Summer will be here before you know it, and soon you will be splayed out to bake on the beach, feeling the sand cause friction between your toes, and listening to the waves crash down on many shirtless boys. But before you can say goodbye to the stress of finals, unsatisfying dining hall meals, and communal bathrooms, you may want to say hello to the gym. It is understandable that not everyone can make it over to the Fitness Recreation Center; it is far away from many classes, the wind in west campus is terrifying, homework has yet to be done, and, well, Netflix. So why not bring the work outs to your dorm? The following are suggestions as to what you can do from the comfort of your own carpeted room.
1) Bent-Knee sit up crunches
Targeting your abs and with no equipment needed. Try doing ten the first day, then add five more each day every other day for a week. It’s important to work on your abs every other day so that they have a day to recover.
2) Front plank
Targeting your back and abs, it is important to develop a strong core. Balance your whole body weight on just your forearms and your toes, straight off of the ground for about thirty seconds the first day, and ten more seconds each day after that.
3) The Cobra
After doing abs, you can do this exercise by simply lying on the ground and pushing your chest up with your hands. Stare up towards the sky and count to thirty. If you work on your abs correctly, you should feel this satisfying stretch slightly burn your abs and relax your back.
4) Squat Jumps
Standing up, put your arms in the air, and squat down. Then, as you come up, jump in the air. Try doing fifteen of these at a time, and see if you can increase that number over the week of workouts. This should be working on your butt, hips, legs, and thighs.
5) Hip Rotations
In the push-up position, keep your head forward, but lift up one of your legs. Turn your body towards that leg while tucking your knee and rotating up. Still tucked, rotate the leg back down and resume in push-up position, never having taken your other leg off of the ground. Then do the same with the other leg, switching off ten times. Again, this targets your butt, hips, legs, and thighs. Although, this is a harder move to maneuver so you may have to look up a tutorial if you need more help!
6) Side lunge
Standing up, spread your legs a little farther than shoulder width apart. Keep your hands centered, holding in a position above your chest. Shift your body weight to one side, hold it for 20 seconds, then shift to the other side and hold. This should work your butt, hips, legs, and thighs. Remember to breathe!
7) Supermans
Laying on the ground, put your arms straight out above your head. Lift up your arms and legs at the same time, and hold this for 30 seconds. Repeat this five times, and you should be working your back, butt, hips, and shoulders.
8) Push-ups
This is a classic, and I am sure you all know how to do this one. However, if you are a weakling like me and need to work on your upper body strength, attempt to do your push-ups on your knees before you build up enough strength to do them regularly. This should be working your arms, chest, and shoulders.
9) Burpees
Start standing up, and squat down, then put your hands on the floor, and push your body out as if you were to do a push up. Then move your legs back in, and stand back up. Repeat this ten times, do some work outs in between, and then repeat this ten times again. It is difficult to do so many at once, so work on your endurance and eventually you will be doing thirty at a time!
10) Don’t forget to stretch!
So by now you have hopefully done 10 crunches, 30 seconds of planking, the cobra, 15 squat jumps, 20 hip rotations, side lunges, 5 supermans, a few push ups, and 20 burpees. But before you grab that protein bar and fruit smoothie, stretch by touching your toes, making circles with your arms, and doing a butterfly. End in the child’s pose, and you will feel refreshed and ready to finish the semester with a positive, healthy outlook!