Every year you vow to get in shape, but for some reason, you never follow through. Although you obtain a gym membership, you never go to the gym because even though you have the time, you are too tired or you have painful memories of how sore you were after your first (and maybe only) workout. So, due to the membership contract, the gym keeps drafting $40 charges each month. You are allowed to cancel at any time, but you don't because you are sure you're going back to the gym!

So now what? You could forget about it and become a permanent fixture on the sofa, or you could realize it's not you, it is the very industry itself. Fitness clubs are business enterprises, and they want to turn a profit. If you are one of those super-motivated individuals, health fitness clubs have tons of great (and not-so-great) gym equipment. For the majority of people, the idea is to get them to spend a lot and yet not come to the facility. After all, the gym equipment and the space for it are not free.

How did super motivated people become this way? Being successful at something, more than anything else, makes you more confident and provides needed motivation. That success can begin at home. If you start with just the things you really need and work a little every day, you can convert you living room, or garage, or your backyard, into a working gym.

I have tried a home gym, you say. I purchased gym equipment, that big cable and pulley thing that now is used as a clothes rack (that started out looking like a torture device, maybe one of those racks that stretch you.) I bought that bike too, with the big fan for the front wheel that sends me lurching up and down with the moving handle bars. Makes a great towel rack though.

Fitness equipment doesn't have to be expensive or fancy to work. Because you need to start slow and work up to the harder exercises, a large bag of playground sand and an army duffel bag will do the trick. Begin by chunking the sand into 5 pound bags. Use duct tape to secure them. Now, you can use as many or as few to put into the duffel bag. With the bag on, do a few deep knee bends and pushups. Of course, consult a manual, the internet or other source to be sure you use correct form with your exercises.

When you feel you're making progress, then add a cheap barbell set, and maybe a way to get the bar off the floor so you can do barbell squats and standing military presses. Skip the dedicated bench press things, they're not really worth it. Whatever you ultimately do, though, be sure to have your doctor check you out before you start (oh, look, another excuse to use to put off that workout!).