Keeping fit in college
In college, time is a finite resource and often students place exercise
at the bottom of their list of priorities. It is pretty easy to
spend the entire day running from class to class, meeting to meeting, and
then realize that the day is over. Some of us even have jobs on top of our
many scholastic responsibilities. Oh yes, and we must also make time
to have some fun with our friends. With all of these obligations and
the fact that we are pulled in all different directions, it is no wonder
that college students have difficulty adding daily exercise to their
schedules.
However, keeping fit by exercising is important and has many health
benefits. Surprisingly enough, by making minor changes in your
schedule, you just might find a few extra minutes to make a quick trip to
the gym or to go for a little jog. For example, even taking the
stairs instead of the elevator or walking hastily to classes counts as
physical activity. You don't have to look good in Lycra or belong to
a fancy health spa to be physically active!!
This fact sheet outlines the benefits of exercise, gives guidelines for
making the most of your exercise time and gives suggestions as to how you
can fit daily exercise into your schedule. Just thirty minutes a day
(not necessarily all at once), five days a week of some type of physical
activity can make a real difference to your health today and
tomorrow. Keep in mind, though, that the more vigorous the physical
activity, the better the health benefits.
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Benefits of exercise
Physical activity is one of the very best things that you can do for
your health. When combined with healthy eating, you can look and
feel better today as well as safeguard your health for tomorrow.
Long term and short term health benefits to exercise include:
- Keeps you at a healthy weight
- Keeps you emotionally healthy
- Lessen feelings of depression and anxiety
- Increases good cholesterol
- Lowers risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, high blood
pressure, osteoporosis, back pain
- A stronger heart
Not only does exercise improve health and physical well being, but it
will also make you feel better about your body and yourself, increase
muscle tone, improve your mood, clear your head, and help you to
concentrate on schoolwork.
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Effective exercising
Before you begin your workout, you should warm up for five minutes by
doing some light aerobic exercise, such as jogging slowly or walking
briskly. This stretching will prepare your body for a more intense
workout and will prevent injury. You might also want to stretch the
muscles that you plan to work on.
There are several measures that you can take in order to maximize the
benefit of your workout and prevent injury including:
- Drink plenty of water
- Make exercising a part of your daily routine
- Start gradually
- Increase exercise time each day, up to 30-60 minutes
- Rest when feeling faint or short of breath
- Keep a record of your workouts and progress
- Keep yourself occupied while you exercise- read, listen to music,
chat with a friend, etc.
Never end a work out abruptly. Instead, slowly bring down your
heart rate. You can do this by slowly decreasing the intensity of
your work out, or walking until your heart rate returns to normal.
Here are more helpful tips for effect exercising.
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Stretching
Stretching before and after a workout will increase flexibility and
reduce soreness and injury. Different types of stretching exercises
can be found at http://www.aarp.org/health-active/.
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Aerobic exercise
In order to build endurance, you should engage in aerobic exercise for
an extended period of time (20-30 minutes). This will improve the
health of your heart, lungs, and blood vessels. The American Heart
Association recommends that you shoot for your targeted heart rate in
order to maximize your workout. At this rate, your heart will most
efficiently pump blood. Your target heart rate equals about 50-75%
of your heart's maximum rate. This can be calculated by subtracting
your age from 220.
Types of aerobic exercise include, but are not limited to, the
following:
- Walking
- Running
- Swimming
- Biking
- Rollerblading
- Hiking
- Cross country skiing
- Jump rope
- Rowing
- Stair-climbing
Several of these activities are weight-bearing exercises, which means
they are
- done on your feet
- done to help strengthen your bones and prevent osteoporosis.
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Weight training
Weight training can build strength and improve your muscle tone.
When lifting weights, you should give muscles a day or two to rest between
workouts. This will prevent injury.
There are other ways to build muscles that do not require lifting
weights. These include calisthenics, bicycling, swimming, hiking,
golfing, rowing, tennis, and many others.
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Exercising at School
Take advantage of the many facilities available to you at your college
for physical activity. There may be a work out facility or gym on
your campus that, as a student, you can use cheaply or free of
charge. Tennis courts, biking paths, basketball courts, and soccer
fields are also widely available on college campuses. Furthermore,
there may be physical education classes that you can take for advanced
skill building if your are just getting started in a workout
routine. This might help you determine your personal fitness level
and give you an idea as to what types of exercise you enjoy.
Most types of exercise can double as social events. Going to the
gym or for a run with a friend will allow you to spend time with someone
that you might not see or talk to as much as you like. Team sports
can also provide another opportunity to meet people and to get in shape at
the same time.
If you would rather exercise alone, this can also provide an excellent
opportunity for you to be alone with your thoughts. Getting away
from the campus by going for a walk/run will allow for an escape from the
pressures of school and will allow you to have uninterrupted
thoughts. You might find that after getting away and exercising
alone, you will return to campus refreshed and more prepared to face your
campus responsibilities.
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Fitting it into your schedule
With various activities, classes, work, social life, etc. it can be
difficult to fathom adding yet another element to our busy days.
However, all it takes is 20-30 minutes a day. After all how many
minutes did you spend doing unnecessary things today? Between E-mailing,
chatting with friends, and various other time consuming activities, you
could probably figure out a way to scrape together 20-30 minutes a
day. Try it! Look at what you did today and try to figure out how
you can make better use of your time, allowing a few extra minutes for
exercise. It may sound like a formidable task, but take a closer
look -- you might be surprised.
If you are simply unable to find a solid 30-minute chunk of time during
your day, consider trying to accumulate 30 minutes of exercise throughout
the day. You could take the long route to a class, take the stairs,
do a few jumping jacks in the morning, go dancing at night, or any number
of other things.
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Assessing your fitness level
No matter what fitness level you are at, physical activity can always
improve your fitness. For more information on physical activity, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/life/tips.html. It is always good to take it easy
in the beginning and then gradually increase the intensity of your
workouts. This will prevent injury and allow for your fitness level
to gradually increase. In order to assess your current fitness
level, you might find http://www.shapeup.org/fitness/index.htm
helpful.
By individualizing your workout to fit your personal fitness goals, you
will make better use of the time that you spend exercising. Also,
determining the types of exercise that you enjoy will keep you on track
and help you stick with it. First, decide whether you like to
exercise alone or with someone else. Having an obligation to another
person may help you stick to your work out program, but it could also slow
you down. Next, decide whether you prefer exercising outside or
inside. There are many different types of physical activities that
can be done in both settings. Finally, you may want to vary your
work out in order to keep things interesting and prevent boredom with your
workout regimen.
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Sticking with it
Once you have begun a workout program, the next challenge is sticking
with it. Here are some suggestions, that might keep you motivated
and excited about physical activity:
- Focus on short-term goals, and change them as you grow stronger.
- Ask for support from friends and family.
- Make sure you enjoy your work out. If you don't, reassess and
change what you are doing. Find activities that you like.
- Read up on the subject- check online resources and magazines for
exercise tips.
- Treat yourself to exercise clothes and shoes that you enjoy wearing.
- Keep a record of your workouts and progress.
- If you stop for some reason (illness, busy schedule, or travel) come
back to it-but slowly- and don't beat yourself up over your missed work
outs. Everyone deserves a break once in a while.
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References
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