Every day, college students balance time between assignments, work, co-curriculars, and social lives. Getting our blood flowing via exercise gets pushed back into the pits of our endless list of priorities. Busy schedules are often the reason we can’t prioritize a quick workout. In fact, nine out of 10 teenagers don’t get enough exercise, according to a report published by CBS News.

But at this point in the semester, with midterms creeping in, it’s even more important to go out and get moving. 

In a TIME magazine article, Claude Bouchard, the director of the human genomics at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center summed it up perfectly: “There is no pill that comes close to what exercise can do and if there was one, it would be extremely expensive.”

With that being said, we should try to make time to go outside and relieve our stress. 

I admit, I’m guilty of not carving out time for exercise too. Some days, I feel like a super athlete, exercising on a daily basis by mixing cardio and high intensity interval training. I like to follow workouts written out by my close friend and trainer, Will Lantz, based in Miami. These include a mix of burpees, lunges, pushups and other weighted routines as well as running. 

Afterwards, I feel great mentally, though I’m sore for days. But on other days, I refuse to do anything else than enjoy the warmth of my bed while I watch Friends on repeat. 

Since midterms are approaching and the semester is ramping up, I divide my time between studying and exercising. I study for a couple hours, stop, and go out for a run. By switching my mentality and focus, I unwind and refresh my mind before going back to studying and working on assignments for school. 

Just like everything in life, it’s all about balance. We should remember that. 

Students at Emerson already have a million things to do but should consider exercising to maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you don’t have a specific workout plan, you can find hundreds of different routines on YouTube or Instagram that can get you started. The goal here is not to build your body like a professional athlete, but to help your mind and body let go of the worries caused by our day-to-day routines.  

Since life and school can become overwhelming, going outside and exercising for at least sixty minutes per day can brighten your mood, alleviate stress, and improve your overall health. Exercising does not necessarily mean training for a marathon but should stimulate blood flow through the body to counter the sedentary lifestyle many students tend to have. 

The American Heart Association considers “anything that moves your body and burns calories” as physical activity. “This includes things like walking, climbing stairs and stretching.” With that being said, getting up throughout the day and stretching in between work or study sessions can do the trick. Other examples of moderate exercises include yoga, gardening, and brisk walking.

The Emerson fitness center offers a variety of personalized programs as well as fun group classes including zumba, yoga and many others. These group classes vary depending on the semester but are always available to all Emerson students. 

All in all, the bigger picture is to try to make time from studying to go outside and move your body. I like to think about the perfect idea of balance like a recipe: if you sprinkle too much of an ingredient and not enough of another, you won’t get the ideal meal.