‘Tis the season for stress crying, procrastination by cleaning, and complete denial of anything not finals-related. Besides our looming deadlines, adding to our stress is the fact that our normal routine is all but completely eradicated from our schedules. Gone are classes, sports practices, clubs meetings, executive responsibilities, dates, and any inkling of a social life. Most of us thrive on some form of routine, whether strictly regimented or as subtle as a steady Tuesday afternoon coffee date. Not having this routine can add to our exam stress, as we focus what little energy we have left on cramming four months worth of information into our brains in a matter of days.
One of our most important day-to-day activities is one that often gets overlooked during finals: the gym. Going to the gym seems like more of an inconvenience than normal during finals when we’d much rather be hitting the books than the elliptical. We all know that working out has it’s benefits, but it could benefit you even more during finals. Exercise can not only help with studying, but help you study better.
Who has time to go to the gym, let alone during finals?
Perhaps the strongest reason for avoiding the gym during finals is a lack of time. Why work out when you could be catching up on readings? Physical exercise is full of benefits for students, and these range from increasing memory to reducing anxiety. Hitting the gym in-between hitting the books will, believe it or not, give you more energy, as well as increasing your focus so that when you do get around to studying, you can give it your all.
Says who?
Recent academic research suggests that students who study while moderately exercising retain the information more than those who just sit at their desk. Luckily for those of us who may not be the most athletically-inclined, the same study also found that if the exercise was especially vigorous, the effect of increased information retention was reversed. This means that a light jog or even a brisk walk is what you should aim for. Even better, the research found that the information wasn’t just retained better immediately after studying, but was also remembered just as well the next day.
How am I supposed to study and work out at the same time?
This ends the inevitable debate of studying vs. working out. Not only will you be able to reap the mental benefits of exercise, your GPA will thank you too! However, this leads into another argument – how exactly do you study at the gym? Free weights and textbooks don’t exactly sound like a logical combination, unless you consider carrying a backpack full of books a workout.
Cardiovascular exercise works best for this studying-exercise balance. Luckily, most treadmills and ellipticals come ready-equipped for this with ledges for books or magazines on them. Switch out your regular Cosmo for a textbook and you’re set. Flash cards are one of the best ways of studying, so quiz yourself while on the bike.
If you find that running too slowly will cramp your typical workout, or if you prefer less cardio, there’s another solution. If readings are your kryptonite, buy audiobooks of your textbooks or assigned course materials, and put them on your iPod, allowing you to study while doing the gym activity of your choice.
Whether your Everest this week is calculus, quantum mechanics, post-1945 history, economics or comparative politics, make sure you study as well as you can while maintaining your sanity. Hit the gym as you hit the books, and reap the mental and physical benefits. Plus, actually getting a slot on the treadmill won’t be the struggle it normally is as the gym tends to be deserted during finals. Besides improving your marks, you’ll feel a little better about rewarding yourself for acing that final with your favorite junk food, knowing you got some quality gym time in.
Photo Credits:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/…
http://blog.bookrenter.com/tag…