Willpower aside, exercising requires budgeting time and money

For Lauren Pradhan, squeezing in a workout means waking up earlier than everyone else in her family and surely not having time to go to an actual gym.

Her home in Edina would have to suffice. So during the pandemic, Pradhan invested in a Peloton bike, a stationary bike with a touch screen for streaming classes that currently costs $1,445 for a new model or $89 for a monthly rental.

Pradhan’s new routine started with 5 a.m. workout sessions.

“Waking up and actually getting out of bed when it is pitch black outside in January is ridiculously hard,” she said. “Telling the voice in my head that said, ‘You don’t need to do this’ [that] ‘I actually do’ was a massive mind-over-matter mental shift.”

It took a solid 60 days of consistent exercise to build the routine, she said, but she’s currently riding a 77-consecutive week streak.

“I quickly saw that daily fitness made me a better leader, strategist, partner and parent,” said the chief executive and founder of Tesser Advisory, a Twin Cities strategic consulting firm. “It made my mind clearer, my ability to hold the complexities of my day easier, and my patience grew. Also, if I wanted my kids and those around me to be active, I realized I needed to model the behavior.”

For many people like Pradhan, finding 30 minutes of exercise time in a daily or even weekly routine is a challenge and that’s before factoring in the cost of gym memberships or equipment. Experts say starting a routine and developing a road map is the biggest hurdle, so here is some advice from trainers, fitness experts and people who mastered their own fitness journey on how to create an affordable workout plan:

Either throughout your fitness transformation or at the onset, having a personal trainer or coach is worth the investment.

From a beginner unsure of how to start to someone returning to fitness who needs an updated routine, having an expert removes the intimidation factor from the process, said Stacy Anderson, global brand president at Anytime Fitness.

“A coach can help not only orient you to the equipment but also teach you how to do the movement in a way that you’re not going to hurt yourself,” she said.

Jon Schoen, the founder of Minneapolis startup Trunkdrop, was previously a personal trainer in Los Angeles. Some of his clients were executives, attorneys and even celebrities. At the onset of the training program, Schoen would ask lifestyle questions to determine how to fit fitness into their daily routines.

Whether it was 5 a.m. or 5 p.m., each client set aside mandatory time for exercising. Having someone hold you responsible for scheduled workouts helps in those initial weeks, he said. It takes 21 days of consecutive, intense workouts to build a solid habit. After that, the body becomes dependent on positive neuro chemicals released during workouts, he said.

Despite the never-ending library of fitness tutorials on YouTube, a trainer helps close the education barrier, Schoen said. And it’s not just paying for education or workout plans. The initial assessment from a trainer is crucial, he said.

“You have to know where you’re starting from,” he said. “You need a road map. And it’s got to be with someone who is worth their salt.”

Schoen recommends people ask for referrals when seeking a trainer. The best referral is from someone who has had success (or possesses a physique you aspire to have).

When joining a gym, like Anytime Fitness, a reoccuring coaching session is an added cost. According to industry data, the cost for an in-person trainer can range from $30 to $300 an hour.

“A lot of people just don’t know how to get started or hadn’t seen the progress that they wanted to see when they have started,” Anderson said. “The most important equipment you can have is a coach that helps you, who guides you through the moments where you might not be feeling so motivated and cheers you on.”

In addition to lack of time and motivation, price is another barrier that can prevent people from getting fit.

While not everyone can afford a Peloton, personal trainer or even month-to-month membership to a gym, it’s not as expensive as you would think for basic access to exercise, especially if you analyze where your excess cash is going.

“When you think about where you’re spending your money, what’s more important than your health?” Anderson said. “When you think about all the things we spend in a day — subscriptions services, a $6 cup of coffee, a drink, fast food, dinner out, all those things — if you start to think about it, for less than $1.50 a day, you’re getting support inside and outside the club, and you’re getting physical and mental health, and you’re getting more healthy years. It almost seems absurd that we invest in sitting in front of the screen and not investing in our health.”

That’s the rationale Pradhan applied to buying an exercise bike.

“I honestly thought about it on a cost per day basis and realized that for $5 a day in the first year, I could really make this commitment,” she said.

The average membership price at Anytime Fitness is around $45 per month, Anderson said, adding that fees depend on location, as the company operates on a franchise system. Planet Fitness memberships start at $15 per month. Crunch Fitness basic memberships start at $9.99.

Some gyms and fitness studios offer free one-day guest passes and weeklong trials to give potential clients time to decide. You can also buy one-day passes. If you already have an annual membership, you can ask to freeze or pause your membership.

For those seeking inexpensive hybrid options, most gym chains and fitness providers have an app, where trainers offer live and on-demand classes you can view at home or from a hotel if traveling. Apple Fitness+, for instance, is free for the first three months and then $9.99 per month for those with Apple products. It’s free for those with an Anytime Fitness membership, Anderson said.

Not all exercises require equipment, either. Bodyweight-only exercises are a good source of strength training, Schoen said. There’s also taking short walks, Anderson said.

When he started his fitness journey, Subhadip Kumar of Blaine had his employer reimburse 50% of his gym membership fee, up to $300 in value. That is part of his employee benefits program while working at Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

Kumar had reached 250 pounds when he decided to lose weight through exercise. After two years, he lost 100 pounds. A comment from his wife sparked his health motivation.

“She feared I wouldn’t live to see our child’s wedding if I continued down this path,” he said.

Kumar joined a kickboxing and strength training class. He also joined Crunch Fitness and goes at least five days a week. He also switched his diet. While it was important for him to consume more healthy foods, it became more expensive to do so. Compared with his previous meal types, “preparing food for your healthy, balanced diet is more expensive than regular junk food,” Kumar said.

“When asked about my secret, I always say it wasn’t the exercise,” he said. “It was the discipline.”