Why College Students Should Make Time for Exercise

 BY: ANNABEL MONAGHAN

Most of us have read studies about the health risks we’re faced with today due to our sedentary life style. Lack of exercise and hours sitting in front of a screen mean that some of us find even menial day-to-day activities, like grocery shopping, a tiring effort.

When you’re young, it’s natural to not feel so concerned about your health, and college students are notorious for putting health on hold while they enjoy the freedom to eat, drink and do whatever they want. But, there are plenty of reasons why college is a perfect time to start making health conscious decisions.

The accessibility and affordability of healthcare after college is another important reason why students should make the time to incorporate healthy habits into their daily routines. Establishing these habits earlier in life is one way to help prevent many afflictions that plague us later in life. For those graduating without a job providing health benefits, and who no longer under their parent’s coverage, preventative healthcare becomes especially important.

It’s not only after graduation where establishing healthy habits can provide benefits either. Joining the campus gym could provide a boost to your grades. According to one study, published in the journal of the United States Sports Academy, students who regularly participated in physical activity had a higher over-all GPA than their more sedentary peers.

Science has long boasted about the benefit of regular exercise. It makes us smarter, helps us live longer and makes us feel good.

When you’ve got mountains of textbooks to read and assignments to write, it might seem like you’ll never find the time to work out, there are some strategies you can follow to stay active.

Consider combing your exercise with your studies.

Combining the two elements of your life can help give you more time. Signing up for a PE class as an elective for credit is a perfect choice If you want to earn an easy A for your efforts, and enjoy the atmosphere of social exercise. If you’re not too into the idea of taking dance class or signing up for hockey, then try sneaky tips like doing your class readings while you walk and run on the treadmill and get your cardio in. Or downloading audio lectures and listening to them while you head out for a jog. Take a break from writing your paper to do a mini-workout of 10 minutes. You’ll head back into it feeling refreshed, and when you add up all the hours you can spend working on a paper, you’re easily finding your thirty minutes of exercise that day.

Find ways to stay motivated and get help!

If you’re unsure how you should be working out, turn to technology. There are hundreds of apps available on smartphones which can do everything for you, from designing a workout routine, to tracking how well you’re meeting your goals. The internet is also full of blogs and communities that are a wealth of resources and support for the newcomer to fitness. Magazines like LifetoLiveit are full of tips and tricks to help maintain a healthy lifestyle, getting involved with these sorts of online info-sharing fitness communities can be a terrific way to maintain motivation toward your health goals.

Keep your goals realistic

It’s impossible to take exercise seriously if you don’t know what you want to get out of it. Figure out what you aim to achieve. Do you want to improve your general fitness and be able to run a mile without having to stop to catch your breath? Do you have weight loss goals you want to meet? Go into it knowing what exactly you want to get out of working out, and why, then plan out what you need to do to achieve it.