Bodyweight Exercise: The Ninth Zen Habit to Make Huge Savings in Your Budget

Bodyweight exercises could actually save you money and reduce stress in these  trying times.

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits recently posted a collection of eight habits to help you save big money in these troubled economic waters. But in my book, he forgot an important one. Are you paying big bucks on your gym membership?

The average monthly dues are pegged at about $50 per month. But that can climb as high as $100 or more depending on where you live and what kind of gym you attend. That means cutting out the gym could save you anywhere from $600 to $1200 and more each year!

Yes, this is a health and wellness site. No, I’m not saying you shouldn’t exercise. What I am saying is that conventional gym exercise is not the only way to approach physical wellness. With or without equipment, there are a myriad of more interesting ways to express yourself through movement and stay in shape. You can...

• Exercise at home or in your hotel room
• Work out in the park
• Train at work

...or wherever you care to tote your portable gym. Hint - you carry it everywhere.

The Power of Bodyweight Exercise

The most versatile exercise tool in your possession is the weight of your own body. For centuries, sophisticated physical cultures have been using exercises employing bodyweight only to build impressive physiques, ample strength and legendary wellness.

But in these stressful times, the benefits of gymless training goes well beyond the monetary. It is well established that physical activity helps combat stress. And we have stress in spades these days.

But what about the process of fighting rush hour traffic to get to the gym? What about tussling for crowded gym equipment, dealing with blaring music and feeling like you are on display? These are hardly good stress relievers. Compare that with a quiet workout in your backyard or your rec room.

Bodyweight Training Options Are Deep & Wide

You may be thinking that bodyweight exercise will not be sufficient to garner sustained improvements in your conditioning, or that it doesn’t offer enough variation to hold your interest. This is far from true. Certainly, vanilla flavoured varieties of bodyweight exercises are limited to endless repetitions of push-ups and crunches. But there are endless choices of movements if we turn to examples such as ancient physical cultures and modern innovators like the Circular Strength Training® system (CST).

Here is a brief example of an effective session that you can do anywhere. These movements are pulled from CST. Perform one repetition of each movement before moving on to the next. One rep of each exercise comprises one circuit. Continue doing the circuit for the time you have available to you. Take rest pauses as needed.

CST Bodyweight Exercise Circuit

Quad Squat

(At the end of the rep tip up into a low squat to perform the…)

Prisoner Squat

(finish in a low squat and tip forward onto all fours to perform the…)

Leg Swoop

(Transition directly into the Quad Squat for a subsequent circuit.)

For a virtual library of bodyweight exercises, consider picking up the Bodyweight Exercise Revolution.

Give the circuit a try and let me know in the comments how it went.  How long can you go without stopping?  How many circuits can you complete in 10 minutes?  Play with different ways to challenge yourself with these three equipment free exercise options.

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