photo credit: lululemon athletica
While talking to a friend recently, she commented on reading a statistic about hollywood stars and their personal trainers–turns out the average star works out with a personal trainer for at least two hours, several days a week. On top of personal chefs, massage and other pampering techniques, is it any wonder they look as fit as they do? It is, after all, part of the job. I have splurged on a personal trainer myself in the past as well as a nutritionist, and it gets results, but what do you do if you don’t have the money to burn? Try these tips on for size!
Virtual Exercise– Look no further than what is right in front of you: yes, your computer. Turns out, you can find all sorts of fitness and diet websites online and many of them are, gasp, free. That’s right, free. And they are personalized to boot. They do everything a personal trainer does–from creating workouts to tracking fitness goals–pretty much everything except yell at you when you are ready to quit–and I’m sure you can find someone to do that for free! Not only that, but several also have pretty cool diet journals that log your nutrition, count your calories, and suggest ways to increase the nutrition in your diet. A few good ones to try?
The virtual trainer at shape.com is as close to a personal trainer as you can get for free, while the diet plans at Spark are stupendous and it’s easy to figure out how many calories are really in your meals at Fit Watch. Finally a great website for learning how to do all those exercises you aren’t quite sure about? Sports Fitness Advisor shows you how to use dumbells with animated muscle men while you can find great printable yoga exercises here, complete with detailed how to.
Team Up– One of the best things about personal trainers is that they demand accountability–you work out because it is expected, you are paying them! A good way to simulate the experience without the cost? Enlist a workout buddy. Here’s what you do: Take a great big jar and every time you meet up at the gym successfully, or in house for workout DVD’s, or for a walk or run put five bucks in (or one or ten or whatever you can afford but that is pushing it). If one of you doesn’t show, the other one gets to keep double your ante (so if you put in five, she gets ten). After a month or so, you can use the money to go out to a great healthy dinner, buy a nice pair of workout pants, or just keep the money again.
Food Friends: Want to eat healthy but don’t have the time? Again enlist friends. Most whole, nutritious meals are easy enough to make for eight, so enlist a friend (or two or three, the more the merrier) and trade off nights. This works best if you live near each other, of course, because you will be making a healthy meal and bringing it over to your friend one night a week. She brings you one another night. If you have a few friends, you can be making a big meal one night a week and eating as if you have a personal chef the rest. Better yet, make it social if you have the time–dinner parties are the best.
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5 Responses to “How to Get a Quality Workout Without the Pricey Trainer”
no wonder those stars look amazing. Some trainers are reasonable and good..it just takes time to find. I try and keep my rates reasonable so that people can continue to train and learn. But going to check these virtual sites out.
Great ideas! I think the accountability partner is one of the most important. I don’t really have that in person, which is why I chose to blog. Yeah, you can always disappear if you fall off the wagon, but if you make yourself post no matter what, then it makes you think before you eat something you shouldn’t.
Thanks for the exercise links! I’ve been using myfit.ca, but I like variety.
I’ll check these out!
Thanks for such a helpful article! Just thought I’d add another online personal trainer (the one I use), Mel O’Keefe. It’s not free, but the program, at http://www.virtualfitnesscoach.com, has awesome features like detailed menus that help you create your own healthy meals (knowing exactly how many cals you’re intaking), and 24/7 access to a real personal trainer. There are videos, support groups, health articles and more and the cost is significantly less than face-time with a trainer! Try the two-week free trial if you’re curious. And thanks again, for a well researched post. Hope this helps!
I came across your post while trying to find a source for fitness. An insightful and articulate post! Valuable thoughts and advices. I read your topic with great interest! Really nice post. Very good points. I hope plenty of people see it. So far this is an incredible resource for information and Ive spent a ton of time reading. Look forward to hearing from you! -Shane
no wonder those stars look amazing. Some trainers are reasonable and good..it just takes time to find. I try and keep my rates reasonable so that people can continue to train and learn. But going to check these virtual sites out.
Comment by kristisummer — May 22, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
Great ideas! I think the accountability partner is one of the most important. I don’t really have that in person, which is why I chose to blog. Yeah, you can always disappear if you fall off the wagon, but if you make yourself post no matter what, then it makes you think before you eat something you shouldn’t.
Comment by South Beach Steve — May 23, 2009 @ 4:10 am
Thanks for the exercise links! I’ve been using myfit.ca, but I like variety.
I’ll check these out!
Comment by Cammy@TippyToeDiet — May 25, 2009 @ 6:43 am
Thanks for such a helpful article! Just thought I’d add another online personal trainer (the one I use), Mel O’Keefe. It’s not free, but the program, at http://www.virtualfitnesscoach.com, has awesome features like detailed menus that help you create your own healthy meals (knowing exactly how many cals you’re intaking), and 24/7 access to a real personal trainer. There are videos, support groups, health articles and more and the cost is significantly less than face-time with a trainer! Try the two-week free trial if you’re curious. And thanks again, for a well researched post. Hope this helps!
Comment by Gcayce — May 27, 2009 @ 11:09 am
I came across your post while trying to find a source for fitness. An insightful and articulate post! Valuable thoughts and advices. I read your topic with great interest! Really nice post. Very good points. I hope plenty of people see it. So far this is an incredible resource for information and Ive spent a ton of time reading. Look forward to hearing from you! -Shane
Comment by Dentist Roseville — February 16, 2010 @ 11:40 pm