Invest in Yourself - Fitness on the Cheap

With my last entry I gave a little spiel about giving back. I chose to support a friend of mine in her efforts to raise funds for the World Wildlife Foundation. Good friend. Good cause. Money well spent. I've donated a good amount of my clothes, my wife's clothes and, tomorrow, I'm donating my kids' old sleep sacks to a friend with a baby. These are actions I can feel good about. But rather than wait for the Karma express to come rolling my way, I'm being proactive and doing good by me as well. If I don't invest in me, who will? 

I think I already made mention that I joined a gym that carries a minimal cost of $4.99/bi-weekly.  Not bad. I made the decision to join that gym rather than source out used gym equipment for a home gym, because a home gym is generally never used. I'd end up with an oversized, overpriced set of clothes racks. How do I know? I had a treadmill, but sold it for roughly $100 before I started this journey. I had adjustable barbells, and sold them for $25 (one of my first posts). Oddly enough, the only 'thing' I do use when I 'workout' at home is my Oakley tactical bag and a 25 lbs bag of sand. I use them to run. I was inspired by a Men's Health article (that I still keep as motivation) that offered a small blurb on what essentially equates to a minimalist home gym - a single kettlebell. It was one guy's entire home gym. He couldn't afford much, so he based his exercise regimen on that kettlebell. Kinda genius. I got roped into running, but wanted something more challenging. In that same issue of Men's Health, there was a workout that involved rucking + a circuit to perform with your rucksack halfway through the run. Problem was I didn't have a military grade rucksack. I didn't have a weighted vest. I didn't have, at the time, 25 lbs to put in a sack.  What I did have was an Oakley tactical bag that I won as an alternative to a diaper bag (yes, Wiser's Whiskey paid for an Oakley tactical bag so I didn't have to sport a floral diaper bag, and I'm eternally grateful). All I needed, then, was 25 lbs. Where could I find that? Play sand. My kids have a sand and water playset. I'd just pour out 15 lbs of sand from the 40 lbs bag, tape it back up and voila - 25 lbs.!

This set up cost me less than $10.00

If you're adamant about not buying new sand, you can check out, well, everywhere. Go to a park and grab a couple pounds at the playground there. Got a forest nearby? Hell yeah you'll find dirt there too! Need a bag? Check a military surplus store. They are everywhere and likely have genuine, used, military grade rucksacks. Another bonus? Running doesn't cost you anything, aside from the initial investment of shoes, which you can also likely buy gently used. You can also run just about anywhere - no gym required. Shortly after taking up running I ran my first 5k ... then another ... and now I'm registered for at least two 10k runs this year. I'm investing in my health and it isn't costing me very much.  I've dropped thirty pounds over the last year and a half, but more importantly I don't tire easily while playing with my boys. If they want to be thrown in the air (and kids at two and three years of age love that), dad can throw them in the air. If they want to wrestle (what little boys don't want to wrestle), dad doesn't gas out after two minutes. I'm able to enjoy my time with my little birds that much longer, and you can't put a price on that. I kinda did, I suppose at $10.00 + $4.99/bi-weekly, but money well invested. It is invested in me, my health and my time with my kids. I'm sure you can find other benefits, but I like the focus on my unruly offspring. They inspire me to be who I am.

Without any further deliberations ...

Coco out.