Category Archives: active

May 17 2013
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active, fun, healthy, inspired, sustainable

All That Stress

By Emily Skeen

Feeling crazed?

I have spent a lot of time in these blog posts referring to myself and most of you as “stress-crazed-college-students”. It’s not that I am excited about this or particularly surprised, just realistic. College is a lot of things, and one of those things is stressful. So what? That’s just the way life is. True, but does it have to be? Yes and no. Stress is an inevitable part of life, and it’s only getting worse. According to a recent study published by the American Psychiatric Association, 50% of Millennials (people ages 20-32) reported that their stress has increased significantly in the past 5 years, and another 36% said that it hasn’t decreased at all. That’s 86% of our generation who report the presence of a constant or increasing stress in their lives. Now I don’t know who those 14% are, or what they do, but for the rest of us, stress is a huge problem.  Ok, cool. We’re all stressed. Why doesn’t everyone just take a chill pill? Well obviously it’s not that simple. However what’s surprising is that the top two reasons Millennials list for not lowering their stress are lack of motivation and lack of time. Both of these reasons, as you may know, are symptoms of busy and stressful lives. So we are literally too stressed to get less stressed. What?!!

Feeling tired?

Feeling tired?

According to the American Institute of Stress (which I imagine is a very serene place to work) 75-90% of all visits to general practitioners in this country are due to stress-related issues, which include but are not limited to: headaches, digestive disturbances, cold and flu brought on by a weakened immune system, acid reflux, chest pain, panic attacks, anxiety and depression. So while we’re going about our lives too stressed to find time to relieve our stress, we’re also raising our insurance premiums astronomically by letting our stress take over and wreak havoc on our bodies. Of course it is important to note that being too stressed to make time to see our doctors is just as detrimental as letting stress send us there too often.

Campus Rec to the rescue!

Ok maybe not totally. Everyone de-stresses differently, but before you disregard this by saying, “the last thing I want to do is work out”, read a little further. Campus Rec is not just about working out. We do our absolute best to provide as many opportunities as possible for students to get some kind of physical activity. But that doesn’t always mean running laps and pumping iron, though both of those are great ways to get exercise and relieve stress. Those are only the tiny tip of the iceberg of things that we offer here.

  • Give your mind a break, do some yoga: Stress triggers our fight or flight instincts; adrenaline pumps through our bodies at lightning speeds, our hearts race and our breathing quickens. While these things might be useful when we’re fighting a bear, chances are that we don’t run into bears that often. The practice of yoga incorporates not only some good physical movement, but also focuses on quieting the mind, and regulating breathing, quite literally the antithesis of fight or flight. And with the wide variety and high number of classes we offer ranging from beginning gentle yoga, to 90-minute power vinyasa classes, anyone can experiment with the effects of yoga at Campus Rec.
  • Try something new: Is your play personality an explorer? (Refer to our post entitled PLAY). Instead of planning to run for an hour, or do 50 pull-ups, make a plan to try two new things at Campus Rec this week. Go on an outdoor trip, climb the rock wall, attend a Water X class, dance in our Zumba class, try out a Kayak Roll Session. Do something you’ve never done; it’s hard to stress out when you’re having fun discovering new things.

    Some well deserved peace

    Some well deserved peace

  • PLAY!! Are you a kinesthete or a competitor? If you find that your favorite forms of stress relief involve lots of movement, or competition then you have tons of options. There are ample pick-up gamesof basketball, volleyball, and soccer every day. Want more structure than that? Join an Intramural team or a Rec Club.
  • Good old exercise: As I mentioned earlier, if you are the person that gets the most stress relief from good old-fashioned exercise, there are infinite options and opportunities for you at Campus Rec. Every student who is enrolled in 1 credit, undergraduate or graduate already has a membership at Campus Rec each term, and has the option to get a membership during their term off as well.

Didn’t see your favorite Campus Rec related stress-relief option here? Tell us about it!

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Mar 12 2012
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active

To Spin or Not to Spin

The idea of getting on a spin bike and inflicting pain on my already out of shape legs was not something I was psyched about. I pictured that cruel and totally fit instructor yelling at everyone to, “Climb that hill!” And of course, I imagined myself as that one embarrassed patron collapsing on the bike while everyone else pedals as though they’re ready to join Lance Armstrong on the Tour de France.

These of course, were my assumptions of a cycle class. So when a friend asked me at the beginning of this term if I wanted to start taking a Group X Cycle class with her every Friday, my immediate thought was, “Are you crazy?” My subconscious inner-couch potato devilishly laughed at the idea. Somehow though my mouth uttered the opposite when I remarked, “That sounds like fun!” I was sure I had just committed to making a total fool of myself—confident I would last maybe five minutes on the bike before embarrassingly wobbling off.

Yep, this would be the beginning of the end of ever showing my face again at the Rec Center. I could envision my picture in a display case on the fourth floor with text underneath reading, “Girl Who Couldn’t Finish a Cycle Class.” Three months later though, after taking classes on and off all term, I can say (and proudly so) that there isn’t any other form of exercise I prefer more than the Group X Cycle classes here at Campus Rec. Here are three reasons why:

You can go at your own pace

  • The incredibly accommodating Group X instructors let you know right off the bat that it’s okay to pedal at whatever speed you’re comfortable with. So if you’re feeling a little less energetic that day and want to cycle at a relaxed pace, that’s okay. Or if you’re training for an upcoming Ironman and want a challenge, go for it. Plus the instructors are well aware of who is new and who is more experienced. They’ll never push you outside your comfort zone unless you want to go there.

You get fit rather quickly

  • I’ve tried it all: running, rock climbing, yoga, Pilates, swimming, Bikram Yoga, the Bar Method. You name it; I’ve taken classes in it. With most of them I didn’t see the results I wanted. (And if I did, it took serious time and commitment.) Group X Cycle classes on the other hand are just 45-minutes long, can easily fit in your schedule (thanks to several different time slots offered), and will yield some serious toning rather quickly. Into my second week I could see my body was beginning to produce some satisfactory changes. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that my legs don’t give out when walking up to the fourth floor of Cramer anymore. (And we all know how painful that can be.)

It’s fun! Really!

  • Granted I’ve only taken classes from Group X instructors Caitlin A. and Sarah, but let me just say that these gals have spot-on music tastes that make each pedal stroke seem as though the song was created just for that portion of the class. I’ll never listen to Cee Lo Green’s “Bright Lights Bigger City” again without wanting to find the nearest bike and hop on it. There’s just something about the instructor’s encouraging words that make you want to come back each week. And based on everyone’s smiles by the end of class, I think my sentiments are not alone.

I know, I know, it seems a bit preachy—but I’m serious. I’ve never been in better shape and never had more fun actually participating in something that is good for my body. I don’t think I’ll be heading back to my old workout routine anytime soon. Even after I graduate I’ll be on the hunt for the nearest cycle class I can join. And who knows? Maybe I’ll eventually get to that Lance Armstrong level… oh never mind.

Natalie Caceres is a self-proclaimed “cycle class newbie” and is loving every minute! (Can you tell?) When she’s not working out in a Group X class you can find her working hard as an Office Assistant in the Campus Rec main office. She’s totally stoked about this blog and can’t wait to post more over the next few months before she graduates in June.

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Feb 20 2012
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active

Get Your Butt Walking

Get Started

Starting an exercise program is hard. Unless you are a diehard P90Xer or a CrossFit champion, the idea of an exercise program has you running for the hills. (Ironic that you would be running…)

What if there was a low stress, low impact, low commitment way to get healthy? What if all the equipment you needed was yourself? Don’t worry, I am not talking about push-ups, I am talking about walking!

Walking is incredibly low impact, can be done anytime of the day or night, and has the added benefit of being outside (which is proven to reduce stress).  Some of the benefits of walking are:

  • Lowers blood pressure
  • Fantastic weight loss management tool
  • Easier on your body than running
  • If you do it with your friends, it can be a fun social activity
  • Lowers your risk of Type II Diabetes

Treadmills

If you come to the Rec Center you will see many people walking on treadmills. A lot of people prefer to walk on treadmills rather than walk outside.

This has its own set of benefits. Maybe you aren’t sure about the gym. I was intimidated the first time I stepped into the gym. I ended up just running on the treadmill the first couple of visits. Once I realized how laid back and accepting everyone was, I ended up branching out to the different areas the Rec Center has to offer. If I hadn’t come in and gotten started on the treadmill I would have ended up missing out on so much other stuff!

Walking Isn’t the Only Option

What do you do if walking isn’t an option for you? I can suggest a few things, but please keep in mind that these are not even close to scientific or based on any professional training. Just me and my opinion.

If walking is not something you can or want to do, then your task will be to strip the idea of walking down to its most basic parts and apply it to another activity. For example, look at the list of benefits above and identify another exercise opportunity that has those same benefits.

Perhaps you need a better support structure. If all your friends are skydiving maniacs and you prefer to have you feet set firmly on the ground, chances are you are gonna be miserable every time you get together. The same thing applies with walking and exercise. If walking isn’t something you are interested in doing, but all your friends are trying out for the Olympic Racewalking team, then maybe you should find different exercise buddies.

Having a strong support group can also lead to fun new ideas on how to stay fit and healthy.

Get Out There and Get Healthy

I am certainly no fitness guru, I consider myself incredibly average in that department. So, if I can do it, so can you! Make it fun and remember to breathe.

Mike Shreeve is the Web and Social Media Student Coordinator for PSU Campus Rec. You can find him all over the web spending way too much time engaged in nerdy online activities. Mike welcomes comments and feedback on any and every post he writes. So comment away!

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