Trying to stay fit on campus can be hard; food options are limited, there’s the roommate who’s always waking you up at night and let’s not even talk about the mountain of school work. So getting up, changed, and making the trek to the gym is a project in itself.
Then there’s the gym environment that can make a lot of people feel uncomfortable, especially if they don’t really have a routine, and the machines are being used by guys who make Popeye look like a stick figure. With all this going on, the odds of working some gym time into a busy student schedule feels next to impossible.
However, Eric Duffert, a senior film and media arts major, manages to make time for the gym and his weight lifting routines. “With a jam packed week full of classes, meetings and extracurriculars, the gym is a much needed way to release all the pent up anxiety and stress.”
But even someone like Duffert, who knows what he’s doing in the gym, feels some of the same frustrations as other, less experienced gym goers do too.
“For a university with over 7,000 students, it is way too small,” he said. “You often find yourself waiting long stretches of time to use the machines.”
Although Duffert makes some excellent points, those who just can’t get to the gym or are too nervous to go can’t hold their breath while waiting for these changes. Fortunately, there’s an infinite number of workout routines you can do at home and equally as many ways to access them.
1.) Xbox One’s Fitness App and Wii U’s Wii Fit both provide entertaining ways to stay fit without leaving home. Chardene Williams, a junior psychology major, plays Just Dance with her three roommates.
“We walk on Bayshore but that gets mundane so for a few days out the week we will play it for a while,” she said.
Other fun dance-bases games like Zumba Fitness World Party also help gamers to burn calories and have fun while doing it too.
2.) If there isn’t a gaming console available, online workouts might be the way to go. Fitnessblender.com has videos and membership that are free. However, they do accept donations to help with improving their content.
“We work hard to create a large variety of free full-length workout videos that everyone can benefit from, regardless of their income or access to a gym,” fitnessblender.com said on its website.
3.) Yoga and cardio are a great mix that can be done anytime, anywhere. Kara Delemeester, a sophomore secondary English education major said that she didn’t really feel comfortable going to the gym because she hasn’t really worked on machines.
”Sometimes I want to do certain kinds of workouts, like a post-run yoga routine, and I can’t just walk into the gym and expect there to be a class waiting after I finish my run,” she said.
For aspiring Yogis, there are various classes, all for free as students, throughout the week such as Vinyasa Yoga, Stress-Relief Yoga or Power Yoga offered at the McNiff Fitness Center. You can check out the schedule by going towww.ut.edu/mcniff.
4.) Tone It Up is a complete weight loss system founded and run by trainers Karena and Katrina. It constitutes a diet plan and a hefty portfolio of fitness videos for free on YouTube. Their nutrition plan is $150, but if there’s a dorm room of people who want to improve their lives, it’s a lifetime membership with three “licenses” to the program information. With the purchase of a membership, the user gets access to all the plans right away as a digital download. The workouts are a mix of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and yoga with a little ballet mixed in. The nutrition plan is full of helpful facts that help users rethink what they put in their bodies and helps them to lose weight.
If the goal is to lose weight, it’s easier to do it with a support system. Getting roommates, family members, coworkers or just friends all working towards a healthier lifestyle is great because it creates accountability. The resources are there, the next step is to commit to a better, healthier life.
“Get a group for a bigger workout session and just skip the gym and dorm all together. Go to the track or plant park and have your own circuits and exercises, make it an event,” MacFarland said.
Kaela Bernardino can be reached at kaela.bernardino@spartans.ut.edu