How we got fit – without setting foot in a gym ...Middle East

Joining a gym right now is a tempting prospect. It’s early January and the promise of the new you brought on by a new year still lingers sweet on your tongue. Why not kick start your vows to get fitter and commit to a membership while the deals are good?

You wouldn’t be alone. Searches for gym membership skyrockets in January and data from 4GLOBAL’s DataHub shows that January is 28 per cent busier than December, and 10 per cent busier than the previous October, November and December combined.

But with 80 per cent of people failing their New Years’ resolutions by February, committing to a gym membership is a particularly costly resolution to back out of.

Luckily there are plenty of ways you can get fitter in 2025 without stepping foot in a gym. Here we speak to five people who completely reworked their bodies and minds in 2024 – no gym membership required.

Jen Parker, 38, Leicestershire

“I was an active child, and I loved sport. However, since getting diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia in 2009 at the age of 23, I was no longer able to run, and the gym felt a very intimidating place; every time I tried to pick back up on exercise it sent me into an arthritis flare.

I didn’t think I’d ever find something I loved until I discovered weight training in the past couple of years.

My trainer also has a chronic health condition, so understood my initial reservations, and explained how I could benefit from exercise while protecting against injury. I started with her in October 2023 and spent a whole year building up my strength and improving my fitness and flexibility.

I started with very light weights and progressed when I was ready. I’ve been doing a half an hour session every weekday at 6.15 AM on Zoom consistently and I’m now lifting between 3kg and 6kg, depending on the muscle groups.

It’s been the first exercise, other than dog walking, where I’ve been excited to get up for. I am so much fitter, I can keep up with my girls much more comfortably, I’m able to cope with the ups and downs of my arthritis and I am much happier.

It’s the first time I’ve felt that endorphin rush since I stopped going to the gym and stopped jogging. It’s been so lovely to have it back!”

‘My kids and I love Joe Wicks – they act as my dumbbells’

“I used to be much fitter before the children arrived, almost six years ago, but in recent years I’ve been heading for a ‘dad bod’.

I tried a gym for a few months mainly because I paid for a PT, and I loved having that accountability partner. But it just cost too much in the end.

So I started using the Joe Wicks Body Coach App in June this year and now I do HIIT workouts at home three times a week. I love Joe Wicks. I also do the occasional Park Run.

I work for myself from home, so once the kids were out the door for nursery or school I would get cracking with the workout. On weekends, they love doing the Joe Wicks Workout – either with me using them as my weights, which was hilarious, or doing the Hey Duggee Joe Wicks workout for kids with them afterwards. It’s lots of fun and I think it’s setting them a good example towards having a healthy lifestyle. 

I no longer fall asleep early on the sofa after a couple of glasses of wine. I am up at 5am for my morning routine (make a coffee, meditate, visualise, journal and read) with lots of energy. Then doing a workout really makes me feel fitter, stronger and healthier. The stats say so, but I also feel good and happier with my approach to the days.” 

Kendall Platt, 38, near Reading, Berkshire

“Fitness always felt like a slog in the past. I’d get really into something for a while and then life would happen. I also hated gyms: I found them overstimulating – far too noisy, too bright and way too busy at the times I had available to exercise. And don’t even get me started on the creepy men staring.

I’d played netball every other week for years and in summer 2023 had started swimming twice a week. But neither helped me feel like I was getting stronger which is what I wanted to achieve. So I started doing Pilates every day for just 20 minutes.

On the mornings that I get up with the children, I do my workout while they eat their breakfast. It usually ends with my two year old climbing on top of me while I do the last few exercises, but I get it done.  On the mornings that my husband gets up with the kids I get to do my workout in relative peace. I find if I don’t do it first thing it doesn’t happen.

square RICHARD JAMES

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I was recommended FluidForm at home which is a platform that has mainly Pilates workouts but also some strength training. The platform also runs regular challenges which feel like you are exercising alongside others, bringing that sense of community.  The challenges also help gamify exercise for me which is key as I have ADHD and need to make things fun in order for them to stick.

I feel strong now and I love it. I can carry my kids and dig in my garden for longer without my back hurting.  I feel sexier and more confident in myself in all aspects of my life. My brain is quieter and I can focus more throughout the day which I previously found really hard as an ADHDer.

I’m happier, less snappy with my kids and feel like I can achieve the things in life that I really want to. I’m excited to get dressed now and wear brighter bolder clothes that suit my personality more rather than hiding away in black.

Leanne Alston, 41, Bradford

“I was always into running but I stopped because I got injured quite a lot. I’ve never really got on well at the gym; I’m impatient, don’t like to wait for equipment and I am easily put off if it’s busy.

I have Apple fitness and a few years ago it introduced a kickboxing workout which was really fun. It gave me the idea to try a martial art ‘for real’. It seemed like a bit of a crazy idea to start a sport from scratch with absolutely no experience at 40, but I am a psychotherapist and I encourage people to push themselves out of their comfort zone all the time. This was a good experiment for me to practise what I preach. 

I have been going to kickboxing now for over a year and I attend two back to back classes a week so I can fit it around my job and private clinical practice. I am still the only woman ‘beginner’ student in a class full of highly skilled, talented and highly flexible men, women and kids. This might sound like an intimidating environment but you couldn’t meet a nicer bunch of people, they all remember being a beginner and they have supported and encouraged me every step of the way.

I have progressed from learning basic techniques to now learning how to spar with others, something I never thought I’d be able to do. I’ve never been in a fight in my life so trying to hit and kick people, on purpose, has been a real challenge. I get a real sense of pride and achievement when things I struggled with click into place. I am also feeling more confident in terms of self-defence.

If I’d listened to the stories my mind told me about starting Kickboxing at 40, I would never have left the house but 12 months later, I’m enjoying exercise more than ever.”

‘I started running and completed my first 10k race four months later’

“In my early twenties, I had an unhealthy obsession with the gym and high-intensity workouts. Over time, I gravitated toward lower-intensity fitness like running, Pilates, and yoga, which felt more sustainable and enjoyable.

Ironically, my journey into getting fit without a gym started with joining one. I signed up for a gym in February, but they weren’t accepting new members until April. Having already mentally committed to a fitness routine, I decided to try Couch to 5k to build my fitness while waiting for the gym.

It started with running for just 60 seconds at a time, and within eight weeks, I was running a full 5k in 28 minutes.

After completing the Couch to 5k programme, I downloaded the Runna app to train for a 10k race. I committed to running 3-4 times a week and successfully completed my first 10k race in June, just four months after starting to run.

Initially, I wanted to exercise for physical and mental health, but running had a far greater impact than I expected. It helped me manage discomfort and uncertainty during a challenging period in my life, particularly after leaving a corporate job amidst layoffs. Running became a way to teach myself resilience—when things felt overwhelming, I learned to focus on just putting one foot in front of the other.

As someone with a hyperactive brain, I used to find running “too simple” compared to my background in dance and gymnastics. However, I realised its simplicity was its strength. Running taught me patience, focus, and the ability to push through mental discomfort. I’ve already signed up for a half marathon next year.”

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