Frugal Fitness: Ditching the Gym

Squats at Gantry Plaza

This past January, when most people were making resolutions to join the gym, I did the opposite. I quit it.

I had just returned from a month on a small island in the Caribbean where I shared in my friend’s good fortune – she traded one of her paintings for time in a vacation condo there. (We like to take working vacations to foreign places together. I write and take photos; she draws and paints. And then we spend our non-working hours exploring the new locale.) Unfortunately, when I returned to NYC all blissed out from December on the beach and ready to plunge back into my freelance work, there was no work, and I was forced to make some adjustments. The gym renewal was one of the first things to go.

There are many ways to stay fit without going to the gym. I know this because I’ve written what probably amounts to hundreds of articles on the subject. And while the gym does have certain advantages – it’s a warm, cozy place to work out in January, for example. And with all the equipment, machines, and classes, there’s a lot of variety. It’s also EXPENSIVE! Read the rest of this entry »