It has been two weeks since I quit my job as an auditor on 26 October. I have spent this time thinking about what I want to do and what is the lifestyle I want to lead.

In James Altucher’s blog, he highlighted four areas to take care of to lead a balanced and happy lifestyle – physical, emotional, spiritual and mental. This blog shall only focus on my “physical” end goal. Ultimately, my goal is to become physically fit and healthy, in tip-top condition with abundant energy and vitality to face the challenges of everyday life.

My background

Since January, I had been leading quite an unhealthy lifestyle in audit. Due to the constant OT hours, I did not have the time or motivation to commit to a fitness schedule. There was always something else to be done. Work was never-ending. Work was sudden and urgent and derailed your plans all the time. Suddenly, the client would want it by next week. Suddenly, the manager demanded for it by tomorrow.

Once, I was called back for a meeting even when I was on leave. I was tasked to finish this and that even when I was on leave, just because I was not on overseas holiday and was still “contactable”. And I was just a senior at that point in time.

A consistent, regular exercise schedule is hard to maintain when you are led around by your nose all the time. The end result is that I became quite unhealthy. It’s a sedentary lifestyle, where I drink multiple cups of sugary coffee per day at work, eat excessive amounts of food and snacks to de-stress, and when I reached home, I would just watch television or surf the internet to take my mind off things. I became more and more lethargic, more and more uncomfortable with who I am becoming.

It is time to make a change.

Body Beast

To that end, I have embarked on the Body Beast programme. I am intending to modify it a little by adding in some exercises from Starting Strength, which is one of the most popular beginner strength programmes. While the strict Body Beast and Starting Strength programmes will require EZ Curl Bars and Barbells, I have decided to only make do with dumbbells. Gym memberships are expensive in Singapore.

Body Beast is a programme by Beachbody.com. I have previously tried out some of their programmes, like Insanity, Asylum 1, Asylum 2, P90X and P90X2. Bodybuilding.com forums tend to bash Beachbody products, but my personal experience is that these programmes work quite well for me. My cardio did improve significantly when I did the the Insanity-series of programmes, and my strength also went up when I did P90X/P90X2. I tracked my workouts, such as the pushups and pullups, and these went up significantly.

Joining a gym? Pros and cons

I did consider joining a gym for this Body Beast programme, especially since there is a Anytime Fitness branch that opened just outside my house. The Body Beast programme used a lot of different weights, which a gym would be able to provide. However, upon researching the membership fees, it was quite off-putting.

Joining Fee – $98

Access Key – $68

1.5 year plan – $88 per month

1 year plan – $98 per month

6 mths plan – $118 per month

All are exclusive of GST. Thus, if I were to join the gym, the total all-in fee are as follows:

1.5 year plan – ($98+$68+$88*18)*1.07= $1,872.50

1 year plan – ($98+$68+$98*12)*1.07= $1,435.94

6 mths plan – ($98+$68+$118*6)*1.07= $935.18

I didn’t know that a gym membership is that expensive in Singapore. Anytime Fitness is already one of the cheapest gyms in Singapore, and since it is just outside my house, I do not have to factor in any other transport fees. I did a quick calculation and even if I were to sign up for a cheaper gym near my location, factoring in the transport costs, the all-in fee will be comparable or even higher than Anytime Fitness.

The Alternative

My aim is for fitness to be a lifestyle, instead of just a temporary thing. Shelling out $1,000+ a year for fitness is quite painful for me, and it will be a recurring cost if I want to maintain my fitness. I started looking for alternatives and eventually decided to purchase the following equipment for home workouts instead:

70 lbs Elite Powerblocks – $766.49 (Aibi Fitness retails the Elite/U-Series 50-lbs set at an eye-popping $1,800. I purchased from Amazon Prime instead. I also considered the 50-lbs Bowflex-style dumbbells, which are available at Qoo10 for only around $270. I eventually decided on Powerblocks despite the heftier price tag because googling on Bodybuilding forums tells me that Bowflex dumbbells are less durable and may have some safety issues as parts may become damaged and plates become loose.)

Adjustable foldable bench – $61.89 (Bought this from Qoo10 during the 11/11 promotion)

Kettlebell and mats for dumbbell storage/exercise – $50.85 (Bought this from Qoo10 during the 11/11 promotion)

Thus, total cost is $879.23. This is:

1) Cheaper than a 6-month gym membership plan,

2) I have perpetual ownership of the equipment,

3) I can workout from home directly instead of travelling to the gym,

4) I do not have to wait for people to finish at the squat rack or bench press rack before I can use them, and

5) I can workout in my house and clean up after working out, as compared to the gym where equipment may not be wiped down.

The only disadvantage that I can see is that I won’t have access to heavy barbell trainings, but I am willing to forego that. At this point in time, 70lbs are already plenty heavy for me.