I ditched the gym and you can too – here are six ways to get fit without it

The Guardian

8 hours ago

After almost two decades of regular gym-going, I've finally cancelled my membership. The reasons for this are many and varied – I'm trying to save money, gym music is terrible these days, everyone seems to have forgotten how to share the equipment – but the main one is, I think it may actually make me fitter.
Working for Men's Fitness magazine for almost 10 years, I got to try out every trend, workout style and fitness event I wanted, and I noticed something interesting: quite frequently, the people with the fewest resources were in the best shape. I'm not including Hollywood actors in this, but otherwise, it's often true: powerlifters working out in unheated concrete sheds get the strongest, runners who stay off treadmills get the fastest, and people exercising in basements have a focus rarely seen in palatial upmarket gyms. Browsing through photos from when my own gym membership was (briefly) paused during Covid lockdowns, I look … if not quite like Jason Statham, then at least his off-brand office-party equivalent. I might not have had the best cardio of my life – even social distancing couldn't convince me to run more than three miles (5km) at a time – but I was certainly lean.
Some of the correlation and causation here might be muddled, obviously – Covid also prevented me from getting to my favourite cake shop – but let's not worry about that right now.
So what's the plan? Well, as a 46-year-old father with a lot to do, I'm focusing on fitting workouts into my life wherever is feasible, combining cardio, strength and mobility as much as possible, and buying as little kit as I can. Here's what I'm up to.
Over recent years, it's become increasingly clear that VO2 max, a measure of your body's ability to use oxygen during intense exercise, is a key indicator of health and lifespan: to the extent that it's probably one of the main things worth focusing on for longevity. Unfortunately, building up a good VO2 max takes a little bit longer than getting strong – but there are things you can do to speed the whole process along.
One is the so-called 'Norwegian protocol': working out at a high intensity for four minutes, then at a lower intensity for three minutes, then repeating – four times altogether. With a warmup on top, you're done in little more than 30 minutes – and if you do that once a week, any other running workouts can be more ponderous or plodding. Recently, I've been a regular at my local Parkrun, which is always delightful – there are plenty of people far faster than me to keep me motivated, but nobody bats an eye if you put an audiobook on and turn in a 40-minute three miles.
The final thing I'm doing run-wise is hill 'sprints' – a bit of a misnomer, as my nearest hummock is angled so steeply that I can barely get up it faster than a jog. This is actually a good thing; with a couple of hamstring pings in my past, my actual sprinting days are probably over, but the hilly variety still force you to work hard, generate power with each stride, and recruit dozens of muscle fibres with every step.
Being strong is good for you: apart from the obvious benefits (carrying furniture, shopping and weary children), it can improve bone density, balance and mobility, heart health, and might even have protective effects against dementia. Some sort of strength training should be a non-negotiable part of your workout week, but the good news is that it really doesn't have to take long – recent research suggests that two 'sets' of exercise per body part, per week can be enough to build strength, with the diminishing returns kicking in quickly afterwards.
These workouts can also be very simple: unless you want to look like a Marvel character, there's no need for dozens of movements. All you really need to focus on is what many trainers call the fundamental human movements: push, pull, squat, 'hinge', and carry – all of which can be done with a kettlebell, set of dumbells, or a bag of books if you're on a budget. My twice-weekly strength plan is as simple as it gets: two sets each of overhead presses (push), one-armed rows (pull) and goblet squats (hopefully obvious), and one set of kettlebell swings (this is the 'hinge', but so is any movement where the power comes from your hips, from picking a weight off the ground to doing the long jump). I get my carrying by doing the shopping – I usually do a big bagload or two once or twice a week.
This style of working out – popularised by former Soviet strength coach Pavel Tsatsouline – has been around for decades, but it's never been more relevant than in an era where lots of people work from home. The idea is that you're getting into the groove of the movements you do a lot, so not just working out your muscles but also your neuromuscular efficiency, or how well your brain and nervous system can activate your muscles.
Basically, you do one or two exercises at a relatively manageable intensity multiple times throughout the day, rather than in one workout session. Each set ought to feel fairly easy (you never go to 'failure', or even get sweaty), allowing you to focus on perfect form and make your body more efficient at recruiting muscle fibers. It won't make you huge, if that's the goal – but it will make you stronger.
I'm currently doing it with pullups. There's a bar in my kitchen, so whenever I let our new pup out in the garden – for a wee, for a little dash around, for the sheer joy of trying to eat a plastic plant-pot – I do seven or eight pullups, or roughly half the number I could manage if I really tried. I don't do another set for at least half an hour; I might do anywhere between three and about 10 sets a day: and in a couple of weeks, I'll probably add a rep or two. It's a great system for pullups, but it also works for more beginner-friendly movements – you could try it with wall pressups, squats, or lunges.
Sandbags, now making a comeback in functional fitness classes and Hyrox events, are great for lots of reasons. They challenge your body in a way that's difficult to do with barbells alone, working your stabiliser muscles and challenging your balance even at lower weights. You can also drop them on most sorts of flooring without too much fuss. And here's the secret: you can make your own sandbag, which is better and more versatile than most pre-made sandbags, for a fraction of the cost of the ones you see in the gym.
My preferred method is to fill a bunch of little sandwich bags with builders' sand (20kg in total is enough to start with), then duct-tape them closed: this helps to minimise leakage, and lets you adjust the weight. After that, just fling as many as you'd like in an old duffel bag or rucksack, and play around with it: lift it off the ground, squat with it on your shoulders, press it overhead or do glute-bridges with it balanced across your lap (much more comfortable than a barbell). You'll build the sort of strength that lets you throw a bag effortlessly into an overhead locker, and also be ready for the next idea …
'Rucking', or putting on a big backpack and going for a hike, might be better for most people than running: there's less impact on your joints, it builds a bit more strength in your legs and core, and it still elevates your heart rate and challenges your cardio. It's currently catching on as a trend, with dedicated clubs and ergonomically designed 'plate carrier' bags that can cost upwards of a hundred pounds – but let's be realistic, there's nothing to stop you throwing a few books in a rucksack and carrying it along on your everyday activities.
For me, the school run is perfect: it's about a mile each way, there are a couple of big hills, and if I get too out of breath to talk, my seven-year-old's perfectly happy to pick up the conversational slack. I've been loading myself up with 10kg for the trip for a couple of weeks now, and I'll probably add to that soon – if anything, it makes the treats I pick up at the en route bakery a lot easier to justify.
It's the simplest thing of all, but one of the most worth doing. One 2022 study found that taking up to 10,000 steps a day has protective effects against cardiovascular disease and cancer, but the benefits go far beyond that – walking in nature seems to improve mental health, while daily walks also seem to correlate with improved sleep. I'm lucky that I live in a very walkable city, and semi-lucky that I work from home – even though I don't have a commute to worry about, I quite often go for a little wander around (with my dog), to solve work problems that seem impossible when I'm sitting at my desk. Try skipping the headphones for a couple of weeks – you'll probably notice a big difference in how much creative thinking and problem-solving you get done.
You can get enough equipment to give you dozens of home-workout options for just more than 30 quid – less than a month's membership at most gyms. Once you've got the workout bug, upgrade as you save. Here's the order to invest in.
Resistance bands (£5+)These are excellent for back health and shoulder mobility. Doing a few band pull-aparts (hold the band in front of your chest and stretch it until your arms form a T with your body) whenever you have a spare moment will work wonders for your posture and dislocates (where you hold the band with straight arms, then slowly raise it over your head and behind your back).
Adjustable dumbbells (£20-£60)These can be as basic as you like: the main thing to bear in mind is that, after a while, they might not be heavy enough to actually challenge you much. Aim for a pair that you can load up to at least 10kg each – you can use them for everything from squats to overhead presses, and they'll let you directly target muscle groups that are tough to hit with bodyweight alone.
An ab wheel (£7+)These are underrated – they're cheap, light enough to throw in a bag, and might be the only bit of kit you ever need to train your midsection. Ab wheel 'rollouts' (the main movement you'll do with them) are a move to build up to – even one can be tricky, so start off by rolling towards a wall that'll stop you short of the full move, or even practising your roll on a shallow incline (if you can find one). These aren't absolutely essential, but if you can hold a plank for two minutes, it might be time to step it up.
A pullup bar (£20+)You might never plan to do a pullup, but these can be handy simply for doing dead hangs – and if they're securely anchored enough, you can also use them with a suspension trainer (see below). The version that clips over a doorframe will be fine for pullups, but if you're planning on anything fancier, consider the style that screws into the wall.
A kettlebell (£20-£40)The key thing about kettlebells is picking one with a nice shape to it – the official 'sport' versions come in a standard size (with a chunky 'bell' section) that should rest nicely against your forearm when you're doing more complex movements. The other consideration is weight – if you're only getting one (because they're pricey), you'll want the option that allows you to do the most movements, with a weight that's easy enough to lift at first but still stays reasonably challenging as you get stronger. A 12kg or 16kg kettlebell will work if you've never exercised before, but consider a 20kg version if you're a bit stronger.
A suspension trainer (£40+)These are the priciest thing on the list, and not strictly necessary – but if you've got somewhere to put one up (or a nearby tree), they'll vastly increase the movements you can do, including the excellent-for-your-shoulders inverted row. TRX is the brand everyone knows, but there are lots of others that are equally good – read the reviews.