Exercise is an important part of any healthy routine. It is a guard against chronic diseases. It stimulates happiness inducing brain chemicals. And its a great way to keep weight in check. Getting the minimum 150 minutes of moderately vigorous exercise a week will leave you feeling happy, healthy, and mentally sharp. In case you’re curious, thats 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Eminently manageable.

Exercise doesn’t just benefit your physical health, it also greatly contributes financial health.  People who regularly exercise spend thousands of dollars less each year than those with a sedentary lifestyle. In one study, participants saved $500 to $2,500 dollars each year. 

Exercise-linked financial considerations

• Healthcare costs: That $500 to $2,500 dollars mentioned above? That comes from the average yearly savings in healthcare costs between a person that exercises regularly and one that does not. Some health insurers will literally pay you for meeting your exercise targets. 
• Career development: At work, obesity is perceived the same way as incompetence. Other research suggests obese people are seen as less productive, more prone to interpersonal problems, lazy, and less intelligent than their thinner counterparts. That leads to fewer opportunities for promotion, training opportunities, and chances to earn a higher salary. All factors that crimp earning potential and delay financial independence.  
• Lower transportation costs: Remember those three top spending categories I harp on all the time? Transportation is number 2.  Every moment you spend walking or cycling to run an errand will reduce gas costs, parking fees, and possibly car insurance costs.

We’ve established (with science!) that exercise is a major contributor to financial and physical health. “But Mr. FIRE Power!” you might be thinking to yourself. “What about all the enormous COSTS associated with exercise?! I have to buy a gym membership, fancy training shoes, and exercise clothing.”

Well, dear reader, lets look at how we can reduce some of these costs to ensure all those physical and financial gains are made in the most frugal way possible. 

Subsidize your gym membership

Gyms are sometimes costly investments. Before the sages of financial independence welcomed me into their ranks, a younger Mr. FIRE Power once paid $2,000 for an annual membership to a yoga gym. It was a beautiful gym. Surfaces clad in stone or exotic wood. Shower-heads released a stream of water that mimicked rain trickling through the Amazon canopy. Towels were abundant and freshly laundered.

But yoga is ostensibly free. For the cost of a yoga mat and an internet connection the worlds best instructors can train you in the living room.

That said, gym memberships are sometimes a necessary evil. If exercise is conducted in a specialty area that requires specific tools or environments—weights, boxing equipment, spinning—then there might be no alternative to purchasing a membership. But for heavens sake, don’t pay the full cost on your own, let your health insurer pick up part of the cost.  Lets take a look at three options:

• UnitedHealthcare: United Healthcare offers a reimbursement program with a list of fitness facilities. If a user visits one of those facilities 12 times in a month $20 will be credited to the facility or sent directly to the users bank account. 
• Oscar: Oscar is a start-up health insurer that will reimburse users up to $400 in gym fees annually. The company also offers up to $200 for any covered spouse. The company will also pay you for meeting daily step goals.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield: Blue Cross Blue Shield’s “Fitness Your Way” program takes a different approach. It offers an unlimited pass to 8,000 gyms across the country for users who pay a $29 monthly fee.  

Exercise for (almost) free

After leaving the organized gym behind, I’ve found there are many ways to exercise without the cost or inconvenience of an organized gym.  Jogging, biking, and walking offer an excellent return on investment. All also conserve one of my most valuable commodities: time. There is no commuting to a location to do it. There are no late instructors. The second I walk out the door I am exercising. It also happens to be almost free. 

Jogging tends to be my go-to today. And while the exercise is mostly free, I admit to buying an expensive pair of Nike running shoes, really expensive. The Nike turbo zoom Pegasus lightning pro max shoes (how many of those words do you think are hyperbole?) are great. They are made of fancy foam that is slightly better than other Nike foam! They have a little elf toe on the back to make heel strikes easier. Any they have a racing stripe. That clearly makes me go faster. They cost $179. Was that a FIRE-friendly purchase or did I let the Expense Justification Syndrome get the better of me? Lets take a look at the numbers. 

The Nike Run Club app allows a user to add his shoes and begin tracking miles run in them. As you can see above, I’ve put 375.7 miles on the shoes since I purchased them. Lets actually round that to 400, because a few runs went unrecorded. Divide $179 by 400 miles and you’re left with $0.44 per mile. Not free, but an excellent return on investment.

Combine exercise with other activities

Exercise happens whenever you exert yourself physically. I’m certain you’ve heard a chorus of complainers bemoan their tight schedules and how they can’t fit exercise into their daily routines. The great thing about exercise is it can be built into other activities:

• Commute to work: As we’ve discussed, in China, 95 percent of the time Mr. FIRE Power rode a bicycle to work. Those 20 minutes to and from work each day count as exercise (at least that’s what the green ring on my Apple Watch tells me). It’s a terrific augmentation to my frequent runs.
• Pick up groceries: Need to head to the grocery store? Walking or riding your bike there will burn calories at the same time as accomplishing a necessary task. Bonus points if you carry bags of heavy groceries over a long distance. 
• Develop a new hobby: Like being in nature or camping? Hike there! Live near a lake/river/ocean?  Start kayaking! See an interesting rock face on your bike commute home? Start bouldering! Find the nexus between your topography and interests and build an activity around it.   

Conclusion

Exercise is a critical component of any financial independence routine. If you’re not taking care of your body and mind you certainly will not be able to enjoy your financial independence (or early retirement, for that matter). It doesn’t matter how you exercise, only that you do it and do it regularly.