Low-Buy Year: Exercise
I’m trying a low-buy year for many reasons, but today I’m going to talk about low-buy exercise because at its simplest it really doesn’t take much to get a body moving.
A little background of the exercise throughout my life. I was always enrolled in some kind of group exercise as a kid and teenager – dance instruction, sports teams, kickboxing classes, and even gym memberships started as a teen because my mother has always been into fitness. I’ve had a gym membership for the last year solely to go to Zumba classes (so much fun for me!), but I’m starting a new job and the schedules clash. And since I’m trying a low-buy year anyway, I cancelled my membership. I won’t have an exercise structure to attend, but I still need to make sure I’m exercising regularly because I KNOW I feel so much better when I do.
It’s time to revisit a system that I created during the pandemic when it was hard to get out and exercise as a group with instruction. I call it CHANCErcise. (I’ll admit that word sounds a lot better than it looks, ha.)
What is needed:
– handy-dandy move chart
– deck of cards
– some dice
– timer
– 2 or 3 sets of free weights (I have 1 light, 1 medium, and 1 heavy)
What that cost:
– Chart $0
– Cards $5
– Dice $5-20
– Timer $10
– Weights $10-60
Even at it’s most expensive (~$95), it only cost about the same as 2 or 3 months of a typical gym membership where I’m located, but most of this stuff I already had around the house. I think I ended up paying about $45 for weights (during the pandemic) and everything else was “free”.
How it works:
I shuffle my deck of cards and either A) pick a set number of cards I’ll pull for that workout — like maybe 10 for light session or 20 for a more intense workout — OR B) pick a length of time and just watch the clock — usually I do anywhere from 12-45 minutes. Then I’ll just flip the cards and do the exercises as they come up. Each suit focuses on a certain part of the body — lower body, upper body, core, and cardio — and each number or face corresponds to a move.
For example, if I pull a 4 of Clubs, I’ll lay down on my floor and do chest presses with the appropriate weights. I learned most of these moves from a cross-fit gym I once attended. If I grow bored of any of these exercises, or if any get annoying, I just switch them out for something else. I use what I have (I don’t have a kettlebell so I use a free weight for “kettlebell” swings) and try to make it fun. Listening to music can be fun and motivating, but I find that listening to an audiobook usually keeps me exercising longer.
Back to the 4 of Clubs. How MANY chest presses? Good question. I used to just set my timer for 1 minute and do whatever was on each card for that time. So 10 cards would usually be about a 15-20 minute workout. (Can’t forget to warm up and stretch!) That’s probably the simplest way to do it. I could do longer times, like 1.5 or 2 minutes each. Or go through the cards for two rounds. Or do 2 1-minute rounds per card in a row with a little break in between. I like to get creative and see what works.
And if it wasn’t clear already, I’m not training for any marathons or fitness competitions and I’m not trying to loss weight or gain muscle. I’m just trying to move my body because it feels good. It’s healthy — doctor recommended and everything. I like to feel the capability of my strength and I don’t want to wither away. It really doesn’t take much for me to check those boxes.
For a little more intrigue, I’m adding the dice. I have a few dice sets that I’m always trying to use because they are just beautiful. (My family even named them: the amber set, the sapphire set, the opal set, and the rainbow set.) The idea is to let the dice decide the amount of sets and reps. My favorite (the opal) includes 7 dice: a 4-sided die (aka a D4), a D6, a D8, a D10, D12, D20, and D100 (which is a D10 but in tens — so instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. it represents 10, 20, 30, 40, etc.).
For lower body, upper body, and core, I would roll either a D4 or D6 to determine my number of sets, and a D8, D10, D12, or D20 to determine the number of repetitions. Let me roll a D6 and a D10 for those chest presses: I rolled a 3 and a 1. So I would do 3 sets of 1 rep each. Too easy? Maybe. But I did it.
Another card. An Ace of Spades? That’s squats. Let’s roll. 1 set of 9.
Again. 5 of Clubs? Push-ups. 4 sets of 4.
The dice enable a lot of variation. The above examples would go a lot faster than 1 minute per exercise so I would probably add something somewhere — either more cards or more rounds. I want more reps? I’d roll a D20… but I could still get some softballs in there. I’d rather use a timer, but randomize it? I’d roll the D100 and do that move for that amount of seconds. For example, with squats, the D100 rolls a 50, I’d do squats for 50 seconds. I would roll the D100 for second counts for the entire cardio column. It could work for the core column, too. I could even add a D4 for sets… like 3 sets of 40 seconds.
If all I had available were standard 6-sided die, I’d gather a few (or roll one a few times) and add them up or multiply them. I’d use 1 D6 for sets and the another 2 for reps. If I roll a 3, a 2, and a 4, I could do 3 sets of 6 reps (adding) or 3 sets of 8 reps (multiplying). Or for a mondo-size workout, I could roll a tens and ones place for reps — so a 3, a 2, and a 4 would become 3 sets of 24 reps each. Heck, then even my math-brain is getting a workout.
My main goal with sharing Chancercise is to spark ideas to get moving and for it to be fun. The cards and dice add a randomness that almost makes it like a game. AND I don’t have to decide what to do every workout session; I just let the cards and dice decide for me. My favorite part of joining a gym or being part of a class or team was that there was an instructor or coach that would guide me. I didn’t have to think, I could just do. That’s what I’ve tried to design here. To take away the mental blocks and barriers to just get myself moving. And while classes and memberships can be expensive, this plan can be very affordable.
I am not a doctor or a personal trainer and cannot tell you how, if, or when you should be exercising. Use your best judgement, discuss with professionals, and be wise about the care-taking of your body.