Training for any sport or fitness pursuit requires a mixture of time, dedication, and money. While some sports require expensive equipment, that doesn’t mean that you need to break the bank to stay fit.

In fact, there is an amazing amount of exercise that you can do for very little money. Running may be the most obvious low-expense activity, but that still requires good shoes to keep you in good condition. There is a huge amount of exercise you can get just using your own body weight and items you already have around the house.

There are a lot of free resources for workout programs, such as One Hundred Pushups, where you can find exercises that don’t require any equipment at all. Some martial arts types, like Tai Chi Chuan, don’t require any equipment at all until you start studying weapon forms – and that’s many years into your training. In my martial arts training (specifically Kung Fu) I’ve done hundreds of exercises that require no equipment other than my own body, and many more that require only a few inexpensive items.

When to Buy

So when should you buy equipment? When it helps you accomplish something specific, and the cost of the equipment is less than the value of the goal that it helps you achieve. Deciding the value of your goal may be tough, but I think the decision is much easier when the cost is very low.

Some examples of equipment with high value to cost ratio:

• Grip Master hand trainer – these hand strength trainers are so much better than the V-shaped squeezers they had when I was a kid. I’ve been using the heavy tension one to strengthen my grip on the days when I’m not rock climbing, and I really like that the tension is even and *independent* on all of the fingers. I use the heavy tension one here, but you might want to start with the lower tension one.
• A door-mounted pullup bar to increase the strength or bulk of your arms. The price of the pullup bar is fairly insignificant compared to the value of the goal – provided that you use it regularly.
• A yoga mat such as this can make it much more comfortable to do situps, pushups, side crunches, and a myriad of other exercises on the floor. Making it comfortable can reduce a barrier that may be preventing you from keeping on track with your goal.
• The Swiss medicine ball (such as this one here)  can be an aid to building core muscles (stomach and back). There are a lot of different exercises that can be done with a single purchase.
• Jump Rope – an old classic, this is great for cardio work and to strengthen your calves. A heavier rope make is much easier to use, such as this leather one. Avoid ones made with rope, as the lack of weight to keep swinging around.
• Running shoes to let you run outdoors/on trails. Runners typically get several months or several hundred miles out of a pair of shoes. The cost per hour of intense cardio is quite low. Even when buying “expensive” shoes (I recommend good shoes, not flashy ones), you’ll be paying only cents per mile.

When to Build

A few do-it-yourself options

• Fill gallon milk jugs with water or sand, and use the build in handle for all manner of arm exercises (curls, lifts, etc). A gallon of water weighs about 8.33 lbs, but if you have a scale you can measure different amounts or water or sand to get a different weight.
• Sandbags can present a different challenge when working out, which can help you build more balanced muscles. The lack of a handle forces you to hold it differently, increasing your hand strength as well as working more muscle groups at once.
• A bench or even couch can serve the same purpose as a gym bench to allow lifting sets that go below you (such as butterfly curls)

When to Walk Away

Some purchases to reconsider

• A treadmill or elliptical trainer – there is a danger that this could become an expensive dust-catcher. To make this a worthwhile investment, you must use it regularly for some time. One possible reason that this could be a good purchase is if you are dedicated to walking or running, but the weather prevents you from doing so for part of the year.
• A “complete home gym” – while these may look like they give a great workout in the infomercial, I suspect that the typical purchaser isn’t able to get the full results out of it. These take up a lot of space and may not include many exercises that you can’t accomplish by other, cheaper means.
• A long-term gym contract – the gym contracts exist for one reason – they know that people will sign up and start going, but when the enthusiasm fades the contract will remain. You might be getting your money’s worth the first month, but if your work schedule changes down the road and you can never make it in to the gym, this can be a high cost with minimal benefit.

Conclusion

I updated the Toolbox with the Grip Master hand trainer since I really like it. I like to continuously add a few good pieces of equipment, rather than buy one giant thing and then nothing for a few years. You’ll get more use by adding things as you need them, and have time to incorporate them into your routine.

So in summary, I suggest not buying any big ticket items until you know that it will help you achieve your goals, and that the price is appropriate for you. I know that some people are motivated to use things that they paid more for, so it is important to know yourself. For me, I achieve the best results when I review the goal that I am trying to achieve and select the equipment and training plan that will best help me to get there.