What To Do When You Want to Get Fit But the Gym Is Not An Option
By: Will Zolpe
Tags: Self Improvement, Health, Advice, Life, Inspiration

My gym was closed for a long time this year and it’s now open again, but with lots of restrictions. It’s really taken away any fun there once was about going to the gym.

So, in congruence with my life’s theme right now, I’m going out and getting it.

I enjoy running and play soccer for fun so I’m not too worried about my cardio. It’s the lack of muscle on my skinny frame that I’m after.

I’ve always wanted to tackle this issue but was never persistent enough. That’s over now.

Here’s what I’m doing and you can do it with me:

Decide What You Want to Accomplish

Keep it simple and clear. Don’t say “put on muscle.” Say:

Build up my upper legs and butt, back, shoulders, and triceps.

That’s exactly what I wrote down.

Be very specific about what you want. Saying “build muscle” leaves you with no actionable steps to take in the beginning.

Also, trying to build up your whole body at once is going to take a long time. Start with a couple key areas to avoid overwhelm.

Get Started, However You Can

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a home gym. That’s fine though. I’m glad I don’t. It’s more fun this way.

Instead, I have three large logs in my back yard that just sit out there because I’m a caveman.

A couple days a week, I go out there to get some air and to lift, pull, and push those things around. There are so many different movements you can practice with just logs it’s incredible.

The house I just moved into has a playground two blocks from it. How convenient for someone like me.

I will be the guy who goes to climb on a kid’s playground because why not?

It’s ideal for natural movement. I’m not going to let a couple sideways looks stop me. That’s great equipment, free for the whole community to use.

On a separate note, we all have our bodyweight to work with.

Plenty of bodybuilders around the world have simply used themselves as the weight and built incredible strength and a chiseled physique from it.

Don’t abandon the basics. Pushups, pull-ups, squats, and lunges go a long way.

Invest in Good Tools

Before the logs, I had a pull-up bar mounted in my door frame. I’ll do some casual hanging work on it and sometimes pull-ups too.

That pull-up bar cost me $4 from Goodwill and has been a great investment. Another place to check out could be Play-it-Again Sports or another resale shop near you.

Lucky for me, my parents just let me take the heavy bag that was hanging at their house. Now, I have something to punch and kick when I’m frustrated that no one’s reading my writing.

Other ideas might be a kettlebell, your friend’s dumbbells, the medicine ball your mom doesn’t use anymore. Make use of the resources around you. I’ve hardly had to part with any money to get the gym equipment I now have.

Remember jump-roping? The inexpensive way to improve your cardio and light your calves on fire? There’s another idea.

I was just Christmas shopping at Marshall’s and saw kettlebells for $13 and jump ropes for $5. Those don’t go bad.

Make a routine out of using tools like those and you’d be hard-pressed to name a better fitness investment.

Use “Micro-workouts”

This is Mark Sisson’s term that he uses to describe short workouts that are spread throughout the day. His approach is to work yourself steadily all day long rather than one consecutive hour at the gym.

It’s an excellent approach to becoming an active person over a sedentary person.

Micro-workouts also can keep you from sweating if you are at work or just don’t want to shower afterwards. Some examples would be: 15 pushups, 10 air-squats, 20 burpees, 3 pull-ups, and so on.

I try to squeeze a couple of these in between my work tasks during the day. A couples pull-ups here, a few squats there, followed by a walk is not a bad way to keep yourself moving throughout a busy day.

Don’t Make It Harder Than It Has to Be

Fitness is not a punishment. I heard someone recently talking about how people just want things to be hard because everything is a punishment. I laughed because it’s so true.

The way some people view the gym is borderline unhealthy. It seems to be this dungeon of fitness torture.

I guess I’ll go run on the treadmill for 15 minutes if I can even hack it for that long. I’ll do one mile today, that’s it. One more set! One more rep!

If I saw fitness this way, I would quit it altogether. Fitness should be fun and beneficial. You’re not suffering through it.

I would bet right now that you almost winced when you read that I enjoy running earlier.

It’s funny to me, because I don’t see it as a punishment. To me, I’m not running, I’m meditating.

That’s all good exercise really is. You get to be the passenger in your body for a little while and enjoy the full immersion in whatever activity it is.

This is how things like rock-climbing and martial arts are for me as well. I’m not doing them to burn calories, I’m doing them because they’re a form of play.

Start Today

I didn’t write this so you could postpone this to use as a New Year’s Resolution. We all know those never last anyway.

If you made it this far, that’s because you care about making this happen. So start now.

There are no more valid excuses. There is equipment all around you, micro-workouts take no time at all, and you’re ready for a change.

The world is your gym and your possessions are your weights. Get to work! I mean, having fun!