Welcome to the Get Fit Guys quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Ben Greenfield and listener JD recently wrote into me and said,

I'm a full-time student with financial constraints. So while I don't want to wait to get fit,

I do find myself waiting to join a gym until I have

some kind of steady income. In the meantime, I try to run and bike fairly often to get in some

free cardio. This leads to my question, what can you recommend for muscle building slash toning

type exercises I can do at home with cheap or no equipment. Well, in this episode,

I'm not only going to tell JD how to get fit on a budget, but I'm also going to give you my

best quick and dirty tips for money-saving workouts, body weight exercises, and affordable home

gym equipment.

Let's begin this week's discussion by talking about how to save money on gym memberships,

because let's face it, working out at a gym just makes it easier for most people to get fit,

since there's such a wide variety of exercise equipment, classes, workout instruction, and social support, but memberships can

range from 50 up to $200 or more each month, which can make shrinking your waistline prohibitively

expensive. However, having worked at a gym for many years, I can give you three tips for saving

money on a gym membership.

Number one, ask for the joining fee to be waived.

Most gyms already do this in January when everyone is rushing to join,

but you can usually politely ask them to waive the joining fee at any time of year.

Jims will often refund this fee if you attend a certain number of times per month, typically for 15 to 20 visits.

Number two, commit to a long-term membership.

If you're really serious about achieving your goals and you want to save money, too,

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