The gym is made to help you get in shape, but that membership can be quite costly at times. Some of us are even notorious for practically “donating” our money to the gym without ever making use of that membership. So forget about it and start getting fit for free.
We have already talked about how to workout without going to the gym, but let’s take it a step further. By using the right apps and websites, you can exercise regularly without spending a dime.
1. Plank Timer (Android) and Plank (iOS): The Trendy No-Equipment Exercise
Doing planks is the new trend among the no-equipment exercise crowd. It’s also actually one of the easiest workouts to start for anyone who is out of shape and wants to get fit again.
Planks exercise your core strength by making you hold a position similar to doing push-ups. Start with a small number (30 seconds) and gradually move up to longer durations of planks (3-5 minutes).
On Android, Plank Timer is a fantastic app to start doing planks, and then add its variations. Go with the simple plank first, as the app counts down the seconds of a full minute. Feel free to pause at any point, or finish too. The 5-minute plank exercise offers variations like leg lifts, which you will move up to.
On iPhones, Plank is a more detailed app that explains all the different types of planks and even includes short video demonstrations. The app breaks down your plank workouts into weeks so that you know how to slowly upgrade your planking abilities.
Download: Plank Timer for Android | iOS (Free)
2. Outdoor Gyms (Web): Public Edited Map of Free Gyms in Open Spaces
Who says you need to pay a hefty gym membership to get fit? There are bound to be public places near you that freely offer the basic tools for calisthenics or bodyweight fitness exercises.
Outdoor Gyms is a map of such free gyms in open spaces, added and verified by the community of users. Give it access to your location or move the map to the desired spot. Every green pin is an outdoor gym, and hovering over the pin will reveal notes about it, like the equipment available at that spot.
Outdoor Gyms is one of those cool internet products that is made purely out of people wanting to help each other be the best version of themselves.
3. NamaSketch (Web): Mini Yoga Sessions for Beginners
NamaSketch is a free web app that teaches yoga to someone who hasn’t tried it before. It’s a novel teaching mechanism too, as the site shows you ten different poses in easy-to-understand doodles.
Follow along by looking at the cute doodles and listening to the audio instructions. The yoga poses include downward dog, cat, bridge, cobra, and even the warrior pose. Don’t worry, none of these are too complex or overwhelming, so any beginner can start with them.
NamaSketch is an excellent way to learn the basics of yoga. After you’ve used the app a few times and want to continue with this exercise, try the more advanced yoga apps to help you workout anywhere.
4. Perfect Workout (Android, iOS, Windows): Free Trainer App With Instructions
Perfect Thumb’s Workout app hands you a full-body workout with 12 exercises for free. But it can actually give you its entire huge workout collection for free if you want to, thanks to its built-in “Rubies” coin system. Given how good the app is, that’s a steal.
Perfect Workout lets you earn free rubies for different activities, like watching a video ad, sharing the app sharing exercises, inviting friends to do workouts, completing a workout daily, and opening the app daily. These rubies can then be used to buy different types of workouts. Or well, you could spend actual money to unlock the workouts individually or all at once. It’s still cheaper than a gym membership.
The app itself is fantastic. Perfect Workout shows cartoon animations of each exercise so you can follow along, and there are audio instructions and prompts too. You can also set a reminder so you don’t miss your exercise, and the app automatically tracks statistics of all your calorie-burning activities.
Download: Perfect Workout for Android | iOS | Windows (Free)
5. A Few Common Exercises From The Guardian
This is an oldie but a goodie. Back in 2011, The Guardian put together a special issue on how to get fit for free, part of which was a video. Well, the video is still available for anyone on YouTube.
The video is less than five minutes long, but it shows you different exercise opportunities in your life that you never considered before. It’s a mix of bodyweight exercises, stretches, aerobic activities, and tips to use in your daily routine. Check it out, this might be the best five minutes you spent to get fitter.
Level Up With Free Workout Generators
One of the benefits of a gym membership is that local trainers will happily recommend a workout for you. Since you don’t have a trainer to rely on, turn to these free exercise and workout generators. They will ensure your fitness routine never gets boring, and challenges you to achieve more.
Image Credit: Syda_Productions/Depositphotos
