You're going to college for a lot of different reasons. To get into the job market (cause let's be honest, vocational doesn’t seem to cut it these days), to go Greek, to learn something you're interested in, or to go into the field your parents told you to be in...
What, just me...?
But not many people go in wanting a healthier lifestyle. Unless you’ve been drafted into a sport, a lot of people end up staying away from athletics or any exercise the moment they get to college. This is particularly the case for high schoolers who did a lot of sports K-12 but decided that they weren’t cut out for college circuits. They end up ignoring it all together.
After doing almost a decade of Chinese martial arts, a few years of track and field and weightlifting, I get the inclination. It is super east to drop everything and give the same excuse most people give: to focus on my grades. It's tempting to just call it quits, but any fitness guru or an all-around healthy guy can tell you how dangerous that can be. I'm not here to explain why exercise is good, but I am here to help those seniors who’ve been athletes all their lives and want to keep the good habit of staying in shape. Here are a couple of tips:
1. Focus On What Matters: Your Grades
Hear me out. I know that this is the same exact excuse we use to avoid working out. We get swamped with assignments, papers, pop-quizzes, readings, research, the list goes on. When we’re in a bind, we cut the first thing on our schedule that seems irrelevant… and that tends to mean skipping the gym or a run.
But skipping the weights and dropping the running shoes to bog down in the library can hurt your chances for a good grade. Studies support the hypothesis that regular exercise can improve long-term memory capacity and increase your focus, improve not only the how long you remember class content, but also improves efficiency in your study sessions.
This can be seen in high school athletes. Leaving exercise for extended periods of time depletes maximum output energy. Your lazy mornings will change into lethargic late nights, all for the benefit of saving an hour of exercise?
I understand if finals are coming up, but don’t make a habit of skipping a workout for every assignment you need to turn in. It'll hurt in the long run.
2. Find The Time
There will be times where you feel like you simply do not have the time. If you’re a STEM major, have two part-time jobs, or have a lot of research piling up, it is very possible that your regular hours of work aren’t going to fit an hour of working out.
So get up earlier -- wake up to do some empty stomach cardio, or finish that writing assignment, so you have time after lunch to hit the weights. Believe me, it is possible to wake up at 4:30 am for a quick run… your roommate may hate you, and you’ll probably look crazy to that street sweeper who’s the only other soul awake at that time. But in the end, you made time for your priorities.
Don’t get drunk every weekend -- having fun is important in college, and parties are a great stress reliever. Just don’t overdo it. Yes, it hurts your health and everything, but just think practically for the short term. Weekends aren’t meant to nurse every hangover, and you end up wasting the entire day, not working out. (And yes, I know I don’t have the experience, just going off what people tell me).
You have the individual freedom to pursue your health on your own. This time after high school and during college can be not only for the benefit of your physique or endurance but for the habits you build and sustain for the rest of your life.
Make it count.
