Ways to Trim Your Workout Budget

Personalized Pilates sessions. Twelve-week individualized bootcamp While these are great ways to keep your New Year’s resolution to lose weight, they’ll surely break your other resolution to stay on a budget. That’s why two local women are offering more individualized workout sessions for only a fraction of what others charge.

Penny-Pincher Pilates

At a gym, a Pilates class entails the gym membership fee and usually a class fee as well. With certified trainer Katherine Archambault, however, you can begin a Pilates lifestyle for just $8 a session.

Archambault instructs two Pilates classes per week out of her in-home gym. The beginner class meets at 6 p.m Wednesdays, and the advanced class meets at 6 p.m. Thursdays.

Because the classes are run from her home, Archambault’s classes are more comfortable and intimate, which is especially great for those who shutter at the thought of looking like an idiot in front of an entire class. To add to the intimate atmosphere, Archambault keeps her classes limited to only six to eight participants. This allows each participant to have more personalized instruction, which makes the classes almost like personal training sessions.

In order to keep this intimate atmosphere, Archambault does not advertise her Pilates program. The program grows by word-of-mouth, so you can have a better chance at grabbing a spot.

Pilates focuses on improving core strength, and by strengthening your core, you can save money by not going to a chiropractor, Archambault says. “It can help so many people with bad backs. My chiropractor has actually come to some of my classes, and he suggests it for his clients,” Archambault says.

The classes start every eight weeks, and all you need is a Pilates mat. You can call Archambault at (859) 466-8433 and leave a message to discuss when the new session starts and what concerns you may have. If you are not sure that you are ready for Pilates (or Pilates is ready for you), Archambault allows potential participants to observe a class for free.

Budget-Conscious Bootcamp

Think of a gym as a box. Now think outside of the box. Think Bootcamp Challenge. The masterminds behind this bootcamp program looked into area bootcamps, but all they found were bootcamps in gyms where participants have to pay for a bootcamp program fee in addition to their gym membership. At Bootcamp Challenge, however, participants only pay for the program fee, which works out to about $18 per session.

The 6-week program consists of three one-hour workouts a week, with each workout being completely different. The sessions challenge your body and focus on five key benefits – cardiovascular training, strength training, endurance, nutrition and flexibility – but each session approaches these benefits in a different way.

Each session is completely different to ensure that your body doesn’t fall into a routine. When you perform the same type of activity on a regular schedule, your body adjusts and starts “expecting” the workouts, so you stop seeing results. “When your body doesn’t know what’s coming next, it responds in a different way,” bootcamp instructor Niesje Hunter Lloyd says.

The classes are usually limited to around 25 to 35 people, so the instructor can provide group instruction as well as individual attention. The group also creates great camaraderie, which serves as a support and motivational system for the participants.

For more information about Bootcamp Challenge, visit the Web site, call Hunter Lloyd at (859) 609-3788 or call owner Stephanie Tieman at (513) 515-0581.

So while the recession is in full swing, you don’t have to sit on the sidelines because of your budget.

PHOTO CREDITS
Photographer: Amy Storer-Scalia
Models (left to right): Kim Yates, Niesje Hunter Lloyd
Location: The Mandarine Hair, Foot and Body Spa