This article is dedicated to the men and women of U.Va. who work out on a regular basis. They are superhuman and deserve our undying respect.
Cavalier Daily readers, I did it. I worked out for one hour every day. Yes, some workouts were definitely more legitimate than others, but I was there at the AFC, wearing Nike products, and exercising among the most beautiful, in-shape specimens I have ever laid eyes on. If you haven’t noticed, U.Va. is a school full of really hot people who happen to make the gym even more intimidating than it already is. (Also, fellow U.Va. women, if there’s some Grounds-wide secret to looking natural on a treadmill, please share).
This past summer, I did my best to work out five days a week. I racked up miles on my Nike Running app, I tried out different Atlanta gyms and I saw real results in how I felt and looked. My best friend from home and I had a non-negotiable routine that we followed faithfully; we set goals, we met them and then we exceeded them. The goals started off small, like running two miles without stopping, but grew into ones that required serious devotion and time commitment. I told myself that I would carry this momentum right to U.Va..
That’s easier said than done. At the risk of sounding pitiful, my workout record for this semester was virtually non-existent (I say virtually because one time, I ate a bunch of Campus Cookies and thought going a on a run would help with my self-loathing). I actually don’t mind working out and I know the benefits of exercise go beyond physicality, but I think we can all identify with busy schedules and the difficulty of finding time to go to the gym.
Using Pinterest as a starting point, as always, I found the quote: “A one hour workout is four percent of your day — no excuses.” As obnoxious as that sounds, four percent really isn’t much and it’s hard to justify a lack of time for exercise, especially considering how many re-run episodes of America’s Next Top Model I can watch in a day (three on average). Four percent of my day to improve my fitness, my health and my confidence? How had this taken me so long?
I began my week on Friday at the AFC, but failed after only 24 hours because of the time-consuming and exhausting day of U.Va. football that followed. I only found the motivation to start over on the next Tuesday and, because of article and outline deadlines, I realized this was my last chance to go for a consecutive seven days. I had already wasted all of my excuses and had barely started.
I started off strong for the first couple days — I would run to the AFC from my Wertland Street apartment, do a circuit of abs, legs or arms and run home, taking whatever detours I needed to run out the sixty minute clock. I ran on the indoor track to early 2000’s hits and experimented on the stationary bike. Saturday afternoon, I hit my lowest mile time since junior year track season.
But then I started to get sore. Pro tip: never do 100 lunges within an hour, or your leg muscles will make you pay for days to come.
Fighting through the soreness was agony, but by the fourth day it had totally disappeared and wall-sits, planks and push-ups that I had suffered through only days before had gotten easier.
I found the adjustment easier to follow when planning workouts with friends that you couldn’t cancel on. Having a buddy meant maintaining a level of accountability; when I went to the AFC with my friend Adam, I could sneak away after only 45 minutes of exercise. Planning out my routines meant that I could follow a clearly delineated plan with no confusion or surprises.
I did hit a low on Sunday night when I got home around 11pm from Clemons, and I still hadn’t done my one hour. But I threw on some gym clothes and found a sixty minute ab/plyometrics at-home workout that was only half as pathetic as it sounds.
So, was this a sustainable adjustment to my routine?
In all honestly, no, I don’t think so. While I believe that adding more exercise to my life would have undeniably positive effects, one hour per day requires huge levels of planning and dedication. Some days, with classes, meetings, discussions and study groups, there just isn’t time to go to the gym for a meaningful amount of time. Putting a stringent limit on my schedule meant I had to sacrifice time to study, sleep or socialize.
This could be a totally realistic adjustment for someone more motivated or with better planning skills, but for me, I think seven hours of exercise a week was a one-time deal.
Next week, I’ll attempt to complete one week getting the National Sleep Foundation’s recommended nine hours of sleep per night. This one should be fun.
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