This is often the most common question – and I have always found the answer to be right now. If you find yourself wanting to make a change, whether it is to put on some muscle, slim down, or simply feel better about your overall health, now is the time to start. Often times, people will say I will start working out and eating healthy starting “next week” but never end up getting to it. Before you know it, it could be months and you never started that diet or workout plan that you told yourself you would! So, as I said in the beginning, the best time is to start now. If the gym is closed, make sure you block out time in your schedule tomorrow and force yourself to go. If it helps, try and find a gym buddy to go with that’ll motivate you and hold you accountable if you do try and skip. By consciously setting aside time for a task and aiming to engage it in right away you’re already half way there! Starting is often the hardest part, but if you can get up and do it right now then go!

This is another frequently asked question when it comes to starting a new workout plan. The truth is that it takes a lot of time and research if you want to build a successful workout plan and diet that is right for you and is feasible with your schedule. It is always best to start slow and not make drastic changes right away. If you tell yourself that you’re going to go to the gym 7 days a week and only eat vegetables and lean proteins from this point forward then you are bound to fail. No person’s body will be able to adapt to change that fast and this is often times the reason why new workout regimens and diets often fail. It is always best to ease yourself into these types of things in order to let your body adapt to the increased muscle soreness and change in diet. A modest goal is always the best, and if you don’t already frequent the gym starting slow is always the best option. In the beginning, I’d recommend aiming for going to the gym two times a week and slowly incorporating vegetables and other healthy foods into your diet. This is the best way to avoid burnout and allows you to set a goal that you are able to achieve. Of course, if you’re able to stick with that plan for at least three weeks, then it is time to reassess yours goals and aim higher.

One of the biggest reasons people are intimidated by going to the gym is the fact that they may not know “how” to workout. This is another excuse people often find to avoid going to the gym and is a substantial barrier to achieving a healthier lifestyle. With anything, developing a solid workout plan takes time. Think about working out like taking an exam, you wouldn’t take the exam without preparing beforehand and reading up on all the topics that would be covered. As such, developing a good workout plan takes time and research so that you can identify exercises that correspond with your goal. If you’re looking to lose weight, intensive cardio workouts such as running or cycling may be best for you. If you’re looking to put on muscle, then weight training is your best option. Developing a good workout plan means tailoring it to your specific fitness goals. There will never be one plan that fits everybody, so it is up to you to do your due diligence when it comes to designing a workout plan. A good place to start is to just simply google “workout plans for weight loss” or “workout plans for muscle building.” These provide a good starting point to begin to gauge what exercises that you may want to incorporate into your own personal workout. Youtube is also another great source, and it often times helps to see people perform exercises that you are interested in as you can see the required movement and form for each exercise. Be careful not to get in over your head, as it is always best to start slow (i.e. starting with gym machines as opposed to free weights). Once your body begins to adapt, feel free to push yourself harder or try more complicated exercises!

Personally, I follow a weight lifting regimen to maximize muscle mass. My workout plan is as follows:

Day 1: Chest and Triceps (free weight chest press, free weight inclined chest press, free weight butterflies, and tricep extensions)

Day 2: Biceps and Back (free weight curls, rows, deadlift, pull ups)

Day 3: Shoulders and Abs (shoulder shrugs, arm raises, and crunches)

Day 4: Legs and Cardio (squats, leg extensions, and treadmill)

This workout plan works great for me, and provides enough flexibility that I am able to meet my goal of going to the gym four times a week with ease. It is always best to be realistic when developing a workout plan, as I know that with my class schedule and work load that I am unable to commit much more than four hours a week to the gym. As such, I designed my workout program to fit around my other responsibilities at school and have really great success so far. Like I mentioned earlier, it is better to start slow and see how you do before you decide to ramp things up. Consistency is the key, and if you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle and reach your fitness goals then starting slow and working your way up is the best way to go!

Another key aspect of achieving physical wellness is your diet. While in previous blog posts I have stressed the importance of engaging in physical activity to increase your physical wellness, diet also plays a key role in this in process and is paramount to achieving your goals. If you run a mile on a treadmill and then go eat 1000 calories of fries and ice cream at the dining hall, it’d be hard to see the weight loss or muscle gain that you hope you’d see from exercising. Similarly to working out, there is no one diet that works for everyone and it is up to you to see what your body can tolerate. The most important part of creating a good diet is evaluating your weaknesses when it comes to what you eat on a daily basis. I know I am a sucker for the potato fries at Scott, so I limit myself to only eating them 2-3 times a week. Likewise, if you find yourself often making unhealthy choices at the dining halls or eating fast food frequently you should begin to think about how you can cut down and still remain content with what you are eating. A good strategy to begin this process is to keep a food journal and track what you eat throughout a typical week. Using https://dining.osu.edu/wellness/ is a great way to calculate all the calories you normally consume and you may find the things that you thought were healthy actually aren’t. Likewise, you can use this analysis to see if perhaps your diet is very high in sugar or fats or if there are food groups that you totally neglect in your normal diet. If you hate vegetables like I do, try to slowly incorporate them into your diet perhaps 2-3 times a week until you can tolerate more. Again, starting slow is the key to success as if you say that you will cut out everything bad from your diet and start a diet of fruits, vegetables, and lean meat you are bound to end up quitting and often end up unhappy in the process. Transitioning slowly into a good diet that includes a variety of different greens, meats, and fruits is the best option to really get the most bang for your buck and maximize weight loss and muscle growth.

So what if you don’t have a specific goal in terms of fitness? Not everybody needs to look like Dwayne Johnson or be able to run a marathon. However, physical health is still very important even if you have a positive body image and are content with your physical appearance. Many times, people feel as if they don’t need to workout for this exact reason but often forget about all the other benefits that come with working out! Exercise has been shown to improve your overall mental health, working to decrease feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress. Working out helps to increase the brains sensitivity to neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine which help to elevate mood and reduce feelings of depression. In addition, you may think that working out will make you tired throughout the day, but regular exercise has actually been shown to increase energy levels and decrease the feeling of fatigue we often experience. Exercise actually increases blood flow to the brain, improving brain function, memory, and cognitive capacity. Likewise, exercise also lowers your risk for chronic disease such as Type II Diabetes and heart disease. So, while having a positive body image and feeling happy with your appearance is very important, you should still consider taking up a workout regime. The health benefits, both physically and emotionally, are unmatched when it comes to engaging in something that only takes 1-2 hours out of your week. The truth is many conditions such as heart disease and Type II diabetes are totally preventable with an active lifestyle, so challenge yourself to make a change in your lifestyle that will impact your overall health in a positive way!

https://www.bodybuilding.com/workout-plans

Bodybuilding.com is a great resource to visit that has a variety of different workout plans for every level from beginner, intermediate, and advanced. In addition, they have workout plans that are tailored for both men and women, and you can find popular plans in each category. Likewise, you can also sort by goal and find specific plans for weight loss or muscle building. Bodybuilding.com is also great as many of the workout plans include video tutorials. For example, if you’re unfamiliar with what a certain exercise is, a video accompanies each listed exercise so that you can see what equipment you need, how the movement is performed, and common mistakes that are made when doing the movement.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/JDCav24

This resource is a Youtube Channel called ATHLEAN-X. This is one of my personal favorites as he has such a great variety of different exercises that can be performed for each muscle. This is a great resource if you decide to build your own workout plan as you can find great exercises on this channel to add to your own personal regiment. In addition, this channel is great for education as well, as he highlights all the muscles that are worked in each exercise and really helps you to understand the anatomy of each muscle. This in turn allows you to have better workouts as a fundamental knowledge of each muscle and muscle group allows you to maximize each workout and really get the results that you want.

 

https://recsports.osu.edu/

The Recreational Sports page at OSU is another great resource for on-campus fitness classes. If you feel intimidated diving in and developing your own workout plan under your own direction, doing classes sponsored by the recreational sports department at Ohio State is a great option to start your journey to boost your physical wellness. While traditional workouts such as weight lifting and cardio is a surefire way to increase your health, don’t forget about the benefits of other things such as yoga and pilates! These classes are awesome to learn more about your own body and maybe ease into working out if you’re not quite ready to begin lifting weights or exercising on your own. The overwhelming majority of these classes at Ohio State are offered for free, so this is a great way to start your journey towards physical wellness.

Let’s be honest – as college students, we often do not have a lot of spare time. Whether it is attending class, doing homework, studying for an exam, or any of the myriad of extracurriculars that college students are involved in, it’s often hard to make time for getting to the gym. The truth is that you have to prioritize your physical and mental wellbeing by carving out time in your busy schedule to achieve your goals. I am a morning person and most of my classes do not start until 12pm, so I have found the best strategy to be waking up by 9am every morning and blocking out from 9-10am on my schedule as my time for the gym. On my own class schedule, I have drawn in a block for this time that simply says “gym” and treat it as if it was an actual class that I had to attend every morning. It is important to find a time that works for you and your schedule and in the beginning it may be hard to commit to actually going or you may try to find excuses not to go such as having too much homework or an exam that is coming up in a few days. However, like I said before, you have to treat the gym as a class and prioritize your health and wellness. One of my previous blog posts covered all the benefits that come with working out, and you should know that working out will go a long way in making you happier and healthier when in college. Think about all the time we spend on our phones or maybe procrastinating throughout the day. If we can cut down on these meaningless activities when we’re feeling lazy or unproductive and instead replace that with time spent at the gym we can go a long way in improving our overall health. Another strategy that I also found that works for getting in the routine of going to the gym regularly is getting a gym buddy. Find a friend that’s also interested in the numerous health benefits that come with working out and find a time when you both can go to the gym. As friends, your workouts will become more fun and the gym may feel less isolating. In addition, if you’re feeling lazy and are ready to skip a workout your friend can push you through and get you to the gym. I hope this blog post was helpful when it comes to designing your own workout schedule, and don’t forget that consistency is key and that your physical and mental health come first!