The gym can be a daunting place… especially a college gym. Before college, I was constantly playing a sport, meaning that I didn’t spend time in a gym. I was in an active routine, but it was surrounded by my female teammates, people who I was comfortable around. After almost three years of attending my college gym, I’ve managed to turn into one of those people who always raves about how great the gym and exercising are. Since I am aware that many college students, especially females, are interested in starting their health and fitness journey, I produced a five-step manual detailing the steps I recommend to begin exercising.
- Visit your school gym
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I used to be one of the many people who was afraid of the gym. Seeing a group of really strong men lifting weights may be super intimidating. Visiting your school gym is important in order to get your bearings on where things are. For me, I did not do this. Instead, I walked in and had no idea where anything was and I ended up doing three laps on the upstairs and downstairs levels trying to find what I wanted to do next. Getting familiarized with the layout will limit the aimless wandering during lifts trying to find the next machine you want.
- Find an accountability partner
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For me, I used to hate going to the gym with other people. I was one who wanted to be in and out of the gym as fast as possible, avoiding small conversations with anyone. This changed my sophomore year. A workout buddy may be an excellent source of inspiration and support. It might be a powerful motivator to maintain your workout schedule to know that someone is depending on you to show up at the gym. It might be more fun to work out with a friend, allowing the exercise to feel less like a chore and more like a pleasurable pastime.
- Set designated times that work With your schedule
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Doing this helped me a lot. It allowed me to get into a routine and not have to worry about conflicts with class. On busy days for me, I am only able to get to the gym for 30 min, which is fine! You don’t have to spend hours at the gym to get a good workout in. Freshman year, when I really got into going to the gym, I had a lot of stress that I wouldn’t have time with my classes and homework, but I’ve discovered that making exercise a priority and fitting it into my daily and weekly schedules has helped me to carve out regularly scheduled workouts — even during the week of midterms and finals. I recommend Google Calendar. I have all my classes and the times they start and end, allowing me to easily visualize times that I am available to squeeze in workouts. Also, GCal allows other people to see your schedule, which is perfect if you have a gym partner!
- Educate yourself
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By being aware of different exercises for different muscle groups, you will have more confidence when you start your workout journey. The more workouts you know, the better your experience at the gym is. Being aware of various exercises allows you to vary your training. By combining a variety of activities, you may make your workouts interesting rather than sticking to the same pattern. This diversity keeps you from becoming bored and gives your body a range of exercises that improve your overall fitness. I think that TikTok is a super helpful place to start. There are college students who walk you through their workouts and explain how to do them in detail!
- stay consistent but be okay when life gets in the way
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I believe that the reason I was able to get fit so effectively in college was that I didn’t punish myself for missing workouts. It didn’t happen very often, but when it did, I was quite forgiving of myself. I try to make it to the gym six days a week. However, I get those days when I feel too tired or too stressed to go workout. On those rare occasions where I missed a day of my workout, I would just accept it and head to the gym the next day. I am a college student. I have a lot of homework and studying on some days. As long as I don’t always use this excuse, it’s OK if there are days when I don’t have time to work out.
As self-conscious as you may feel when you go to the gym, everyone is ultimately focused on themselves and their own workouts and is in their own zones. The fact that I truly loved and looked forward to working out was a major accomplishment for me and hopefully, you can experience it too!
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