Looking out of the window

The wonderful thing about living on a university campus is that you have the space for a lot of outdoor activity. It’s really nice to be able to step out of your home into the woods and take off on long walks or cycle to the lake. While I enjoy doing those things, I also get to enjoy a more consistent and rigorous workout at the campus gym which is freakin’ amazing considering it’s free. Over the year I’ve been going to the gym I’ve sort of come up with a regime that suits my needs and here a few pointers from my calorie burning missions.

The only motivation for exercise shouldn’t be losing weight. If you concentrate all your energies on that aim, it becomes more than often a frustrating endeavour and you’re likely to give up very soon. That’s because it’s always important to understand that weight loss is a gradual process no matter what the home shopping people will tell you. Setting your weight targets is a good thing and gives you focus, but make sure you appreciate the other benefits of exercise. It’ll increase your stamina, tone your muscles and make you feel energetic. Don’t be disillusioned if you don’t have the curves or the abs you were looking for right way, because exercise makes other positive changes to your body. You will love the way your posture improved, and leaner and stronger limbs.

Finding something that works for you is important. Don’t get taken in by what’s fashionable right now, or promises quick results. Clichéd as it may sound, everybody is different so make sure you pick a form a exercise that fits your schedule, makes you feel good and you enjoy doing. The key is to like what you do, whether it’s organized exercise, sports or yoga or a combination of things. Always start out slow and then increase the intensity as you go along. Keep pushing yourself to achieve more out of your time at the gym.

Buddies are not just for swimming. Working out together with your friend, sibling or significant other is twice the amount of fun and helps you stick to your workouts. Find someone you can work out with. This way you’ll have someone who’ll be in the same boat as you, getting the same joint aches and the urge to just curl up and go to sleep sometimes in the middle of cardio.

Invest in gym wear, it’s worth it. Buy yourself some comfortable and stylish track pants and t-shirts. Looking good makes all the difference. That doesn’t mean you have to blow away tons of cash on expensive Adidas and Reebok gym wear. You can get affordable gym wear from Urban Yoga and West Port. Shop during clearance sales. Urban yoga clothes are especially good for the summers because they are completely sweat absorbent and keep you very dry.

Get a good beat working for you

One of the things that helps me workout is music. It gives you a beat and rhythm to work out to instead of a boring count of 1, 2,3. Compile a ‘gym mix’ of songs that you like and order them in a way that synchronizes with your workout. Ex- Fast beats for cardio and running, rock for weights and lounge music for yoga. If you can make it work, you can try listening to an audio book while you work out as well. Suggestions for a good gym play list include Beyonce, Britney Spears, Sean Paul, DMC, techno, trance etc.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

It’s important to remember, working-out is not a panacea for health. Always remember to eat right. Avoid junk, high sugar and empty calorie foods and snacking between meals. Trust me, the momentary pleasure you’ll get out of them is so not worth it. Crazy dieting or starving doesn’t help either. If you’re going on a diet, make sure you’ve done your research to meet your food group requirements.

Never let excuses of lack of time or facilities keep you from trying to be fit. You can achieve a good workout in as less as twelve minutes a day. If you can’t afford or make time for a gym, take brisk walks, go running and research for equipment sans exercises on the web that you can do at home on your own.