This thread combines two of my favorite topics:
finances and fitness. I often think how fortunate I am to have two interest areas that provide great returns on time, effort, and learning. (If I could only get interested in cooking and food prep!)
It is quite amazing how little one could spend, and still do well. A good learner could read free articles, this forum, watch YouTube and other free video resources, and invest $100 in books and a few hundred $ on kettlebells and/or barbells and be set for life, if they so choose, and if it worked for them. I think this describes some people here. Add in some rucking or running and other life activities and they could easily meet all minimum activity guidelines for health and life-fitness needs.
So let's look at
instruction and coaching. In any complex area, which exercise and fitness can be, problems do arise, and we often need help to get around them. StrongFirst forum to the rescue again! You can always post here and get some advice. But most people do better by taking a better, deeper dive into proper technique via in-person courses/classes, seminars, or individual coaching. No telling how many problems some of us have
avoided by getting good instruction before adding enough weight and volume to effectively obtain training adaptations. And how valuable is that? To
not have pain, setbacks, missed work time, medical expenses... It's impossible to quantify what doesn't happen, but I sense the presence of that for myself, and value it quite a bit. Also, by way of having great technique and knowledge of what to do and what not to do, better progress is made from a similar investment of training time/effort. This may not make that much of a difference in
health (which is more about
doing fitness things with some regularity than one's actual achievements in these areas), but it makes a huge difference in
function and performance. And making progress in these areas is often the magic ingredient to keeping us engaged in the process, thereby continuing the health benefits. Also, thinking beyond oneself, having this knowledge and sharing it with others can provide a feeling a usefulness to positively affect the people around us.
As for
equipment, I think to whatever degree one has space for things and actually uses them, the return on investment is usually pretty good,
especially if it provides the ability to train without spending money on gym memberships. Exceptions would be 1) outrageously priced specialty items that claim to do something special, and don't, 2) premium version of things (Eleiko barbells etc.) for a beginner who never advances to the point where the quality matters very much, 3) redundant versions of things, 4) things that depreciate or deteriorate, like machines, and never get utilized to their potential. I'm sure there are others. Generally speaking, there's a lot of cost up front, but then it continues to provide value without costing any more money. I think of this a lot with my bicycles and riding gear. It was an expensive endeavor, those first few years. But now with well over 20,000 miles on my Trek Madone bicycle and having most of the other gear I need, I continue to benefit from having it with hardly any ongoing costs. The same could be said for kettlebells and barbells.
Money spent on all of this is not equal for all of us, because we all have a different amount of disposable income. Therefore it's hard to say if expenditures are "worth it" for one person vs. another. You have to consider the outcomes achieved by the expenditure (sometimes challenging to assess), and the true cost for that individual vs. other things they could have spend the money on (opportunity cost). However, we all have 24 hours in a day. So in terms of
time, we are all equal. And we should all be cognizant of how we spend our time. In this area, there is
time spent training, and
time spent on training where one is not training (reading, writing, watching videos, talking, etc.). I could argue that
we should all spend approximately the minimum activity guidelines of time training (150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and 2 days of muscle strengthening activity, according to the current
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.) but
time spend ON training when one is not training depends greatly on what you get out of it. I know I get a lot out of it. I enjoy learning in this area. It becomes one of my primary lenses through which to view the world, and that extends well beyond training. Not to mention all the great people it's brought into my life. Priceless!
Certifications are another area entirely. I need to re-up my NASM-CPT and USAW Lvl 1 certs this month. StrongFirst Elite is really pretty easy to maintain with the the various recert options. A very good value. I think the only other cert I've done is Flexible Steel and I think of that as more of a learning seminar. Anyway - with certifications, there is attaining, and maintaining -- two different things. Attaining is an achievement and marks a certain amount of knowledge. Maintaining is a degree of ongoing dedication to remaining current. These decisions may be more driven by career and business factors.
So that's my ramble on the subject. More directly to the OP:
Goal 1: Physically fit for job.
I was a college student who suddenly found a summer job working in a warehouse. Moving furniture and cases of merchandise was hard work! Over the school year, I trained with kettlebells. I became strong and fast. After a while, I was offered a full-time position.
Goal 2: Rehab and strengthen weak points.
I continued with kettlebells but my progress halted and I started to get some nagging pains in my body: my ankles, back, shoulders, and knees. So, I started to try different exercises and I purchased programs that I thought would help me strengthen the areas that hurt. (I also purchased some programs and exercises without much rationale. For example, I thought "Maybe a better military press will fix my back pain!" Eventually, I found some solutions that work for me and today I feel great!
Goal 3: Satisfy my curiosity on how a person's physical performance and health can be improved using low tech/high concept methods.
Goal 1: Sounds like you met this goal!
Goal 2: Sounds like you met this goal also! You chose wisely and put the new knowledge to good use.
Goal 2: This one is deep and endless. I would say, don't undervalue this one. Invest in yourself, pursue your passions, and feed your curiosity. You won't regret it!
So all in all, I think you've done well. Use what you've learned to go farther, but don't feel like you have to continue spending at the same rate. Much of what you have already can continue to serve you, just like I keep riding my Trek Madone year after year and getting more and more out of it.