Strong is the New Skinny
Health, along with fitness has become a popular topic within the media. More people seem to be researching and becoming more aware of ways to live a healthier lifestyle. Thanks to the Web, information is quicker and easier to attain.
Here at Bloomsburg University the students have many resources available to them to stay healthy. These resources are included in tuition, for example, the computer labs and the student recreational center. The student rec center is the university’s gym that is accessible to all the students and teachers, even the towns’ people for an extra fee. This is one of the best gyms available in this area. “This gym has everything,” claims Rachel Muller, a regular at the gym and a member of Alpha Sigma Tau. “The aerobic room is open for anyone when there aren’t classes going on to do weight training. There are enough aerobic machines that you normally aren’t waiting too long to use them.” For cardio, she enjoys running on the treadmill and using the elliptical. “Some times when I do have to wait for a machine to open up, I like to free run on the indoor track. It’s a great somewhat more natural surface to run on.” Rachel had been unitizing the gym since her sophmore year, she is now a senior, she said, “It’s going to be one of the perks that Bloomsburg provides that I will miss the most.” Because it is university funded, it has state-of-the-art equipment along with informed and educated students and trainers.
The rec is a great place to get in shape and learn new ways to become a healthier person, if the provided recourses are used efficiently. Figuring out a time to go that that work with a daily schedule will be one of the best ways to maintain a daily “gym time” routine. If the gym can become apart of an everyday schedule, it will most likely remain. The gym can be busier at different times of the day. “Any time from 3-6 p.m., expect heavy traffic and to wait for machines than in the morning slots,” said a good friend Christie Torchia. “I prefer to get my workouts in the morning or in between classes. If I’m already on campus its easier for me to walk right to the gym than to think I’m taking a hike from my off campus apartment on Lightstreet Rd. to the top of campus.” She lives a very active lifestyle. She comments, “If I don’t get to work out for a day I find other ways to stay off the couch and walk around. Exercising make me feel better.” She isn’t alone in that statement. There is an abundance of information online to research the effects of exercise.
Not only is exercise a huge and available resource for students at BU to start a healthier lifestyle, but diet has a lot to do with it also. My brother Kyle said, “At first I stopped eating white bread and switched to multi-grain or wheat and felt a great difference in my digestion. Then I stopped eating foods that included glutton and lost 10 pounds immediately.” Glutton is hard for the human body to digest, and some people even have allergies to it. “Your diet can really make all the difference in how you feel. You can choose to feel sluggish from eating bad, or you can nourish your body with good foods high in minerals and vitamins, like a spinach salad,” Kyle suggested.
From doing research of my own, I have better informed myself of how to live and maintain a healthy lifestyle. People will find out that not only does exercise lead to a healthy lifestyle but eating habits also play a role. There is a saying “you are what you eat” and that is very true. Exercise can get you so far and diet can take you farther. At BU the students are encouraged to use their resources. If a healthier lifestyle is what your looking for, it is what you can get!
