Alternative Workout Ideas in Campus

From completing back-to-back assignments, to juggling our social life, students often struggle to manage and divide their time for a lot of things; one of those things is exercising. Often they would say: “I can workout or go for a run during the weekends”. However it would usually end up waking up at three in the afternoon after long nights of studying.

“Sometimes I would stay overnight in campus to finish up projects,” Architecture student Tan Min Chuen shared. This clearly states that many students do not have ample time to even take a breather, let alone exercise.

Although students may not witness any detrimental effects of staying up late and doing less sport activities, however it will affect their lives in the long run. Recent study conducted by Researchers from University of Pennsylvania states that less sleep might result in the loss of brain cells.

Fueled by endless cups of Starbucks and Redbull will lead to nothing but the risk of heart disease and diabetes. However, this can be avoided with having time to exercise. Despite the busy schedule, students should always find time to break a sweat or two throughout their busy week. Here are some ideas for alternative workouts you can do in campus without having to spend money to pay for the gym!

1) Taking the stairs instead of the elevator

Generally, taylorians would always take the elevator to get to classes. However, after more and more students come back from their semester break, the elevators would either be extremely packed you can hardly take a breather, or it would take forever to finally get to your floor. Despite the hardship, we would still opt for the elevator.

Little did we know that walking up the stairs can be a good cardio. A Degree in Design student, Edwin Low shared that he always takes the stairs rather than the elevator, as he believes that it is a good form of exercise. “Normally I do all me exercises at the gym. But if I am too busy, I would do some moderate exercises to maintain my strength and stamina like body weight exercises and running up the stairs.”

Apart from that, this led to him living a much healthier lifestyle. When Edwin started his foundation back in 2011, he weighed about 92kg and lost about 17kg since then.

2) Cycle your way to campus

This can also be a great way to exercise without going to the gym. It is also an advantage for students who always struggle to find a parking space!

Mr. Edward Sim, a lecturer in Taylor’s is an avid cyclist and often cycles to campus. “I wanted to try an alternative way of getting to work, so I thought of either walking or cycling. In the end, I tried cycling.” Thus, he cycles to work ever since.

“It was not easy an process at first because of the routes,” Mr. Edward shared. Gradually it got better after he discovered a much safer route from home to work. In addition, he also shared on some safety precautions, such as choosing the ride bicycle. “For commuting purposes, you have to get a commuting bike and not a mountain bike.”

Mr. Edward highly encourages for his students to cycle to university. Apart from losing weight, you start to be aware of the benefits of cycling such as reducing air pollution as well as traffic congestion especially in Bandar Sunway. “Don’t give yourself excuses, just go get a bike, and cycle to university,” Mr. Edward explained.

The weather can also be a common excuse for people to avoid cycling. “My tip; ride in the morning, it is usually not hot and hardly rains in the morning.” Even if it does, he also recommended to always bring a cap and a rain jacket just in case.

“All these knowledge will set in when you start to ride a bike to work, university, everywhere,” Mr. Edward advised. Start investing on a good bicycle and cycle on!

3) Seek your way to Narnia

The ‘Narnia’ parking space is not the place to be after 8 o’clock in the morning. There would be no chance for students to find a parking space closest to the entrance of campus. The unlucky, yet desperate ones ends up the back row, located right at the end of the campus. It takes at least 20 minutes to reach the entrance, and next thing you are exhausted to go for class.

To avoid the long walks, students would sacrifice their sleep in order to avoid the hassle of walking. “I would have to come really early to campus just so that I can catch the first few rows of parking,” Edwin shares.

This may sound dreadful; however parking in the ‘Narnia’ space is not a bad idea at all. In result of all the walking and sweating, you get a good cardio! 20 minutes of walking back and forth, in the next month you would see come muscles on your calves.

#Health #Workouts