The Miller Fitness Center on campus is a great place to sweat, and clear your mind of the day’s activities, but after a full semester of the same workout regimen you can begin to feel burnt out and lack motivation to hit the gym. While Campus Rec is efficient because it is already included in your tuition, there are also many other ways to get active to add variety to your life.
Wake Forest is a unique campus because of the forest and mountains that surround us. Spending time outside is great medicine for destressing and there are many ways you can incorporate both the outdoors and a workout.
The Reynolda Trails are great for a walk or run. To access them walk behind Winston and Salem Hall and you will see the main path that leads to Reynolda Village. If you keep running past the village and Reynolda House Museum of Art you will come to a large field and eventually a trail through the woods.
Other good trails are the cross-country trails behind the tennis courts on the other end of campus. Both running and walking are great forms of exercise—and they’re free! If you are interested in getting more into running I would recommend starting slow. Go with low mileage at first and slowly increase. It also helps to listen to something while you run. I like to listen to podcasts because I feel like someone is constantly talking to me which really helps to take my mind off of running.
Hiking is also a great way to get active in nature. Organize a group of your friends and drive to one of the many hikes within 45 minutes to an hour of the Winston-Salem area. Pilot Mountain State Park and Hanging Rock State Park are both hiking areas that offer stellar views.
Beyond the outdoors, looking into a new workout boutique is a good way to change up your routine. Pure Barre has a great location because it is close to campus in Reynolda Village and they offer student discounts. The first class is free with a local ID and a student package for unlimited classes for a month is $99. Other good studios are Yoga Dogz, a hot yoga studio, is also located in Reynolda Village, Orange Theory which recently opened in the Stratford area, and Cycle Bar downtown.
As you can see, Winston-Salem offers a lot for a college student looking to add extra flair to their workout. Give it a try sometime soon!