Tag: health

As a student in university, you have many things on your plate. This can be overwhelming at times, and you may slip out of healthy routines and habits that you had set in place. 

We all know the healthy habits that we need to do daily. Yet, when times get tough, we tend to fall away from these healthy routines and seek comfort as an escape from the hard times. In this article, I will be discussing how keeping a scheduled workout routine will help you decrease your stress and improve all areas of your life.

• How do we get stressed? 
• What does stress do to our bodies?
• How can exercise relieve this stress?
• How to implement exercise into your routine?

How do we get stressed? 

Every day you wake up with a certain level of stress. You can either see the stress in a positive or negative light. Positively speaking stress can be seen as good pressure. The pressure that will make you improve and strive to be better in everything that you do. Negatively, stress can be seen as bad pressure and can lead to anxiety. This anxiety makes us feel unconfident and we tend to overthink and find ourselves in an endless cycle of anxiety-ridden days.

The stress that normally affects students is the bad stress that causes anxiety and usually, this is because we have piled too much onto our plates and we feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by everything that’s happening and we feel the need to take a break. But what if I told you that taking a break really won’t solve anything? 

You should be trying to do other stuff that is going to help you get out of your mind and into your body. When we feel the first stages of anxiety and stress it’s easy to think that we need to take a break and sit back and not do anything about it. This is good to do in the moment but if we don’t implement a healthy routine that is going to combat it. With this anxiety, we will fall right back to where we were in the first place. I believe that setting a healthy routine of exercising every day is the first step to turning your stress into good stress and reducing the amount of anxiety in your life.

What does stress do to our bodies?

Physically stress makes our bodies curl up into a little ball and makes us feel less confident. This has really bad effects on our mental psyche. My best suggestion for getting through this stress and the point of this article is that you should go and exercise. My first reason for going and exercising surrounds the point of getting out of your mind and into your body. When we are stressed out and overwhelmed, we tend to overthink many different things and it puts us in this very anxious loop that is hard to get out of.

You may have tried listening to music or podcasts that you feel might help you in some way. These are all good approaches to relieve some stress but in general, going to the gym and doing something physical that stresses your body in a good way is going to be more beneficial for you. When we go to the gym our focus shifts, we start to focus on very primal human instincts lifting, running, and sweating. When at the gym if you find something that occupies you for an hour or two a day. You can take yourself away from all your stresses and use your energy in a positive way.

How can exercise relieve this stress?

My main reason for going to the gym is to take your anxious mind and put it into something productive that you can work on week by week. It really doesn’t matter what workout you’re doing the only things you need to focus on is. “Is this a hard activity” and Can I improve on it every week and achieve meaningful goals week by week to give myself something to be proud of?

When we start sculpting our bodies and being proud of what hard work, we’ve done. We become more confident in ourselves, and it is shown to the people around us. If you’re able to do these workouts in the morning, think of that as the hardest thing that you must do that day. And if you get into the mindset of this. Any other task that you must tackle, you know that you can do it because at least it’s going to be easier than your gym session in the morning.

Now we can’t remove stress from our lives. It’s part of the human experience to wake up and feel a bit of pressure to do something. But we can change how we handle the stress of being a human. By doing this we have to do hard things daily. To give ourselves something to be proud of and something to achieve. Using healthy ways to relieve the stress of the human existence is going to be very important in sustaining a healthy life

How do you implement exercise into your routine?

Next time when you sit down, and look at your schedule for the week, look at when you have time out. Times that you normally would be just checking your phone, watching movies, or doing less meaningful things. 

This could either be in the morning, at lunchtime or around dinner. Schedule 30 minutes to an hour a day with vigorous exercise. You don’t have to start off by doing it every day maybe every second day at first, but eventually, a routine where you allow yourself to work out every day. 

This workout will give you time and space away from your stressful life and let you think and work on a different part of yourself. A part of you that will make you more confident in the long run and help your stress levels. 

Doing this in university is very important as it sets great habits for yourself as a young adult. Lots of young adults normally don’t feel the need to exercise because it doesn’t hurt their bodies yet and they feel invincible. But we all know that that doesn’t last forever so find a way to work out and get out of your mind and into your body!

We all have different motivations for getting into the gym and wanting to work out. One of the most common that I have come across is to lose weight. In this world, we can be judged on our appearance so harshly.

It is very normal and natural to be a young person in college or working aspiring to lose weight and live a healthy life. I have compiled a list of the 7 best gym equipment that you could either have access to at the gym or you could buy to put in your dorm, apartment or home. This equipment, if used consistently will help you become fitter and lose weight while living a balanced life with work, relationships, and fitness. 

1. Treadmill

I believe that a treadmill can be the best gym equipment to use for students starting out. As humans we are built to run. Our ancestors have done it for centuries. Running can be one of the best exercises to do to get fit because you can do it wherever you want, wherever you want. 

Just open your door and you can exercise anywhere in the world. Running is usually a low impact sport, but it does take a lot of strain on your knees and ankles. I would suggest investing in a good pair of running shoes that will support your legs and allow you to exercise to your best ability. 

Treadmills also have many settings; you can choose how fast you want to run or even walk for that matter. You can also change the gradient of the treadmill so that you are going up a hill which may be better on your joints. In my opinion, this is the best piece of equipment you should be using to lose weight.

2. Stationary Bike

Stationary bikes, like a treadmill, are fantastic for exercising whenever you want. Once you learn how to ride a bike this can be one of the easiest ways to increase your heart rate and increase your VO2 Max so that you can sweat out all the bad stuff that’s happened in the day.  

For many cyclists there are always going to be wet and cold days where the roads are not optimal for cycling. This is when a stationary bike comes in handy the one thing that I like about a stationary bike is how you’re able to listen to music or watch a YouTube video while doing it. 

Once you get the hang of a stationary bike there may be a lot of spinning classes on campus which is quite fun to go to. They have a good energy and you’re able to meet like-minded people wanting to get fit and lose weight just like you.

3. Elliptical Trainer

An elliptical trainer is a very good invention because it simulates the movement of running but without the impact on your knees and ankles. My only problem with this is that you may become too adapted to using the elliptical machine and not be able to run. 

If you are coming back from any type of knee injury or ankle injury an elliptical machine is the first place to start. Just like the first two options an elliptical machine can easily fit into dorm flats or apartments, and you can use it whenever you want to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

4. Rowing Machine

Rowing machines are an interesting choice because it takes a little bit of technique to get started understanding how to row properly. Having the right length in every stroke is important to not get back injuries. When done correctly rowing can be one of the best things to sweat and lose weight and improve your cardiovascular capacity. 

Some people dread these machines because they can really push you to the next level. They are very common in people’s houses and all over the gym. You’ll be able to use it at whatever gym you go to.

5. Stair Machine

Stair climbers are like an escalator but an escalator where you must go the opposite way. If you’ve ever been a kid and not tried to run up the escalator, I’d suggest you try and do it. It’s very hard but once you get the hang of it, you’ll stay in the same spot and that’s exactly what a stair stepper does. Lots of students that I know who are set on gaining muscle and going to the gym but have problems with running or cycling like to use the stair stepper because it also is a great use of cardiovascular capacity. The resistance on your legs will make your legs stronger and fitter. 

I would suggest getting one of these for your house to use on a regular basis or going to the gym. You will be sweating like a pig before you finish with your session. This is also a great choice and will help you on your road to a fitter body.

6. Battle Ropes

Battle ropes are fun. For some reason you just feel like a professional athlete whenever you use them. It is quite hard on your shoulders, forearms, and wrists so I would suggest going easy to start with, but they will give you a good workout in a circuit. 

You can do combinations of them with one arm whipping the rope and the other one resting, whipping at the same time, or translating between the two arms in a wave like motion. Once you get into a rhythm it is hard to stop and it will up your heart rate and improve your cardiovascular capacity. These are a nice one to use in the gym and a very simple buy for your home gym so that you can create a good circuit of full body exercises.

7. Jump Rope

The last one on the list is the jump rope. I’ve used this many times during lockdown periods where you can’t move far, and you don’t have access to big gym equipment. A jump rope could be an easy buy on Amazon, or you could just use simple rope that is the right length. Once you get going over 5 minutes, you’ll really start to feel that burn on your calves and this will get you in shape very quickly.

Jump rope is also a fun activity to do because you can learn new tricks and understanding these makes going to exercise a little bit more fun than just running or cycling. I would suggest incorporating this into an exercise circuit routine you could start with using the jump rope 1 minute on, 30 seconds off and do these 5 five times through. Jump rope is a nice inexpensive exercise equipment that you should have in your home.

Conclusion

in conclusion there are many different exercise equipment that will help you on your weight loss journey. These are just my suggestions where you can find all of them online and buy for your home gym or you’ll find them at your local gym. Most of all this equipment is easy to use for beginners and will help you get fit fast! 

Lastly, you can incorporate the different types of equipment into an exercise routine or just jump on the treadmill or bike for half an hour a day you will be one step closer to getting to the body that you want. Being a student and having all the stresses of a student lifestyle making 30 minutes for yourself to do some exercise every day at the gym or in your home is a great way to improve your health.