Best 3 free alternatives for gym haters

Some women love working out, some don’t, and both of them can give lots of reasons for that. However, we are not going to run deep into the issue, it’s not the point. We truly believe that when you exercise for pleasure and fun, it can become intrinsically motivating, meaning you are motivated from within. The more you focus on your body looking “good” or “bad”, the less enjoyable exercise becomes and it’s going to be really hard to stay motivated. Anyway, here we’d like to talk about the best 3 free alternatives for gym haters – walking, dancing and hula hooping.

7 Major benefits of walking, dancing and hula hooping

Here are the major benefits of walking, dancing and hula hooping:

• Free, all of them
• Suitable for any age
• Good for any season
• No equipment required
• No membership required
• No special place required
• No tight schedule

The best three free alternatives for gym haters

Walking

It’s difficult to list all the benefits that walking provides for your health and beauty. Walking acts on your body gently, but at the same time quite powerful. It oxygenates every cell in the body, stimulates muscles and joints and improves lung functioning.

It burns calories

At a normal pace, you will cover over 4 km in an hour walk and burn between 210 and 360 calories (for most people).

Slow walking burns calories too! And even more!

It may sound too good to be true, but walking slowly and consciously is good for your health. Researchers found out that a slower-than-normal walk offers people (especially to overweight people) a better bang for their buck when it comes to burning calories and avoiding knee injuries. When you walk slowly, you lose the efficiency of already being in motion towards your next step. This makes your muscles work a little harder with each step. Slow walking not only burns a surprising number of calories and decrease joint stress, but also it adds an element of meditation and mental relaxation.

Will you lose your weight?

Maybe. Maybe not. “I walk and walk, but I don’t lose weight any way,” this situation is familiar to many. But one thing is for sure – you won’t gain weight and strengthen your muscles. Some girls even got rid of their cellulite.

It’s a psychotherapy session

Walking lifts your mood, helping to cope with depression and anxiety. Walking gives you a chance to be alone for a while, to meditate, or to stimulate your creative thinking. It can calm and focus an agitated mind, or invigorate a sluggish one.

Many people find walking meditation easier and more natural than meditating or praying while sitting or lying down. There’s less tendency to fall asleep, experience muscle cramps, or feeling the need to scratch.

It gives a boost to your inner glow

The internal organs also enjoy walking: they get the opportunity to take the correct position and have a light massage session. It stimulates blood flow to your lungs, kidneys, liver, blood vessels, and intestine nourishing and cleansing the body. The higher blood flow gives nutrients and a lot of oxygen to every cell in your body and washes away the accumulated toxins. The result is literally on your face: blush on your cheeks and clearer skin.

Don’t miss a chance to walk

• Walk during your lunch break if at all possible. Instead of spending another dull lunch in a cafeteria, pop on your sneakers and take a quick walk around your office building during your lunch hour.
• Take longer walks on the weekends.
• Walk your dog: Don’t forget, walking the dog counts too!

Do some hills

Doing some hills will help increase the intensity of walking as well as the total number of calories burned. Don’t make it to the top in one day; do it gradually.

Make walking interesting

• Drive to different public parks or natural areas, park the car and enjoy the views while you walk.
• Explore the seasonal changes, what’s going on around you, notice the sky, the people, the sounds, the colours.
• Pick different routes so you don’t get tired of seeing the same sights.
• Reverse your usual route: If you have a particular loop – reverse it! Simply changing the direction will provide much-needed variation to keep your body challenged and mind inquisitive.

And again, walking does not require financial investments. You don’t need to buy a membership. However, to feel the effect, it is important to make an effort to start walking every day. At least try to.

Install an application

Install an application on your smartphone to track the number of steps taken per day.

Hula hooping

For many decades, hula hoops have been popular toys. They were originally designed for children, but from the creation they have been used as a fun exercise tool for adults as well. Including hula hooping in your daily routine may help you burn calories, shed fat, and tone your muscles for a slim waist.

Hula hoop may look like fun and game, but it really does fire up your core. Hula hooping has the similar benefits to salsa or belly dancing.

Hula hoop comes in plastic and metal. A plastic one is suitable for those who are just learning to spin the hoop. But if you already have some experience, opt to a metal hula hoop. The main advice is to spin the hoop on an empty stomach.

Some benefits of hula hooping

• According to the Mayo Clinic, women can burn about 170 calories during 30 minutes of hula hooping.
• It reduces abdominal fat and fat around your waist and hips.
• It strengthens your core muscles because hula hooping requires you to activate the muscles in your core to keep the hoop around your hips and waist.
• It lifts your mood and increases your motivation to exercise again

No special place required

Hula hooping doesn’t require any special place: you can do it in a park, on a beach, or in your backyard. You can spin it at home at any time, allocating a little space. While spinning it, you can do your favorite things, such as chatting on the phone or watching TV; some even manage to read.

No special skills required

No special skills and special training are required to start hula hooping. It’s simple really. Remember your primary school days: dust off your hoop and start spinning.

A weighted hula hoop

Using a weighted hula hoop is good and safe as long as you’re using a weight that’s appropriate for your strength and fitness level. When in doubt, it’s better to use a hoop that’s too light than too heavy. If you feel any pain during your workout, stop immediately.

A WORD OF CAUTION

If you’re new to exercising, or have an injury, or chronic health condition, or back or hip issues, it’s a good idea to check with your doctor first. It is strictly forbidden to engage in hula hoop for pregnant women, as it might harm the fetus development. It’s not recommended for women with some diseases of the abdominal cavity and small pelvis, such as kidneys inflammation, bladder stones and others.

Dancing

Even working from home and taking care of your family can’t keep you from dancing! It doesn’t matter if it is salsa or tango, shuffle or your own free style, just put on your favourite playlist and dance out your stress for thirty minutes or so. Focus on the moves, bump ‘n’ grind to the beat and before you know it, you’ve been sweating for a whole hour.

Dance with YouTube videos

You can find a wide variety of dancing videos on YouTube for free which allows you to pick and choose the type of the dancing you feel like doing at that particular time. No TV required. Like many of the other digital alternatives to gym memberships, just watch the video from your smartphone or tablet. There are numerous channels which includes dancing lessons from the experts. There’s nothing wrong with fitness or aerobic classics from yesteryear too!

Exercise in any way you want, but remember that if you do it for fun and pleasure, you’ll get loooooots of beauty and health benefits.