By Ellie Crabbe, Second Year English
The Croft Magazine // Whatever the reason, gyms aren't for everyone. Ellie shares some easy and free alternatives to the gym that make the most of the beautiful green spaces Bristol has to offer.
The gym has reigned supreme as the dominant leisure and fitness location for many years. It is a huge industry, with an estimated 9.9 million members in the UK. They are not without their merits, offering the ability to exercise in all weather and almost any muscle in the body, but gym culture can be daunting and memberships expensive.
However, free alternatives are out there and with some trial and error you are sure to find the right exercise for you. Whether you prefer to stay in the comfort of your bedroom or get out and explore Bristol, there’s something in here for you:
Running
This is an obvious one, but running is such a great, free way to exercise. You can tailor it to your own ability and it takes a fraction of the time that going to the gym does. Whether you go it alone or buddy up, events run throughout the year that you can aim for, like the Great Bristol 10k in May.
Another brilliant initiative you could try is parkrun, a 5km run that is held at hundreds of locations nationwide at 9am on a Saturday morning. There are two in Bristol: one takes place at Ashton Court and the other in Eastville Park. It’s free, it gets you up and out of a weekend and running with others is always motivating and uplifting.
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Yoga
If you’re looking for something slightly less strenuous, that’s still going to work your muscles well, try some at-home yoga. There are thousands of free tutorials available on YouTube, for all abilities. For beginners, I would recommend looking at professional yoga teachers, such as Madeleine Shaw or Yoga with Adriene.
Adriene does 30 day challenges, which help you build your flexibility by practising for 20-30 minutes each day. The online community in the comments also helps keep you up with your challenge. Best of all, you don’t even have to leave your room as you can do it on your floor. If you don’t have a yoga mat, don’t worry – a blanket works fine, and if it turns out to be a hobby you love you can treat yourself to a mat.
Walking
People often forget the health benefits of walking and see it as a chore rather than something positive. However, walking, especially in hilly Bristol, is a great way to exercise. Keeping a good pace, you can raise your heart rate and explore your local area, or some of the beautiful scenery Bristol has to offer: the Harbourside, the suspension bridge and all the many green spaces.
HIIT workouts
Short, intense and rewarding, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is perhaps the closest you can get to the gym without the gym. Typically, around 20 minutes, you rotate a series of exercises with 40 seconds on, 20 seconds resting. You can choose the exercises you would like to target whatever different muscle groups you like: an ab-focused HIIT could include a plank, sit-ups and crunches in rotation.
In winter, when it is hard to drag yourself out of bed, try Yoga or HIIT from your room and as the days get longer and the sun gets brighter take the opportunity to get out to exercise. We are spoilt for choice here in Bristol with all the beautiful green spaces and city scenes to exercise in – who needs a gym?
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Featured Image: Epigram / Ellie Crabbe
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