Boost Your Academic Success Without Breaking the Bank
Balancing academics, social life, and managing your finances is stressful. It’s therefore important to take care of your personal wellbeing and stay active as a student. Joining a gym or a sports team can be expensive and intimidating – especially if you know you SHOULD do sports, but you’re really not enthusiastic about it. But here are some free fitness activities for students to stay fit, healthy and active without breaking the bank or stepping outside your comfort zone.
Regular physical activity is essential for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, improving your mood, and concentration, and boosting mental health and confidence. However, playing a team sport can be intimidating and requires significant time, money, commitment, and energy. The good news is that, as a student, you can achieve all these free fitness benefits without ever stepping foot in a gym or joining a team.
The Free Benefits of Fitness for Students
Physical Health
Exercise is not just about physical health; it has a significant impact on your overall wellbeing. Doing regular cardio exercise, weight training, and stretching can help you maintain a healthy weight, improve your coordination, and enhance your mood and concentration.
Maintaining regular activities also helps you sleep well, which is essential for academic performance and mental health. Read our blog on Why Sleep is a Students SuperPower.
Mental Health
Settling into a new unfamiliar environment, managing assignments, exams, and social pressures is challenging for most students. So letting off steam with some exercise is a powerful tool to boost or improve your mental health.
Exercise stimulates the production of endorphins, which are natural mood elevators, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, improving mood, and boosting self-esteem.
Academic Performance
Exercise is linked to improved academic performance as it increases blood flow to the brain, providing it with the necessary oxygen and nutrients for maximum performance.
As this can enhance cognitive function, memory, and attention span, it’s time to consider incorporating exercise into your daily routine to achieve academic success.
Free and Convenient Fitness Options for Students
Speed Walking
Why stroll around campus when you can speed walk? It’s such a simple yet effective way to stay fit. Since your classes are likely scattered across campus, why not turn your commute into a workout?
Speed walking burns calories, boosts your metabolism, and improves oxygen intake without requiring any special equipment. It’s also a great way to reduce stress and stay active without feeling overwhelmed.
Unless, of course, you’re late for class…!
Home Gym Fitness Exercises to do in your Student Dorm
You don’t need expensive gym equipment to do weight training, or a big space to do it in. Here are some exercises you can do for free in the comfort of your student room or lounge:
Push-ups, Burpees, Jumping Jacks, and Crunches: These exercises don't require any equipment. You can do a few sets in a few minutes each day. Set a target number of reps and increase as your endurance builds.
Squats: Multi-task! Do squats while brushing your teeth in the morning and evening. Lean slightly over the sink while you're brushing, and squat down to a 90-degree angle, repeating this action for the time it takes you to brush your teeth.
Lunges: Use a can of beans or any light weight in each hand and lunge forward, alternating legs. This helps build stamina and works your leg muscles.
Weights: Use 15oz cans of tinned vegetables or bottles of fabric softener as hand weights to train your biceps, triceps, chest and back. Increase the number of repetitions to build up endurance and strength.
Yoga and Pilates
Stretching is a critical component of fitness that has numerous physical and mental health benefits. Yoga and Pilates can improve brain development, enhance memory and concentration, reduce stress and eye strain, and vastly improve sleep quality.
There are many YouTube videos and TikTok tutorials that you can do at no cost, even for just a few minutes each day.
Meditation for Students
Meditation is a powerful tool that can improve memory and concentration, boost creativity, and can supposedly even help you achieve higher grades and test scores.
It can calm your nerves before exams, improve self-esteem and resilience, and lower stress, blood pressure, and anxiety.
How to Get Started with Free Fitness Apps for Students
If you’re looking for a structured approach to your fitness routine, here are some free apps recommended by my children that they used when they were students:
1. Nike Run Club: Ideal for running, with access to 300+ free Guided Runs and workouts with encouragement and guidance from Nike experts.
2. 30 Day Fitness Challenge: Workout at home, suited for anybody at any time. The 30-Day Fit Challenge Workout, designed by a professional fitness coach, is scientifically proven to help improve fitness and health.
3. Nike Training Club: Offers various workouts by athletes for different sports, training plans, educational content and more.
4. Fiit.tv: Download the fitness platform for unlimited access to mat group, AirBike, Bike, Row and Tread group classes with industry-leading trainers. Enter your email address for free access.
5. Withuapp.com: Download the free app and choose a session that suits you. The daily sessions have bite-sized workouts designed to get you moving and feeling great every single day.
6. 5-Minute Yoga: Great for quick, easy-to-follow poses and routines tailored to fit into a busy student life when you don’t have much time.
Staying fit and healthy as a student doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. By incorporating simple free fitness activities into your daily student routine, you can improve your physical and mental health, enhance your academic performance, and maintain a balanced lifestyle.
By dedicating just 5 minutes a day, you can make a significant difference. So, find what works for you and make fitness a part of your daily life.