Can't afford gym membership or don't want to join? Here are 3 ways to create your own DIY exercise program
By Lewis Ingram, Hunter Bennett and Saravana Kumar, University of South Australia With the rising cost of living, gyms memberships and fitness classes are becoming increasingly unaffordable. But the good news is you can make just as much progress at home. Cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength and flexibility are the most important components of fitness.
And each can be trained with little or no equipment. Let's look at why – and how – to fit them into your DIY exercise programme.1. Cardiovascular endurance: Cardiovascular endurance exercise (or “cardio”) forces the heart and lungs to increase the supply of oxygen to the working muscles.
Heart disease is a leading cause of death and cardiovascular endurance exercise helps keep the heart healthy. The best thing about cardio is you don't need any fancy equipment to do it. Walking, jogging and running are great options, as are cycling, skipping rope and swimming.
There are two approaches to maximise cardiovascular endurance:high-intensity interval training (HIIT) – short bouts of hard exercise (around 80% to 95% of your maximum heart rate) interspersed with lower intensity recovery periods (around 40% to 50% of your maximum heart rate).low-intensity steady-state (LISS) exercise – aerobic activity performed continuously at a low-to-moderate intensity (around 50% to 65% of your maximum heart rate) for an extended duration. Both are great options. While high-intensity interval training can be more time efficient, low-intensity steady-state training might be more enjoyable and easier to sustain long-term.
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