Staying Fit on a budget in Karachi

 When it comes to everything you need to stay fit, it doesn’t just stop at a gym membership. The kind of food and the amount of it which you have to consume based on your goals ends up being expensive considering the economy nowadays, leading to no one being able to have an actual perfect diet being catered to their needs.

Similarly for some people, like me for instance, even simply getting to the gym can feel like a financial sacrifice, depending on general circumstances or the fact that one may live too far from their desired or only available gym. Then come those people who believe that they have hit a plateau, and that progress would now come solely through the use of supplements. While that isn't the most incorrect thought, they end up buying whatever contains big bulky words and a hefty price tag, unaware that they might have found something even more useful for a cheaper price if they cared to do some research.

This article intends to stay grounded and attempt to provide a few solutions and suggestions to fellow gym-goers like me who often face obstacles in their journey due to financial constraints or simply if you wish to save up and reduce your spending.

A factor that many people, especially those living in areas of Karachi, such as Defence, dismiss is that almost every good gym establishment, which meets the standards and provides excellent equipment and atmosphere is just way too expensive for the general middle-class population of Karachi. I understand that high-end gyms mean higher fees, but if every new gym opening up nowadays exceeds price expectations, then there is clearly a slight problem when it comes to understanding your market.

Granted, these gyms secure an extremely high number of members who can afford to pay for it, but it really does completely block a large section of teens and adults who desire to find a good gym they can join and remain loyal to. The only way to deal with the inability to afford high-end gyms is just, well, not going for those. When you wish to join a facility providing world class equipment with the finest interior design, you really do need to ask yourself, why? What does each factor about an expensive gym change for my goals? When you actually take a minute to think about what you need in a gym to make progress and grow, it comes down to sufficient moving space, functional machines in variety, free weights such as dumbbells and benches (which end up contributing to a high amount of exercises). There is truly not much more that one could need except that the gym should have the capability to help you progressively overload (make your workouts more difficult as time passes for growth).

So my real and only advice for people doubting lower end gyms is, just don’t, give them a shot and you will be surprised to see that they are pretty useful especially for your initial growth in your fitness journey. For people in Defence, I would personally suggest Fitness Extreme located in DHA Phase 2 or Oxygen Fitness in Khadda market as very good gyms to rely on if you don’t wish to spend over budget.

Now that you have your gym decided, getting to it might not sound like a concern at all, but it really is for a lot of people. If you simply do not have a gym nearby and end up having to join one much further away from your home, then this is an automatic burden that is consistently going to bug you. I will not be addressing people who can pay for their own fuel in their vehicle as I do not earn and cannot comment on those decisions, but  instead I will be focusing on those who use taxi services to go to the gym like cars, rickshaws and bikes. There are two factors controlling how much cash you can save in regards to travelling costs, which are how often you go to the gym and what type of vehicle you end up paying for to travel in. Firstly if you are a beginner reading this, you must understand that you can even make good progress from a minimum of 2 to 3 days of the gym a week if your workouts are structured decently enough, consistency does not mean going to the gym daily. 

                                         

A workout split showing how even 3 days is enough to cover all muscle groups

Besides if anyone is panicked about not being consistent, who says working out can only be done at the gym? On your off-days from gym, why not try to mix and match bodyweight workouts at home to maintain or train other muscle groups that you have not hit yet during the week, this ensures a smooth flow of consistency and functionality by combining both home and gym workouts whilst saving some money.

Secondly, personal preference ends up becoming a bottom priority when considering travel costs because the variation that comes with the price of cars(both air conditioned and non a/c), rickshaws and bikes on services apps like Indrive and Yango are vastly different from each other and end up making a big difference in the long-term in terms of how much you can save by choosing a lower end vehicle to travel. If you prioritise comfort over cost then by all means use whatever pleases you, but if you’re someone who considers price a meaningful factor in your travels then just know there are definitely better options available for you.

The discussion on how to fulfill your diet requirements on a budget can vary depending on your goals and how nit-picky one may be. I believe that although everyone’s households consume a similar batch of items in Pakistan on a daily basis such as Chicken, Rice, Rotis, Keema, Sabzi etc, they may actually end up fulfilling a good portion of your needs, in different amounts based on your goals. Besides the type of foods being made, you can easily prioritise your protein intake for example, by just taking more chicken than usual and increasing the number of eggs you consume for breakfast. Small steps lead to noticeable changes in the long-term and if you can’t cook yet, just like me, then we have to make the best of what we can get at home. Someone looking to lose weight needs to reduce their carbohydrates so they would consequently cut down on their rice intake and reduce the numbers of rotis, while looking into other items to satisfy their appetite.

Lastly when we talk about supplements, they no doubt boost your performance and results and are definitely a good investment if and when you can afford to spend some extra cash. But not just any supplement, you need to know what you need to grow for yourself. I believe from my own experience and the experience of countless others that the primary and most beneficial supplements are simply creatine monohydrate and protein powder.

Comparison of performance ability in the gym before and after Creatine

Please do watch some videos on the benefits and workings of creatine to fully understand its advantages, but my own summary would be that it is a supplement that boosts your performance at the gym by providing you with more energy, making you capable of working out more. Creatine also boosts muscle recovery and growth, enabling you to put in more hours at the gym or at home. It is also a good source of energy for your brain. Protein powder’s benefits are self-explanatory, it gives you a lot of protein you might be missing out on in your diet per serving, and I believe it is a good investment if you cannot fulfill your requirements often enough, which may unnecessarily slow down growth.

A comparison in the difference made by Creatine for muscle growth charted against non-supplemented individuals.

Without sugar-coating it, the fact is that it is definitely not easy or satisfying. Dedicating time and effort into your journey, why wouldn’t anyone want the best there is to get? The right food, the right supplements and the fantastic varieties of machines that good gyms have to offer, all seem very tempting and necessary. But from my experience,they are not fundamental for your growth. If anyone works hard enough, for just about any goal in life, they will get closer to it. The same goes for fitness, you can start anywhere after understanding what you have to do, you can eat anything after learning what you have to stick to and you will see the results you want to in due time. Just be sure to be grateful of whatever you can get access to because we all do need to realise, that even the act of getting a chance to improve our bodies and eat better is a blessing in and of itself that we should not take for granted, and hopefully this thought motivates someone to seek their goals without a big shiny gym to go along with it.