Being active doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Gym memberships, class passes, and court fees are all luxuries when you are student, and sometimes equal results can be achieved at home, at no charge whatsoever!

Exercise is important for our physical health as well as our mental health, therefore, we thought we would share some ideas for cheap ways that you can exercise from within your student home.

 

Circuit train in your living room

Circuit training is a great form of exercise that offers a full-body workout, helps build strength and stamina, and also keeps your workout varied and fun. You don’t need a huge space to practice circuits, just write down 5-10 exercises that don’t require equipment, each with a specific time attached. For example, squats, lunges, sit ups, press ups and plank are all good ones to start with. Get a kitchen timer, or the stopwatch app on your phone and countdown the time until you move onto the next exercise. Exercise mats can be purchased cheaply online and that’s all you will need other than your own body and plenty of motivation.

 

Use free exercise videos

You’ll find all sorts of free online exercise videos on YouTube from dance routines and HIIT workouts, to Pilates, yoga, and Barrecore. There are also some fantastic free apps that you can download which offer not only the exercises, but which also allow you to track workouts over time, progress, weight changes, and food intake too. Some of the best free exercise apps include Strong, Jefit, Nike Training Club, Strava, MyfitnessPal, Daily Yoga and Endomondo.

 

Have a dance party

Dancing is not only good for your soul, but it’s also great for burning calories. Why not put together an epic playlist of all your favourite dance tunes and have a party in your bedroom or living room for half an hour? You might want to arrange a time when you know your housemates won’t be in to disturb you (or laugh at you!), or why not invite them to join in the party with you? The more the merrier after all!

 

Make your own weights

If you are trying to increase strength and muscle mass, then weight training is a great way to do it. Weights can be pretty expensive though, especially when you think of all the various sizes and weights that you might need for an effective workout. Luckily, there are plenty of items around the house that you can use instead of the real thing!

Soup cans make great light hand weights for arm curls and triceps extensions, and laundry detergent bottles are a great substitute for kettlebells as they usually have a handle you can grip onto at the side. A folding chair or sofa can be used for tricep dips and a rucksack full of stones of books can be used as a weighted vest if you want to use one of these in your workout too.

 

Fitting exercise into your weekly schedule is really important, so plan your sessions in advance and be sure to stick to them. Keep things varied with an array of different workouts and remember that exercising should be fun in order for it to be most beneficial.