Ah, the gym. Similar to Bertrand, you may have a love-hate relationship with KLARC, and if your relationship is leaning more towards the hate side, it’s time to revisit your workout options. While it can be somewhat comforting to know that you’re not alone on the elliptical as you frantically move your arms back and forth, legs up and down, and thumb left and right as you continually swipe your phone to find the PERFECT pump up song to keep you going strong through mile 3, it sure can get boring.
The gym no doubt provides mechanisms like TVs and magazines to keep students such as myself entertained as we mindlessly move our bodies, but unfortunately my eyes cannot stabilize enough to actually read the text describing the latest beauty tips in this month’s Allure. I’m not sure if anyone has ever figured out how to connect her headphones to the sound of the television.
While I can make a mental to-do list for the upcoming week and scroll though my Instagram account feed, I find myself becoming irritated as I long for the calorie count burn on a given machine to reach a level that is suitable enough to call it a day and walk back home. When I pick up the magazine, which conceals all the statistics the machine is spitting out at me, I am shocked to see that only a mere fifteen minutes have passed. I probably just need a new Pandora station, right? This was my routine for quite some time, but now I found that working out in no way needs to be done indoors and on a machine. There are many options that are not only just as convenient as the standard gym, but also infinitely more fun.
Go outside
I once saw a comic strip in which a wife says to her husband, who is sprinting it out in front of a TV, “It’s such a nice day, sweetheart; why don’t you take the treadmill outside?”
Running outside is not only exponentially more enjoyable, but quite therapeutic. While it may seem extreme, I highly recommend running unplugged… meaning no iPhone or iPad or tablet or pager in hand. On unplugged runs, I am not constantly trying to distract myself from the repetitive steps my legs are making like I do inside a boring gym. Quite the contrary, I find that running unplugged leads to a constant stream of uninterrupted thoughts that have time and space to produce themselves as I explore and jog past the beautiful farms of central Pennsylvania.
As college students, we are rarely disconnected from our friends or social networks, and running alone outside is the perfect way to literally and figuratively get a breath of fresh air, get off campus, and let your mind and legs run free.
Do a DVD
There are many workout programs out there and I find them useful because they make me do the exercises I would never do on my own. You think I am going to do squats across the ab mat holding a dumbbell, or downward dog in front of all the swimmers in the pool? Think again.
Not only are DVDs the perfect way to mix up your routine, but when done right, they can be a great deal of fun. All you need is a group of girlfriends and speakers to turn what would the chore of working out into a dance party. If you live downtown or mod or anywhere with a living room, clear out the couches so you have enough room to jump around. Even if you don’t have enough room, the squash courts or racquet courts provide the perfect space where you can bring your laptop, pop the DVD into a laptop, plug in a hype playlist, and sweat it out with your girlfriends.
My personal workout program is Insanity. While it is freaking hard, the interval nature of it provides you with recovery breaks and a nice warm-up and cool-down stretch. Instead of just merely being next to each other listening to your own music side by side at the gym, you and your friends will be able to engage in the workout together, making it way more collaborative and fun.
Try some classes
There’s a reason why the student-run fitness classes are so popular—they’re super fun! With such a diverse schedule, you can surely find the class that best suits you. Whether it’s cardio Pilates, spinning, yoga, or TRX, it is definitely worth your time to check some of them out. They’re engaging and fun, and since they have a set start time, they can help keep you on track if you’re someone who might procrastinate a workout.
Play a Sport
Remember in high school when everyday after, you didn’t go home or take a nap, but went straight to practice? Even if you’re not an athlete here on campus, there’s no reason why you still can’t play the sport you once practiced Monday through Friday. Bucknell has tons of equipment you can rent and provides “open hours” at many of the open facilities like pool or tennis courts. Even if you don’t have a desire to officially join a club team on campus, it would be a nice change of pace to organize a pick-up soccer game with your friends, or learn the rules of paddle tennis. The time will certainly fly by when you’re engaged in a sport, as opposed to watching the time tick down on a machine, and before you know it, you’ll be breaking a sweat.
The gym at Bucknell no doubt has all the equipment anyone would need to have a fantastic workout, but if you’re someone who finds herself getting pretty tired of a standard routine, try one of the above options and mix it up while still staying fit.