The new year is, of course, the time to break resolutions. Traditionally, hovering around the top spot every year is the promise you made to yourself to get into shape.

For many people, this will mean joining a gym. But one deterrent is the expense - £50 per month for some. After all, only 27 per cent of gym members work out regularly. But fear not. There are ways to beat down the cost.

1) Join a green 'gym' and help the environment

Green gyms are for those who hate the idea of deliberately wasting time and energy. After all, what can really be more pointless than half an hour on a treadmill? It takes energy to power it, energy to run on it, and at the end of 30 minutes you have produced precisely nothing.

Instead, green gyms get groups of volunteers together in the open air to help on conservation efforts. Pruning trees, cutting back weeds, clearing rubbish - not only is it good cardiovascular exercise, but by the end of the day you have contributed to making the world a better, more attractive place. In the last few years, green gyms have spread across the country, from Aberdeen to Bristol. Sessions usually last a few hours and are led by a trained leader. They begin and end with warm-up/warm-down exercises and are free.

Diane Dougill, who helps to run a green gym in Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, says: 'It gets you out into the fresh air. Some days it's cold and you would rather not be there, but that all adds to it. It can be a gentle form of exercise without any strict regime, so you can take it as far as you want - I have a bad back, but it's good for me.'

· For more, visit www.btcv.org.uk

2) Take out health insurance, get free membership

PruHealth, part of the Prudential, has a very tempting offer right now. Sign up for its health insurance and it will give you free or cheap membership of the LA Fitness, Cannons or Virgin Active (formerly Holmes Place) chains. The insurance premiums plus the subsidised gym subscription may even be cheaper than the normal price of gym membership alone.

The reason for PruHealth's generosity is that people who go to the gym are less likely to use their health insurance, so the more you go, the less you pay for your gym membership. The Pru does check up to make sure you really are going to the gym, and to get the full reduction, you need to go twice a week.

For the first three months, while PruHealth monitors how often you go, you will pay the 'occasional user rate' (for people who go on average between once and twice a week). Then, depending on the frequency of your gym visits and the particular gym chain of which you are a member, the price of gym membership could fall to nothing for standard LA Fitness and Cannons gyms, and £5 for Virgin. Prices can vary a little depending on what kind of membership you want (one club only, or all of the chain, and London clubs can be more expensive). Membership allows you to go any day, any time.

As a fit 31-year-old male non-smoker, I was offered insurance and gym membership combined for £28 per month - lower than the £31 I currently pay for gym membership alone. PruHealth has signed five-year deals with the gyms, so the offer is a long-term one.

You could also end up paying less for your health insurance too, because PruHealth has a sort of 'no-claims bonus' scheme. 'Vitality Points' are awarded for visiting the gym, downloading healthy recipes from the website, signing a no-smoking pledge and a number of other activities. They all accrue and reduce your premiums - for information, visit www.whypayforthegym.com

Norwich Union is also offering gym membership discounts of between 15 and 40 per cent to its health insurance customers (see