Staying in shape is never easy. Unless you’ve already perfected your class-library-gym routine, it takes time to master the balance of keeping up your fitness while keeping up your grades. You might have developed some momentum over the summer, but you buy a bag of Cheetos with your first textbook then forget where the gym is located and it’s all downhill from there.
That’s why it’s a good idea to decide early on in the semester how you’ll budget time for fitness so you can build it into your routine. For starters, consider the big campus five: the gym, the pool, sports clubs, fitness classes, and intramural sports.
The gym is open for long hours. Some will tell you that it’s always packed, but if you avoid peak hours—weekdays from 4-7 p.m.—you can get in a workout without mixing your sweat with someone else’s.
There is a tremendous range of fitness classes, from barre classes every Wednesday afternoon, to hard-core conditioning Thursday evenings. The fitness classes aren’t free like the gym and the pool, but they do cost less and they’ll be easier to get to than most off-campus options. Schedule a fitness class immediately after a lecture to make it harder to talk yourself out of going.
Intramural sports are the middle ground when considering your budget. They aren’t free, but they cost less than most fitness classes and a lot less than personal training (which is also a thing). Plus you get cool shirts. You can join individually and be put into a team, or gather a group of players and register together as a team. There are multiple leagues, depending on sport, skill, competition level, and gender.
If competing for scholarships isn’t enough for you, take a peak at the competitive clubs that Carleton offers, from cheerleading to lacrosse. If these clubs strike your fancy, be sure to do your research on tryout times, since some take place within the first week of classes.
If being on a workout schedule doesn’t appeal to you, there’s nothing wrong with ditching your OC Transpo pass while the leaves are changing colour. Stretch your legs for a walk on the canal or around campus between classes and save the bus pass for January.
