Hey collegiettes! I’m Rachel, and welcome to my new fitness column! Every Tuesday, I’ll be sharing my tips and tricks with you about everything from working out to staying healthy.Â
The Freshman “Fit”
The “Freshman Fifteen” is something that we’ve all been warned about. Lack of sleep and stress from nightly GB112 readings often leads to overeating, and with all you can eat at Seasons or the Kraft Easy Mac that’s much too easy to make, first year students sometimes find themselves struggling to fit into their favorite jeans. Even though the “Freshman Fifteen” is really only 2-3 pounds and some freshman even manage to avoid it altogether, I don’t’ like thinking about it as a number. Everyone’s weight throughout the day fluctuates depending on the time or how much water they have drank. It’s more important how you feel about your body.
With the arrival of October, I’m starting a 30 day challenge! I’m sure you’ve all seen these on Pinterest, but I’ve combined three challenges for a total body workout that I promise gives results if you stick to it. It targets legs and glutes, arms and back, and of course, your abdominals. My sister and I did it together for the month of August when she was living in Maine, and having a partner to remind you to work out each day and someone to whine to when it gets tough makes the days fly by, even when you’re 240 miles apart like we were!
1.   Squats
The most important thing about any sort of body training is form. For squats, make sure your feet are hip distance apart and that you’re sitting back, almost like you’re about to sit into a chair that’s a little too far away. Make sure your knees are above your ankles and you can still see your toes. Honestly, the positioning of her legs in the picture from Pinterest isn’t ideal, but keep your back straight and your core engaged.
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2.   Crunches
For crunches, I usually lift my legs off the floor and bend them at the knees, creating a 90 degree angle, or put them straight in the air (this helps target your lower abs!). After week one, I split the crunches in half and do different types of crunches. On day nine, for example, I do 30 regular crunches with legs lifted and 30 twist crunches to get my sides. Make sure you don’t pull on your neck when crunching!
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3.   Arms
All you need for this last challenge is a set of hand weights and some determination! I bought my hand weights at Target, and my roommates and I use them all the time. Between 5lb and 8lb weights are perfect for this challenge, and they all come in fun colors.
 Proper push-up technique is more important than doing a full push-up, so feel free to do modified push-ups from your knees. Check this website out for “How to set up for a proper push up” for the best tips!
For dips, make sure you keep your elbows in when you lower down to get full benefit of the exercise. Lastly, don’t use momentum to swing the weights up when doing bicep curls– this doesn’t build muscle at all!
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Now it’s up to you to grab a friend and get started! Don’t feel the need to do all of the exercises in a row; split them up into manageable sets. For example, on day one just do two sets of 25 squats, 10 crunches, 3 push-ups, 3 dips, and 5 bicep curls (I know I can’t do 50 push-ups in a row for day 30!).
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Post your progress, questions, and comments of encouragement below, and stay tuned for another fitness article next week!
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Photo Credits:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/31032684905874509/