Good ol standbys...

    Heck, even when I go to the gym, I BARELY ever touch any equipment but the dumbells.

    I used to be in the Army so am used to bodyweight work. Although I admit once I got out of the service I got suckerred into the shiny fancy machines at the gym and forgot my army training until a few years ago when I realized I had the best machine available- MY BODY!

    Heck, one day I couldn't get to the gym so I decided to do 100 burpees instead of the usual cardio...

    KICKED my butt.

    Snowy outside? Do burpees in the house.

    Want to add some upper body? Do burppes with a pushup in the down position, then jump up and do a pullup....

    100 Burpees. Try it and you shall see how HARD it is.

    Better than any cardio equipment!
  • horndave
    horndave Posts: 565

    It's hard on your lungs to run outside in below freezing temperatures without a muffler/scarf (they even make special one for running. Then there's also the ice that can be dangerous. I guess it depends where you live.

    *sigh* Another myth.

    Where I live we run in -40C and our lungs are just fine, and so do millions north of 50 all over the world. There's a 100 mile ultramarathon in Antarctica and nobody's "lungs freeze".

    OP: If you aren't motivated to get outside during the Winter and have no inside gear, then it's going to be bodyweight exercises ie: squats, 1-leg squats, pushups, dips, jumping, running on the spot, lifting ice cream pails full of water (or ice cream!). Sounds boring, but at least you'll be inside and exercising.

    Have fun!
    E.

    THIS
  • jmxxiiii
    jmxxiiii Posts: 231 Member
    on demand channel is pretty neat, netflix has a pretty decent selection of dvds too (instant view) and youtube :]

    also good ole fashin crunches, sit ups, jumping jacks, stairs etc.
  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
    A man after my own heart! I'm doing TM September in NorCal. Waiting for registration to open up grrr... They have an awesome circuit training program that you can do with just what you have at home.
    Its never too cold or too rainy or to snowy or too muddy to go run!

    As I plan to race in these conditions, I need to train in these conditions. For an example of what i run, check out this link. www.toughmudder.com. I am doing the Pennsylvania one in May and the Jersey one in November but I have done the Tri-state one in 2010 and 2011.
    "too cold to go running"? I've never heard of such a thing!

    If you can't hack the cold try exercise videos.
  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
    "too cold to go running"? I've never heard of such a thing!

    If you can't hack the cold try exercise videos.

    It's hard on your lungs to run outside in below freezing temperatures without a muffler/scarf (they even make special one for running. Then there's also the ice that can be dangerous. I guess it depends where you live.

    Never noticed an issue... I just ran yesterday I think the temp was in the low 20's.
  • Angie80281
    Angie80281 Posts: 444 Member
    If your house has stairs, you can jog up and down those. There are also inexpensive equipment options, such as thigh-toning bands (3 for $10) and resistance bands in place of dumbbells. Those are great for adding extra resistance and they don't require a lot of money or space.
  • Spearo
    Spearo Posts: 47
    I was just relaying information from a friend with a Master's Degree in Health and Fitness Awareness that was confirmed by my doctor.

    He/she/they is/are wrong. Obviously he/she isn't my running partner. People with pieces of paper on the wall are not necessarily correct. Are you still listening to the FDA for your food intake? Or buying ab machines from fitness experts on TV? Wearing nice spongy shoes? Doctors and "fitness experts" have been saying things for eternity that inevitably get proven wrong.

    Luckily my mother didn't listen to the seasoned expert who told her to take thalydomide for her morning sickness in 1962!

    Think for yourself.
  • Spearo
    Spearo Posts: 47
    100 Burpees. Try it and you shall see how HARD it is.

    Better than any cardio equipment!

    Hardcore!
  • MissOphelia
    MissOphelia Posts: 23
    I am a college student and I certainly can't afford a treadmill or something like that even though I'd love to have one. My advice is to check Goodwill or some other store like it for cheap workout stuff. Sometimes they have older elliptical machines for like $50 or less and small weights for a couple of dollars. Also fitness DVD's are great...I just got one at Goodwill for 1$ and it's got pillates, ballet, and yoga stuff on it. :)
  • yogagalsarah
    yogagalsarah Posts: 1
    I had the same problem. I had this goal to be fit by the xmas but being indecisive, an ebook from yogapool.com was all I decided to get. These gyms and the aerobics and all the shipping and handling that comes with it, plus trying to find space in your home to place the equipment can be a pain in the butt.
  • rodneyderrick
    rodneyderrick Posts: 483 Member
    It must be extremely cold where you live. Wal-Mart carries an aerobic step for less than 50 dollars, and you can start a good workout routine with that.
  • Starla_
    Starla_ Posts: 349
    As others have said - body weight exercises!

    I do everything at home without the use of any equipment at all, I've been doing majority body weight exercises for the last 9 weeks and its fantastic. Burpees are a fantastic workout on their own and the feeling when you beat your previous time doing 100 is awesome!
  • Kamalka
    Kamalka Posts: 164 Member
    I do not run below 2 or 4°C, only because it hurts my throat, but you really do not feel cold when you run. I finally bought myself a home bike (90% of people use them 10 times, leave them somewhere for a couple of years and get rid of them at 20% of original price on ebay) and a stepper (25 euros for a new one...I used it for a month and it stayed under my bed for the last 3 years :blushing: ).
    If you want to feel really good, full of energy, consider the swiming pool, the first time only requires motivation, then you get addicted). I go for a run everytime the temperature is ok (I am addicted, I look for 2 hours of good temperature, I do not cross December because it is winter). I thought I would go swimming but the beggining of winter was quite good, so it might be in January, depending on temperatures.
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