I have never considered myself to be someone who works out. While there have definitely been periods of my life where I was more active, those periods have always been a result of my extracurricular involvements and not intentional physical activity. Coming into college, I lost my physical outlets and suddenly found myself stuck at a desk every morning, afternoon, and night.
Pushing my physical health to the backburner impacted my mental health beyond belief. As a pre-law student, there are very few hours of the day where I’m not actively stressing over an assignment, a reading, a test, or an extracurricular activity. Any time I wasn’t studying was spent doom scrolling on TikTok or worrying about my future. I found myself becoming wildly burnt out with no way to cope with the pressures I had put on myself. It was only at the urging of my best friend that I finally decided to do something for myself and try my first workout class– Orangetheory Fitness.Â
Spoiler: I loved it.Â
The OTF Effect
My first Orangetheory class destroyed me and made me wonder if I would ever walk again. My second class made me wonder if I should be allowed to make decisions for myself. However, Orangetheory quickly made its way into my morning routine. 10 classes made me feel like an olympian. 25 classes made me feel like I could run a 10K (and I did!). Before I knew it, I hit my 50th class and felt more accomplished than ever before. It wasn’t physical though, it was mental. I found my days getting easier, my mornings getting happier, and my schoolwork was no longer consuming me. Instead of going to bed every night anxious about what the next day would bring, I was excited about going to Orangetheory the next morning with my best friends and favorite coaches. Â
Orangetheory salvaged my mental health in three ways:
1. By giving me an outlet for my frustration. Running (or let’s be real–power walking), rowing, and weights are hard and take mental energy as well as physical energy. Putting my focus into increasing my speed, lifting heavier, or rowing more powerfully allows me to forget how angry I am at a test grade, or how stressed I am about a paper deadline.
2. By encouraging me to love my body. My intentions with Orangetheory have never been weight loss. However, learning the extent to which my body is capable of and how strong I am has drastically changed the way I speak about myself. I now view myself as so strong and healthy, and I have to be thankful for my body’s work.Â
3. By giving me a social activity that doesn’t involve drinking! I love a night out just as much as the next person, but ever since I decided to limit my drinking for academic purposes, it’s been hard not to feel left out. At Orangetheory though, no one is drinking! I get to see all of my friends, chit-chat, and walk away knowing that I didn’t have to cave on my boundaries. It’s a win-win for everyone involved (including my GPA).Â
Ultimately, college is hard and stressful. This is the case for almost everyone. However, academics should never outweigh the importance of your mental health. My advice is to go on a walk, try new things, and find a source of joy. If that joy happens to have a bright orange sign, super hyped coaches, a growth oriented group of people, and 2000s pop blaring at 8 a.m.… even better!Â
