Exercise your mind and body
Whether it’s sitting in lectures, lounging on couches or laying in bed for a few hours during the weekend mornings, it’s no shock students are constantly stagnant. However, with our long lectures and generally sedentary lives, it’s important for us to find time to get up and get our bodies moving.
At a young age, we were told to get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a week. According to TIME magazine, less than a third of U.S. adults were getting the recommended amount of exercise. The exercise they should be getting is 20 minutes a day of moderate-intensity aerobics, such as walking or dancing, and a few muscle-strengthening sessions a week. Besides increasing incidences of adverse health conditions being a limiting factor, long days at school or the office make it harder for us to find time to exercise.
Modern transportation such as cars and buses make traveling a lot easier than biking or walking to our destinations. Activities we do in our free time such as video games, reading or watching the latest Netflix series also prevent us from getting the exercise we need.
The benefits from exercise are plentiful: boosting mood and strength, improved sleep, and even lowering the risk of chronic conditions and early death. However, exercise can be a difficult issue for those who don’t frequently hit up the gym or have even stepped foot in one. An embarrassment from gym class as a kid or not knowing what to do in a gym can hinder someone from exercising. Sometimes these setbacks overtake our minds more than the motivation to get moving.
The hardest part of trying something new is doing it for the first time. Taking a walk around the block and building up distance over time is a great start. Having a gym partner to keep each other accountable is not only helpful for staying on track, but it grows our confidence to have someone to rely on, especially on the days working out doesn’t seem workable.
It doesn’t even have to be a high-intensity workout with the heaviest weights or the fastest speed on the treadmill either. It could be taking the long way to our classes to get a little extra movement or having a dance party in our dorms. All that matters is getting up and moving.
Dedicating time out of our busy lives to workout every day pays off in the long run. Whether we have 15 minutes or an hour and a half, it’s time we set aside for ourselves to be present and in the moment while bettering our health. Exercise benefits our bodies and minds and we at least owe it to ourselves to keep them both in great shap