Reach Your Fitness Goals Without A Gym Bill

We break the myth that fitness has to be expensive and map out realistic ways to train at home without fancy gear. I talk with personal trainer Keldric Emery about consistency, accountability, and small steps that build strength without wrecking your budget. 
• why gym memberships and big plans fade fast 
• setting achievable goals instead of unrealistic timelines 
• using community and workout partners for accountability 
• starting with simple movements like chair squats 
• making adjustable “weights” with a gallon jug or household items 
• turning walking into a scalable workout through routes, pace, and intervals 
• choosing consistency over intensity and building time gradually 
• staying motivated by acting first and letting feelings follow 
• using yard work and gardening as free functional training 
• finding free park equipment and using public resources 
Subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast, and visit neighborsfcu.org slash financial wellness for more tools to help you build a strong financial future.

Transcript

New Year Goals On A Budget

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need, and save the money you want. Now, here is your host, Ms. Kim Chapman.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

If you're like most people, you probably made some New Year's resolutions. You were going to go ahead and start that fitness goal this year. I know I did it too. But between the thought that I don't have time, gym memberships are expensive, or that treadmill, I'd love to have it, but that's expensive too. That's what we think, right? And so maybe you've already given up because you think you believe that there's just not really a solution to your barrier. Well, today we're going to demystify that. Joining me today is a personal trainer who's going to show us how we can reach those fitness goals basically without having to buy expensive equipment, without having to necessarily spend all those monthly fees on the gym membership. So joining me is Keldrick Emery, a personal training. Well, personal trainer.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Yes, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Definitely. So, you know, by the time this airs, I know there are gonna be a lot of people that were gung-ho in January. I'm gonna go to the gym. Um I bought that equipment or I'm gonna get that equipment, catch it on sale. And by now it's kind of fizzled down. We found so many different ways or excuses why we can't do it. And sometimes it's just not the lack of motivate motivation. It's just we have these barriers that pop up, right? Life happens, and we feel like we can't overcome them. And then let's just face it, in today's economy, when I do budgets, I'm looking at people, that's kind of like the first thing I'm asking people, you know, do you have all these subscriptions that you're not using? This gym membership, and we hold on to them because we promise that we're gonna go. But but it doesn't have to cost anything to achieve those goals, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Right, right, right. There's ways to do things um to get things done without uh gym memberships. But one thing I do want to emphasize is the level of um doing things as a team and then also working together with other people, things of that nature, um, to kind of help keep you accountable in some of those seasons.

Why Gym Plans Fade Out

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Yeah, accountability, I think that's actually why I decided to do this podcast. So I could, you know, have a little accountability because of course, if you tell me some things that I can do for free, and then by the time I do the next podcast, hopefully somebody will be is she using them? But let's talk a little bit about your background. Tell me what your level of experience or expertise is as a personal training.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Yeah, so my I've I really started um just in high school working out, and also uh I played sports in high school. So after high school and kind of getting through college and after that, kind of getting married and realized I kind of wanted to get back into fitness. Uh I went to a gym and after going to the gym, um, was not satisfied with the fact that the instructors kept uh quitting uh and then kind of moving on to different things. And so I went to the administration to express how disappointed I was that the instructors weren't showing up. And they asked, well, why don't you be an instructor? So I took it on and then from there on kind of built up and started working with individuals as well as getting certified in different things and then started my own fitness journey. Um, so that's kind of where it started at.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Talk about starting with the man in the mirror. I like that, right? So, why do you think so many people believe the myth that you have to go to a gym or you have to have expensive equipment to achieve personal fitness goals?

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Yeah, I think uh a lot of it has to do with media and as well as uh sometimes we see people kind of walk into the gym, like the gym being this uh perfect place, and then you walk out a different way. And sometimes I think we don't see the seasons of all of that, right? Is that um you go and you do those things when you feel like it and when you don't. And it's the same no matter where you are, regarding um working out and exercising. There's a level of consistency that has to happen. You have to be able to be consistent, regardless of where you are. So I think that has a lot to do with it. And sometimes I think it's also that a lot of people go into the gym and space out. Uh, and when I say space out, I mean um they kind of put headphones on and everything is done separately. So when you work together with people and you get um a community-based mindset that helps keep people accountable.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Okay. How often do you actually have people that you know walk up and tell you that, hey, I just can't afford a personal trainer, I can't afford a gym membership, I can't afford these things?

Keldrick’s Path To Training

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Uh, that happens quite a bit at the gym and outside of the gym. Um, and I just believe it's the concept that people believe that um they need to spend a lot of money on something to make a difference. And so there's a lot of things that we can talk about today, and and a lot of things that you can do to kind of help you to get you, if not where you exactly need to be, at least get you started along a healthy lifestyle.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Yeah, because it always starts with that first step, right? Step one, step two, and three, but we don't want to get defeated. So, what are some of those simple things that we can do at home that don't require us to have that equipment? That usually ends up being, you know, a laundry basket or something.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Well, I think uh I think a lot of times that's those some of those things can be started just with simple movement. Um, a lot of times I I've I've worked with individuals who have had issues of maybe coming after a surgery and it's they want to start building themselves back up after that. And just a simple mindset of I'm going to make it from here to the mailbox. Starting with just that mindset, I'm gonna walk from here to the mailbox, uh, or I'm gonna just get out to bed. So starting with some level of progress and working toward a goal in mind and an achievable goal, I think sometimes we maybe watch TV or we're looking on um the socials, and we set these unrealistic goals. Uh I've had individuals tell me, I'm gonna I need to lose 75 pounds in two in a month, and it's just not reasonable. So it's like being able to set achievable goals and then doing it with somebody. I'm big on community, and the reason why I'm so big on it is because it helps accountability and then it also helps you uh there are just studies that show and that that show that when you work together with somebody, it's the same workout, but it just don't feel as like it feels better almost as if you're working, you know, you all are working together with a goal.

The Real Driver Is Consistency

SPEAKER_02 7:01

I I I agree with you there, because I know when I do my own little workouts, especially when I'm on that expensive equipment that I bought, it's like, oh my God, it's only been three minutes. Whereas I think if I had somebody to chit-chat with, like you said, had that community, my focus wouldn't be on, oh wow, I'm at three and a half minutes now with 27 more minutes to go, right? So I definitely am with you there. So can you tell us just a couple of simple things that people can do at home? And especially if they have limited space.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Right. So um, limited, limited space, what I would first say, some of the things that we learned as children, we can even take that all the way back. One of the first things that we learned to do first was a a simple basic squat. And you say, wait, you're taking me too fast. No, uh a squat. So a simple squat in terms of sitting down in a chair and standing up, sitting down in a couch and standing up. Um done properly, um, that can be challenging. And that's something that can really work your body um the way that it should work. And so uh something as simple as a squat, um, other free what we call free weight exercises are exercises that you can do without any kind of weights at all, at all. Just any of that. So uh something as simple as a squat, um different things, raising your arms, moving your arms around. And then I also want to mention that there are tons of resources on things like YouTube that are just free that you can find and use and following some of a base program almost, or even things you can do to help you get move your movement going. But if you had a limited amount of space, like I said, something like a squat, and then I also wanted to show um I'll take something like a a gallon jug, something like of this nature. And so let's say I wanted to work my arms with something like this. What I would do is I would start simply with nothing in it, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Okay, an empty jug.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Just an empty jug, right? And so you could take an empty jug and curl, right? Until, and of course, with nothing in it, it's no way. But then you would fill just with a little bit of water, maybe next week, and you would do that again 10, maybe 10 times on each arm. Or you could take that same squat that I was talking about, like sitting down in a chair and standing up, holding this empty jug. Let's say you would decide that you wanted to do it 10 times. The next time you would take that same jug with some water in it.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

I can see the difference in just how you pick it up.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Right, right. There's there's a major difference in nothing and something, right? And so adding just a little bit of water, and when you feel like, oh wow, this is just too heavy, I can't lift this, pour some water out, right? And so you're continuing to add more water to it, but you're also building strength. And so you this is something simple that I mean, it costs a gallon of milk, you know, the cost of that, which is about five, five dollars right now.

Simple Home Moves In Small Space

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Actually, you could buy a gallon of water for about a dollar. Yeah. And I actually really like that concept of, like you said, if it's too heavy, if it's too much, because like you said, sometimes we have those unattainable goals. We want to go to the store or we want to start out with 50 pounds, and then we realize, you know, that's too much, or we injure ourselves, where with this, you can start out empty, you can go up if something happens and you're like, oh, this is just too much. So I really, really like that. But yes, I see you have the empty milk jug, but because we're on a budget and we're trying to do this even cheaper, we're gonna go get a 75 cent bottle of water from the dollar store.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

That's right. That's true. So, yeah, definitely uh that. And so you could even take different things that maybe not have handles on them like these. Um, and you can take um a plastic bag and put them in there. Um, I I ran out of them, but I was gonna bring them today, which is a five-pound bag of uh like potatoes.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

And that's why we need to go to the gym.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

So you can take a five-pound bag of potatoes or anything um that has any type of weight to it that you can use um to do some of those same exercises, those same type of things. Moving your arms around, uh lifting things above your head, um, lifting things um in different directions, and then the simple sitting down um and standing up. Those are simple things that you can do. And let's not forget the altogether something that we do all the time, which is walking.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

See, I'm starting to feel a little bad and accountable because I know I have the ability to sit in this chair and get up and walk. So let's talk about walking, what we can do, and how impactful walking can be.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Oh, wow. Um, walking is so simple, yet uh a lot of times we we don't we take it for granted um that first of all we have the ability and articulation of our limbs to be able to do that. And then secondly, it's uh free. I mean, just you walk all the time, you don't think about it, but purposeful walking is what can be so helpful. So if you live in a neighborhood, uh maybe plot out, you know, a direction that you're gonna say, hey, I'm gonna start, I might walk five houses down, five houses back, and then start extending that by going a little bit further. Then you could take and go to different parks around um the city, or or did take different places that you know are a little bit more challenging. Um, and if you say, Well, I'm afraid to do any of that, well, the mall is always open.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

See, you're making it seem so simple and so easy, and still at the end of the day, it really is low-cost fitness.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

So go ahead, and you were saying the mall.

DIY Weights With Household Items

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Yeah, the mall is something uh like if it's open, and um at the job I had I would always see a lot of people just walking around the mall, not necessarily purchasing anything, but just walking around. So they might walk the mall twice, get back in their car and leave, and their exercise is done for the day. Um, and that there's ways to step that up, which is increase the pace that you're doing, uh swinging your arms, maybe even taking something like a stick or something of that nature and putting it in your hands, and that would help with working your arms at the same time. So there's really a lot of things you can do, and walking can be the fundamental part of that.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Now I'm gonna have to throw in a public service announcement as a financial counselor and say, do not bring your wallets and use this as an excuse to shop, and then you have to come and see me. You've lost the weight, but then your budget has gone through the roof, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

So let's talk a little bit consistency versus intensity.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Oh, um, well, yeah, consistency always beats out um intensity in terms of you just being able to do something over and over again for a long period of time. Um, I will say it's good to be um to have some level of intensity, right? Because even if we take walking, for example, if somebody kind of mosing along and, you know, just kind of walking and stopping every two seconds, there's a difference in that and somebody really focused and saying, I'm gonna keep the same pace, I'm swinging my arms, I'm really walking with intention. Um, but even being consistent at that. So finding so many days a week that you can do this. Um maybe not start with the concept of every day. Maybe start in your mind saying, Hey, there you go. A day, a week. I'm gonna start, let's say your day is Saturday or your day is Sunday, or whatever that day might be. Try to be consistent with that day and then add to that. And then also I'm gonna go back to it again, which is accountability and finding somebody to do it with. So you might say, if I wanna walk twice a week or three times a week, I'm gonna walk one day without this individual, and then maybe the other two days with somebody. And that helps keep you accountable.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

So time-wise, because again, it's time, it's money. Can five minutes a day help me? Five minute intervals, right? I feel like if I'm just doing five minutes, if I do that six times a day, is that it's the same as doing 30 minutes all at once? Or is something better than nothing?

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Well, something is always better than nothing. Um, I do, yeah, something is always better than nothing. But I would say start small and then gradually continue to add time to it. And what you'll find is that the smaller you start, you'll start to want to go further. You'll you'll the time will pass a whole lot faster. And then there's also ways to distract you from that. So, like you were talking about the treadmill earlier, um, turning on a s a show or turning on something to distract your mind away from watching every minute of it go by. That is very helpful, um, especially when you're walking or running or anything of that nature. Um, but watching the clock is oh, that's just hard.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

It's like watching paint drive. That's right.

Walking Plans That Actually Work

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Yes, very much so. So, yeah, I I would say be consistent, do and in terms of time frame, I would just start small and then continue to add to that. So start maybe five minutes the next time you go, maybe do the five minutes again, and then maybe try to add that up to maybe seven minutes or ten minutes. And you'll find you'll be at 15, 20, 30 minutes before you know it.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

And I know this is probably a lot of what you're saying is geared probably for those of us that struggle to start, and then you know, we stop. Or are there any free tips and tools that you would give from somebody that may be advanced? You know, maybe they are they're paying for their gym membership, but looking at their budget, maybe they want to let it go, but they're afraid that if I don't have this gym equipment, if I don't have this resource, there's not gonna be a tool out there for me.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Yeah, well, there are always tools. Um, this is the day uh I often tell my kids, this is the day of knowledge and information is just it's everywhere. So um you don't like I mentioned YouTube, but then there's other different things like Apple, um, Apple TV, um, just uh just all kind of different tools and things that you can use to find a way to work out. And then at some point, if you feel like you've kind of plateaued, and what that means is you've gotten to a place to where you feel like, man, I I am just so good at what I'm doing, I don't feel like I'm getting a workout. That's when you maybe need to contact a personal trainer or even trying um to maybe look at something online or finding somebody somewhere to kind of help um advance you to a level because, in my opinion, you'll get to a place to where you will need, you will, we we constantly need to be challenged. And that sometimes takes a person to help you do.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

And so for those that again, that maybe they just fell off the wagon, maybe finances have absolutely nothing to do with it. They just need that motivation. How do you, as a personal trainer, keep your clients motivated?

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Yeah, so um I try to help them set goals, a certain goal that they could think about or look to, whether it be for a young for a lady, it might be a dress that you want to get into or an outfit, or a lot of times with the people that I work with, we also talk about summer bodies being built in the winter. So I try to remind them that you're not gonna get the summer body in the summer. You have to work on it, you know, the the season previous to that. So those things, and then health, your health is so tied to it, to you being consistent with working out and thinking about uh maybe your loved ones or somebody in your mind or even what you what you would desire to look like. Um, and seeing that every time you're working out, you're chipping away at where you are, who you are, to be the better version of yourself. So, and and I even have to keep myself motivated. I don't want to just make it seem like sometimes I don't get tired or I don't not feel like working out.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

What it's not 24-7 all day, every day.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

No. No, it's it's a challenge. There are days that are more challenging than others, but when you get into a routine and a real level of consistency, it's not so much about how you feel. So if I could challenge everybody for that, I would say don't be so concerned about how you feel. Um, feelings will follow your actions. So, in other words, if you start moving, you'll feel like it after you start moving. Start moving first. Um, don't be so concerned whether if you feel like it or not.

Time Hacks And Staying Consistent

SPEAKER_02 20:26

Okay. If I want a personal trainer and I can't afford a personal trainer seven days a week, what is the bare minimum that you would recommend if somebody wants to get you know hooked up with a personal trainer?

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Yeah, so uh there's several ways to go about that. Um in one area, I would say I would try group exercise classes, and there are classes that are not associated with a gym or with that. You just find a set of people who like working out together. And so I would try to find those individuals.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

Yeah, I've seen people that do that out in the sun, in the heat and early in the morning. So I guess the go old saying is if there's a will, there's a way.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Definitely, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

So any other tips before we wrap up that you can think of tools, things that people may have at home. We definitely talked about the chair. I I think we're all guilty of having a chair at home, and I think we can all fit, you know, a gallon of water in our in our budget, or if there's some other resources that you might want to share just in case.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

Yeah, there's one other resource that most personal trainers are not gonna tell you or not even say, but I'm gonna say it because I I just love y'all that much. Um yard work. Um, do not think that yard work is not a level of fitness, whether it be gardening, which you would think to yourself, oh, gardening isn't that hard. I'm just pulling some weed. It's a lot more challenging than probably what you would think if you said you're gonna take a Flower bed, clean it out. And I'm saying doing everything by hand, pulling all the weeds out, getting on your knees, um, you know, raking things out, putting things in bags, that's a lot more challenging than what it sounds like. And it's a it's actually a level of fitness uh while you're doing it. So y'all work, gardening, um, cutting grass, things of that nature, those are things that you can improve your outside and your environment, and that not only would it not cost you something, but it actually helps you to do it. So that'll be the other secret tip I give you.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

I actually like that tip because not only can it help you, you know, improve your personal fitness and not cost you anything, that could be a tip that you can put money back in your budget because if you're paying somebody to come and cut that grass or to pull those weeds, right, then now you you've kind of accomplished two goals for one thing.

Motivation And Low Cost Coaching

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Right, right, right. And I think it's it's it's something that that goes uh unseen and unknown. Some people pay somebody to do that type of work, and in their mind they go to work, come back, the grass is cut, but they don't realize the work that it took for the person to do that. And some of that we could be doing ourselves, and that will help get at least get you started, get you used to being outside. Uh believe it or not, I talked about the squatting, but if you have to get on your knees and standing back up to squat, to put trash in a bag, you're squatting. Um, if you have to get on your knees to pull and to pull um brakes or different things out, um, you're working your back, you're working your shoulders, you're working your arms. So gardening and y'all work is a tremendous way to at least start on that journey.

SPEAKER_02 23:43

And what other thing I want to circle back to, I know you mentioned, you know, you definitely we can go walk in our neighborhoods and our parks. Can you speak a little bit to some of our break parks that may even have the free equipment there?

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Yes, yes. I'm glad you brought that up. That is a tremendous resource that you all can use. I've used them, uh, even with some of the people I work out with who might not have uh gym memberships, but the different parks, there are walk parks all throughout uh East Baton Rouge Parish. If you're near here, not sure uh where everybody's watching from. But some of those parks have a set of fitness equipment. And so as you walk around uh the different parks, you'll see their exercise, uh different exercise equipment as well as directions to show you how to use them. And so those are really simple things you can use, and they don't cost you anything because we've already paid for it, you know, through our um through East Battenwich Paris and through the work that's being done by Brick. So I think that that's something tremendously uh easy for you to use and something that's open and that you can use even today.

Yard Work Parks And Next Steps

SPEAKER_02 24:53

And so what I think we'll need to do next, right, because if somebody's still looking at a berry sample, I don't know if I'm doing it right. I don't know how to use this equipment. I think what we'll need to do is go ahead and take a little trip to Breck. You think you'll come with me and then we can do a little uh video and show you how to do it. So he mentioned definitely there's some YouTube videos out there, but we'll get our expert here to come and show us, show me. We'll grab some more neighbors, people that way we can all be accountable. So any final words?

SPEAKER_01 25:22

No, no final words. I would just say be encouraged and try to make sure that you're really stepping out there and trying. So um, after trying for a few weeks and then the cold weather comes, and then you step back and say it's not the right time, it's always the right time. Start where you are when you can, do something, move.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

I love it. Do you want to take a moment and just share your personal information just in case somebody wants to reach out and say, hey, I'm gonna stop going to Starbucks, save that$7, and maybe I can get a personal trainer for a day or two.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

Yeah, yeah. So even if you wanted to try me, you're welcome to do that. I'll be more than willing to help you. Uh, my name is Keldrick Emery. I'm on uh Instagram at eKeldrick. You can find me there or either on Facebook, you just look up Keldrick. So there and and any other information, you could also reach me, um, email me if you needed to, and that's eKeldrick again. Uh, I'm at Cox.net. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

All right. Thank you, Mr. Emery. I've enjoyed this session. Now I'm accountable because again, I've got a chair. We'll have you come back and see if I if I used it, and then of course, if you out there used it as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

It's time for blueprint building blocks. Small changes that lead to big financial wins. Let's stack up for success.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Move before you buy. First, commit to free workouts for 30 days before even spending a dollar. Use your environment. You have your home, your neighborhood, your park. All of these are free resources. And then start small. 10 minutes is better than no minutes at all, and then build up. And then track your progress, not perfection. Consistency wins.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building Block. Stay on track with your financial journey. Subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast, and visit neighborsfcu.org slash financial wellness for more tools to help you build a strong financial future.