Working out

Everybody knows that we're supposed to work out. It's one of things we know we should do, like eating healthy food, getting enough rest, yadda, yadda, yadda. But what what a lot of folks don't know is what exactly exercise does for you, and how to fit it into a schedule that seems ridiculously packed already.

Why workout?

  • Exercising regularly improves your mood, boosts your sense of self-esteem, and enhances the functioning of your brain.
  • It causes your body to produce “endorphins”, chemicals that give you a natural high—the same chemicals that are produced after good sex, or after an especially creative endeavor or experience.
  • Working out is a natural anti-depressant, raising chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
    Researchers in Australia found it to help people deal better with anxiety and stress than meditative relaxation techniques.
  • Cardio workouts increase the flow of blood, and therefore oxygen, to the brain, which helps develop new brain cells!
  • Regular exercise improves the duration of sleep.
  • It gives you a good excuse to escape from whatever is bugging you, whatever is demanding too much of your time. It lets you get away.

How to fit a workout into an impossibly busy day

A lot of times when we get stressed or cramped for time, we skip the workout, opting instead to spend the time stressing over the work. Is that 30 minutes skipped really going to get you that much further ahead? If you can’t go to a gym (for financial or time reasons), you can definitely still get your 30 minutes of exercise in. How?

Walk for 30 minutes during a lunch break, or if you’re on campus, put your backpack in a locker (buy a lock for $3 from the drugstore), and walk in between assignments. Or head for the stairs. Do some real stair climbing for 10 minutes at a time. Nobody will question what you’re doing, because they’ll all be waiting for the slow elevators!

N.B.
If you’re extra stressed, and try to extra-exercise, you may be doing more harm than good, because it just gives your body headaches and exhaustion. So just do it normally.