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RICH ADDICKS / COX NEWS SERVICE Jennifer Bull, who is three months pregnant, and her husband work out in their kitchen now instead of at a health club. Ronald and Jennifer Bull trimmed the fat from their health and fitness budget without adding it to their waistlines.

When the economy forced them to tighten their wallets, the suburban Atlanta couple put a squeeze on their expenses. A $200 monthly family membership at a small health club plus $150 a week for sessions with a personal trainer left Jennifer Bull feeling embarrassed about the size of the family's fitness budget and shortchanged by their physical results. So, the couple canned the fitness-club membership and returned home for some basic training.

"With everything that is going on with the economy, we just want to be responsible, but we don't want to lessen our quality of life," said Jennifer Bull, owner of an advertising firm who describes fitness as essential to her family's life. A personal trainer at $75 a session helped them develop a home-based program using two yoga mats ($10-$20), two pairs of dumbbells ($4-$6) and a stability ball (about $20). They now spend a third of what they did before and have improved their health and fitness.

Ronald Bull's routine includes dumbbells, which cost $4-$6. He also gets help from a personal trainer who visits the Bulls' home. "We've kept the same level of fitness and cut the fitness bill," Bull said.

The Bulls are not alone — more economy plagued fitness buffs are seeking ways to downsize their budgets without up-sizing their bodies. Average health/ fitness club memberships run about $35- $40 a month, but with gas and food costs, job losses and economic uncertainty, many people are contemplating less-expensive alternatives.

At Concourse Athletic Club in Sandy Springs, Ga., membership terminations are increasing and more members are opting to downgrade from family (starting at $170 a month) to individual plans (starting at $95 a month). Membership fees fluctuate based on the full-time or weekday/daytime hours of use.

Other members are exercising a leave of absence (at $30 a month) option that allows them to suspend their membership and return without paying another $250 initiation fee.

"We have always worked with terminations, but now we're working with them more," said general manager Suzanne Cypert, who estimates the club "saves" about 10 percent of members considering termination through conversion packages and leaves of absence. Even the YMCA of Greater Atlanta, which offers family health and wellness memberships for about $53 a month, reported a 20 percent increase in the number of members requesting financial assistance since July.

"More people have come in saying it's tough," said Kristen Obaranec, a spokeswoman with the YMCA, which subsidizes costs for members unable to pay the full fee.

The economic downturn may stimulate an upswing of returning to the basics, said Peter McCall, exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise.

People are using what they have, incorporating tools such as jump ropes and sandbags and realizing that they don't need to be in a gym to maintain fitness, he said.

The council recommends walking, jog- ging, dancing and bike riding as costeffective means to conserve gas while losing weight. Beefing up household chores also revs up the metabolism and energy level.

If you want to maintain a consistent routine, you can spend less than $150 for exercise balls, a jump rope, a set of dumbbells and resistance tubing for a totalbody workout. For another $100 (per one-hour session), a personal trainer can help you design a safe, effective program to follow in your own home, he said.

Personal trainer Ligia Carvalho, who designs programs for corporate and individual clients, has experienced a surge in requests for home-based routines. Many people need the accountability that a trainer brings to create a work/life balance, she said.

"Stress levels are high and lifestyles are changing," said Carvalho, who trains the Bull family. [But] exercise doesn't have to be expensive."