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We're approaching one month into summer… how's the exercise going? Behind schedule? Too hard to get started?

Nonsense, says the Mayo Clinic in a post titled: “Fitness for less: Low-cost ways to shape up. Want to work out but think you can't afford it? Think again.”

The authors offer quick, low (or no) cost ways to get started. Some include:

• “Step it up. Take a brisk walk every day, whether it's in your neighborhood or a local mall. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or make a full workout of climbing the stairs. Sneak in extra steps whenever you can by parking farther away from your destination.”
• “Make housework a workout. Mow the lawn, weed the garden, rake the leaves or shovel the snow. Even indoor activities such as vacuuming and scrubbing count as a workout if you increase your heart rate.”
• “Play with your kids. If you have children, don't just watch them play. Join them for a game of tag or kickball. Walk them to the park. Dance. Take a family bike ride.”
• “Chair or step stool. Use a chair for support when doing exercises such as leg curls. A low, sturdy step stool can become exercise equipment if you use it for step training — an aerobic exercise resembling stair climbing.”
• “Use your body. You don't need to go to the gym and lift weights to increase your muscular fitness. Use your body weight to do weight training exercises and resistance training.”

Further, low-cost fitness solutions can be extended to the workplace.

The Toronto Globe and Mail reports on “Workplace fitness on the cheap: When you walk into the public health building in Kingston, the first thing you’ll see is the staircase at the centre of the lobby. It has pride of place in the three-floor structure, the elevators hidden from sight. The message is clear: Take the stairs. Improve your health. And the staircase is usually busy, with staff and guests ascending and descending.”

“Downstairs in the basement, less visible but also worth attention, is a fitness circuit. It’s simple, drab and low tech, but a clever idea that the local health unit promotes.”

Bottom line: It's not too late to meet your summer fitness goals — at home or at work.