Healthy amounts of exercise each week can have benefits for the body and mind.

During college, a student’s body is put through all sorts of new situations. Most experts agree the best thing a student can do to stay healthy is to try to keep a schedule similar to the schedule they had before classes started.

“To prevent [weight gain] is what I would call ‘the three Rs,'” said Nora Hudson, assistant director of fitness and wellness for Recreation Services. “Regular exercise, regular sleep and regular nutrition because coming to college is a stress for the body, and so it brings you out of your normal routine, and that often leaves the door open to do things that your body isn’t used to,” 

Students may not realize how much exercise is too much. Some students think they need to work out every day to keep a consistent body image.

“Exercise is a stress for the body,” Hudson said. “A lot of times people will come in and think: ‘I don’t want to gain that freshman 15,’ and so they go seven days a week. That’s too much for the body. So it sees it as a stress, and it confuses the hormones. People can’t keep up with that so they might go for two weeks, and then they stop all together.”

Keeping a regimen with moderate activity — 30 minutes a day, five days a week — is a much healthier way to approach exercise.

“Moderate intensity can be walking 30 minutes at a brisk walk,” Hudson said. “People think moderate has to be jogging but that’s actually high intensity. [Students need to] be aware of creating a mild increase in their heart rate and a mild sweat and getting that for 30 minutes, five days a week.”

Using the resources on campus provided by Recreation Services are great tools that students can use to find a healthy way to work exercise into their weekly routine.

“I think the biggest thing is getting involved on campus,” said Bryan Young, personal trainer and senior in kinesiology. “There are plenty of different sports clubs, intramurals, anything like that, that will get you involved with other students and make your stay here a little bit more active is always advised.”

Recreation Services offers many indoor and outdoor exercise opportunities for students. From State Gym and Lied Recreation Athletic Center to the Ames/ISU Ice Arena and a disk golf course, every student should be able to find an activity they find enjoyable.

“We have tons of different fitness facilities. There’s Wallace-Wilson, State Gym, Lied, [Frederiksen] Court. I used to live [at Frederiksen,] and they have a little room that has treadmills, some bikes and I think even an elliptical in there. I think most of the housing areas have something of that sort,” Young said.

When a student finds an enjoyable activity to participate in, they are more likely to stick to a regular exercise regimen.

“Exercise needs to have an element of enjoyablility or fun so you can release yourself from the do list,” Hudson said. “Exercise shouldn’t be an additional stress; it should be able to relieve the stress. You have to trust that if you enjoy it, you’ll do it, you’ll return to it. If it creates more stress, you’re just looking for when it’s going to be over, and that’s not an attitude that will help you be successful. You’ll find some excuse not to do it because you don’t like it.”

Regular exercise has many benefits for students. If exercise is done on a regular basis students will start to notice other positive changes as well.

Along with all of the health benefits of exercise, students who are active increase their fitness as well. Leading to better muscle tone and, when done properly, decreased incidences for injury.

“We have activity guidelines and then we have fitness guidelines. Those guidelines are 3 to 5 days a week of cardiovascular activity and then two times per week of some muscular strength activity,” Hudson said. “So it’s not as much as you think. It’s just about creating that routine and then progressing it. That’s the key. Not trying to go big jumps of activity. Guidelines say about 10 to 20 percent increase in what you’re doing and then a recovery. Recovery is just as important as the other piece.”

Recreation Services at State Gym offers exercise equipment for students to use on their own or with a personal trainer, in addition to group fitness classes.

“You have to vary the routine. So [doing something active] three days a week and then maybe coming in for a group fitness class to vary it. That’s more for the motivational piece, to keep people excited,” Hudson said.

Group fitness classes are offered at multiple times on multiple days throughout the week. A fall schedule of classes can be found on the Recreation Services website.

“Group fitness classes are a good way to get you involved and keep you on a regular routine,” Young said. “They’re two, maybe three, times a week. They have all different kinds of fitness classes, from kettlebells to cycling to Pilates. There are plenty of different things that we have [at State Gym] to keep you active.”

If a student would rather set up an exercise routine that they can do on their own but aren’t sure where to begin with all of the machines and weights, they can go to a Smart Start Fitness Orientation Session.

“The Smart Starts that we do here at [State] Gym is a great way to get familiar with the facilities,” Young said.

A Smart Start Session will teach students how to adjust equipment, basic safety and exercise principles, and how to perform exercises correctly. Each session is 30 minutes.

After familiarizing themselves with the equipment, students can hire a personal trainer if they would like more help or direction during their work out.

“[Personal trainers] do a lot of things as far as keeping you safe, teaching you the right kind of forms for exercises and providing that gradual progression to take you from a place of complacency and plateauing to the next level,” Young said.

As a student, if all of the above options just sound like too much, the Wellness Suite at State Gym also offers a Wellness Profile.

“One thing our Wellness Profiles do is take body fat for walk-ins. If you’re really concerned with that come in and get a Wellness Profile done and that should help indicate some stressors, things that you can do and body fat composition,” Young said.

The Wellness Profile is a quiz that a student takes on a computer. The questions include information on general wellness, weight management, exercise, nutrition, safety, tobacco use and stress. Once the student gets their score back, the score can give recommendations about reducing risk for disease. An appointment takes about 30 minutes and can be made by calling the Wellness Suite.

Integrating exercise and fitness into a regular routine allows benefits beyond a happy, healthier body.

“I think it’s more important to find the health connection,” Hudson said. “You’re going to get better grades if you exercise, you’re going to be more likely to keep your weight somewhat stable within 5 pounds, you’re going to sleep better, you’re going to have better concentration, you’re going to be less likely to get sick.”