HOW TO STAY FIT IN COLLEGE
NOVEMBER 6, 2018
Squeezing in a night run at 8:30 pm after class is not an ideal fitness routine, and certainly not a schedule I have been able to keep up with. When school gets hectic and life gets busy, sometimes I feel forced into throwing on my sneakers and running an extra mile just to check the box. However, I’ve found staying fit in college is not always about hitting the gym at the crack of dawn, rather incorporating fitness into my schedule when it works.
At the beginning of the semester, I scheduled times every day of the week that I would go to the gym to run, lift weights, or participate in an exercise class. However, with the unpredictability of my school, club, and work schedule, it was difficult to manage and to stick to a workout schedule. I wanted to go to the gym to feel healthy and put my well-being first, but I found myself working out when I was exhausted and had zero energy. Worst of all, when I missed a day in my workout schedule, I felt even weaker, like I wasn’t pushing myself enough.
As a college student, you have to navigate balancing a social life, work, school, clubs, and your well-being. Unfortunately, your well-being is often the easiest to neglect because other areas in life often feel more important or valuable. On the other hand, you could also push yourself too much trying to balance every aspect, which can leave you feeling even more drained.
I don’t have the perfect formula to balancing it all in college, let alone the perfect fitness routine - believe me, if I did I wouldn’t have been awake until 3:00 am last night. However, I want to share with you the importance of listening to your mind and body because you don’t have to create a rigorous fitness routine to live healthily.
Hit the gym when you have both the time and, most importantly, the energy. You can set goals and prioritize work to make the most of your time when working out, but don’t exhaust yourself in the process. You can only be pushed so far before having to tap out, so letting your mind and body heel can give you even more energy later on when running that final mile.