by David Aaron White

Created on: February 18, 2009

You don't need to be a millionaire to get in shape. In fact, many of the best exercises that you can do for yourself require no money whatsoever, except for the food needed to fuel your workouts. For example, you can be the richest person in the world but have no motivation whatsoever; you'd buy up a bunch of exercise equipment which could be useful to someone who is hell bent on getting in shape, but if you believe the equipment will do the work for you, then you are sorely mistaken. There are several ways that you can get in shape, though, using neither little nor no equipment as long as you have the right motivation.

Running is one of the least costly exercises you can do. All you need to do to run is throw on a pair of halfway decent shoes and head out the door. Now, unless you already own a treadmill, you'll have to do your running outdoors, for a treadmill can be very expensive. In truth, unless it's hailing, pouring rain, freezing, acid raining, or ungodly hot outside, you shouldn't waste your money on a treadmill. All you would do on it is run, which you can do in your own neighborhood without any fancy equipment.

Push-ups are also a set of exercises that can cost no money at all. All you need to do is get down on the ground, spread your hands shoulder width apart, and start pushing up and down. Now, unless you plan on spending hours doing these, you'll eventually need a way to make each push-up more difficult as you get stronger; doing 200 push-ups and barely feeling anything will make your workouts take a very long time. Instead of buying the Perfect Push-up, grab three folding chairs, put one under each of your hands, and put one under your feet. This should easily make each of your push-ups twice as difficult because your pectoral muscle has to carry you twice as high.

Sit-ups work incredibly well, and they're free. Seriously, what money do you need to spend on an exercise that involves lying down and doing sets of sit-ups? The only equipment that you might possibly need is a mat, but a carpet works just as well unless you're incredibly picky about where you work out. Just a note: it's better to not be very picky about where you work out if you don't plan to spend any money on it. Be sure to keep a bottle of water nearby when you do your sit-ups, but because you're working your abdomen, don't drink too much!

Dips are another great set of exercises that won't cost you any additional money. In fact, we can even go back to using our good friends, the folding chairs. Just position yourself so that you're legs are hanging off the ground and your knees are bent; then, lower yourself to the ground and push yourself up. You should feel your pectoral muscles, as well as your triceps and biceps, burn after about ten of these, which is a pretty difficult set. Unless you're used to training these muscles all at once, you should probably do no more than thirty of these in a day.

Those are the best ways to get in shape without spending a dime. Granted, if you don't happen to own any chairs, you can always borrow some, or buy some cheap ones; not too cheap, though, because you don't want them to break under you. Good luck!

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