Rose Thompson

The deadline looms; that fateful date that's been in your calendar from the very beginning but you've successfully ignored until now. It's got to that point, where no matter how much you pretend you won't have to sit through three hours in the sports hall counting tiles; it's time to face the facts (literally) and plough through the lectures you said you'd "catch up on" all year. Have no fear, Her Campus is here to guide you through the turbulent times ahead.

1) The library

Get down there early to get a desk. If you’re easily distracted then avoid sitting near friends (you can always use distracting them as a revision break…) Don’t be THAT PERSON who moves someone’s belongings from a desk. I know it’s annoying when a laptop has been there for hoouuuurrrrssss and there’s not a soul in sight, but think how livid you’d be if someone touched your stuff. Stress levels are at their peak at this time of year, you don’t know what could kick off…

If you’re lucky enough to have the night time experience of the library then use of the wheely chairs for recreational purposes is highly recommended. Perhaps once you’ve reached this point though, it’s time for bed - also be warned when you start to refer to yourself as one of ‘the library crew’.

2) Snacks are essential

Believe it or not ladies, there is a whole other realm past the treadmills; a realm where iron is pumped and testosterone flows. Biceps bulge out of wife-beaters and red faces grimace under baseball caps as boys prove that they’re men. However, if you want that stubborn thigh-fat to budge, you MUST brave this ‘masculine’ realm, (and I mean venturing further than the machines where you ‘push your legs in and out’….) The journey to a lean physique is an arduous one, but if you really want to “tone up” then you shouldn’t avoid a trip to the weights room- DON’T BE AFRAID! Your health and fitness team at HCX will help show you the way.

90% of the girls I asked said the most common fear of lifting weights as a girl (other than the rugby team in the weights room), is that we’ll end up looking like those gym-junkies we’re trying so hard to impress. Allow me to dispel these common misconceptions and stigmas which surround girls lifting weights:

Firstly, if you incorporate some squats and bench presses into your workout, you will not become a Jodie Marsh lookalike overnight. Women do not, and cannot build as much muscle as men. This is because we do not naturally accommodate the high levels of testosterone necessary to ‘bulk up’. Female body builders do not look the way they do by accident; they have often taken steroids (which mimic the effect testosterone has on the body) to achieve high levels of muscularity.