It happens every year.
You wake up on January 1st recovering from the New Year festivities from the night before and you promise yourself that this year will be different. You make that long list of resolutions. And if you’re like me, the item on the top of that list is to get in shape and stay healthy.
And like most of the other resolutions on my list, I have never managed to keep that one all throughout the year. As the quarter progresses, classes, midterms, exams, and other activities take their toll. They eat up all our time leaving us very few hours to even sleep and eat. With all that going on, it makes sense that the motivation to make it to the gym tends to subside. Despite the fact that you have so much on your plate, bear in mind that making time for working out can have a beneficial impact on your health in the future. According to Pamela Peeke, the author of Fit to Live and Body-for-LIFE for Women, “ Exercising one to three hours per week can reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer by 20 to 30 percent”. In addition, “7 Mind Blowing Benefits of Exercise” published in the US News & World Report, states that exercise can be an amazing destresser because “30 minutes can blow off tension by increasing levels of “soothing” brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine”.
That’s why this year will be different. Here are some alternative ways to keep this resolution and pledge to stay healthy throughout the year.
The Dorm Room Workout:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm1TEcDUvfM
For those of you living in the dorms, we know there really isn’t too much space to fit everything you need and have room to walk around. But lucky for you, this workout video is quite understanding of that. This dorm room workout is half an hour long and doesn’t require too much space or equipment. Just grab a few hand weights and maybe a yoga mat and go for it!
Walk Around Campus:
UCLA is about 419 acres large and comes with various slopes, stairs, and gorgeous architecture. Anyone who has walked up that steep slope from campus to the dorms know that they don’t call it “the Hill” for nothing. That being said, it’s pretty obvious that most Bruins can definitely get a workout just by walking from class to class. So next time you’re walking across campus, you can burn a few calories by taking a longer route or maybe even walking up Janss Steps instead of taking the ramp. And for those of you that are a little more ambitious, you can even step it up a notch by running the perimeter!
Use the track:
If you prefer to be outside and find yourself getting bored of staring at a bunch of treadmills at the gym, you can always take your work out to Drake Stadium. You’ll have the chance to run on the track and run up and down the stadium stairs. You’ll get more out of your workout at Drake than sitting around waiting for a machine at Wooden.
Assemble a pull up bar in your room:
Pull up bars are a great way to work out your arms and your abs. But you don’t have to walk all the way to the gym to get access to one. Just install a pull up bar in the doorway of your room and work out whenever! Tip: you can even make a few daily pull-ups a part of your morning routine when you have such easy access to a pull up bar.
Hooking up:
This one probably won’t surprise you too much because it does require a good bit of stamina and energy. Hooking up is definitely a fun way to burn calories and relieve stress. From making out to foreplay to having sex you can burn over a hundred calories with any, if not all, of these.