Be Excellent To Each Other

I am in need of getting fit, changes in my life (promotion, divorce, seeing my son only at weekends etc) has meant that I don't have time to go to the gym or play rugby as much as I used to.

I am toying with he idea of getting a bike to cycle to work, but not part of the cycle to work scheme as I was not going to spend enough to make it worth while.

What do you lot do, I am open to gym free exercise ideas..

How far is your work? A bike is a nice way to increase your general fitness, and it's fun being able to bugger off for an hour or more and see how far you get. Running is great for you and cheap, but it's a lot more taxing on the joints and much more difficult to get in to from my experience, though others may vary.

I do a mixture of cycling and running for general cardio, then try to get some small weight training and situps etc. in at least a few times a week to stop me being a skinny little runt. All of the latter is easily doable at home with a set of dumbells, and everything bar the cycling has been extremely cheap to get going.

I rely on (brisk) walking.

I park my car a 25 minute walk from the office (which also frees me from the worries of parking zones and/or having to pay parking charges), which equates to 50 minutes of walking per day, plus I usually take a walk at lunch as well, to take it over an hour per day. (And when I say 'walking' I fairly crack on a bit, not like that funny looking speed walking or anything, but enough to leave me feeling like I've done some physical exercise by the time I arrive at work/back at the car.) Back when I lived closer to work (about 30 minutes each way), I simply walked to and from work and that did the job.

If that doesn't fit in around your work routine, there's a lot to be said for walking in any context, you get out and about, can see some lovely places, and it all counts as exercise. Whenever I have a day off for example, I'll go for a 5-10 mile walk, depending on what sort of mood I'm in.

Obviously you're never going to get super fit or muscular or anything, but it does enough for me that I don't have to worry about what I drink/eat and still manage to stay comfortably in my healthy weight range.

It depends what you're after really, are you aiming for 'being healthy and reasonably active' or getting all mega-fit?

Join your local baseball team!

I don't think there is one, but I will be rejoining a rugby team..

Thanks for the ideas. I live about 5 miles from the office, so I might get a bike, Decathlon seem to have cheapish range of bikes. Plus side would mean I would not have to be at work before 8:30 to park.

I bought a set of small dumbbells - tiny 500g ones up to less tiny 2Kg ones - for some basic lifting and aerobic twatting around stuff. It's already improved my strength in just a few weeks of a few hundred lifts of various kinds once or twice a day. Also been jogging, though not as frequently as I should.

I do recommend the weights -you can get them for 30 or 40 quid quite easily and they'll live forever. Even if you get mega-fit, they'll still be handy for light tune-ups or if you ever get very sick or injured and need to keep active without risking any kind of strain. You can do your thigh muscles with them too if jogging isn't an option. I find them much easier and I'm much more disciplined with them than I am with sit-ups etc, and they're somehow less boring, too. Stick some music on and you're away.

Also walking, but I've always done that a lot. Maybe make a habit of walking to a shop several times a week to buy milk or bread or whatever (bring only enough money to buy these, or you'll blow a small fortune on junk).

My advice?

Never allow yourself to touch the floor in your own house. A few months of navigating via the walls and furniture will soon get you fit and ripped.

Apparently, I'm giving up booze until the BBQ. Looking at the cupboard, tomorrow's a write off. Aside from that, I'll try to cycle once a day and swim twice a week. .

I like the idea of this.. I have worked away from the front door to living room, and the bed to the bathroom... rest of the house might take some more thought....

Kettlebells and medicine balls are effective and provide a nice variety of exercises.

Handily, they're also easily constructed from any spare kettles or medicine you happen to have lying around the house.

Excellent.

I'll bloody kettle you in a minute...

*grumble*