Campus Health

For A Full Blooded 'Aortic Pump'

Fardin Akbar Hyderi
Photos: Md Ata Islam Khan Mojlish

The life that we now lead is pretty hectic and intense. It's filled with examination paranoia, dramas between friends or our better halves and landing with gargantuan responsibilities. Amidst all this, we tend to forget paying any attention to our health. By that, I do not necessarily mean maintaining a good figure or physique, but the actual 'eating healthy, staying healthy' cliché. As much as we love eating fast food at the university or school cafeteria, it is also important to stay alert and be aware when it comes to our health. We ignore having healthy diets mostly because we do not have any other options and also there aren't any salad bars at the cafeterias. But there is actually something that we can do to keep our health intact and at this point it may seem a bit obvious but yes, we can work out.

Working out on a daily basis can be a healthy practice for students.

Working-out does not only mean lifting weights for hours to build big arms and ripped abs. It can be as short as 10 minutes -- good enough to get the blood flowing through most of our over jammed brain, allowing our minds to clear up and get ready for the next task. So for those who find it ridiculous to think about working out during exams it's actually not! It shouldn't be that difficult to find out 10-30 minutes to spare between downloading 'How I met your mother' and 'House.' One can opt for different kinds of work outs such as running, and yes also lifting heavy weights; anything that'll keep one from becoming unhealthy. Morning is generally the best time to work out due to the fresh breeze.

Work outs can get boring and monotonous at times, and it's up to us how we spice things up by coming up with fun work out routine, and try out different exercises. For starters, yoga and meditation can clear your head in the early morning and prep you for a busy day. Trying out both aerobic and anaerobic exercises can be interesting. Aerobic is almost any work out, which leaves one gasping for breath, while anaerobic workouts are mostly lifting weights in repetitions, with short periods of rest in between. Jogging in the early morning is the best aerobic exercise. If you can't manage to get a long run, a 10 minute sprint around the roof can be quite effective too. Push-ups and pull-ups are the basic types of anaerobic work outs. If one is looking forward to achieving a bit of a buffed physique, but fails to do so for not having the time, 20 to 50 push-ups along with 10 to 15 pull-ups for six days a week can actually show some remarkable results at the end of a month. Then again, you can always join a gym if you can manage time and the energy. Gyms usually take three to four thousand taka a month and working out in a gym, for even just an hour, is enough to get one's desired physique, with the right amount of diet of course. If one is confused about what type of exercises to do at home, then browsing on Google and even watching demo workouts on YouTube can help generate ideas, to come up with a personal work out routine.

Of course if one is involved with some kinds of sports, such as football or cricket, there is no need to lose one's head over work outs and going to the gym at all. Small activities such as walking, instead of taking the rickshaw, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator, can help one immensely. It is very natural to feel lazy initially. One might even procrastinate with starting off with a work out routine. You just need to get the hang of it, and seeing changes in one's health and physique, one can easily feel motivated. The trick is to push oneself a little. And not lose determinism.