Being a student is hard to begin with, and being a student with a healthy lifestyle is even harder, albeit not impossible.

One key factor in a healthy lifestyle is exercise and while it can be assumed that most students know how to exercise, not all know how to find the time with a busy lifestyle. Students need not give up on hopes of a healthy lifestyle, however, as there are several ways to either find the time to exercise or work it into your already established routine.

When looking at trying to find blocks of time for exercise, look for spots where you can afford a little bit of flexibility so you’re not rushing once you get down to exercising. Being relatively calm is important while exercising, as trying to rush through as fast as possible is a surefire way to injure oneself. While it may not happen the first time, eventually rushing through an exercise will lead to an injury.

Give yourself a larger chunk of time than you originally think you need to prevent rushing. Another thing to keep in mind while choosing a time is that exercising is an excellent stress reliever. Keeping this in mind while making your schedule has the ability to turn exercise from an obligation to a necessary part of your day that you look forward to.

This being said, a good time for exercise is after you’re done studying for the day. This means that you will be free to exercise without worrying about things left to do in the day, allowing for exercising to truly become about unwinding.

Another way to further this idea is to get into a reward-based mindset. When exercising, think about the good you’re doing your body — the endurance you’re building, the muscles you are  training and the physique you are working towards. Don’t just view exercise as something to get through  — work towards an exercise regime and schedule that allows you to enjoy it.

While this may work for some students there undoubtedly will be some that simply find themselves too busy to be able to set aside a large portion of their time for exercise. If this is the case, there are still ways to work exercise into one’s schedule with a little bit of creativity.

For example, jogging to school is an option for those who live close enough to the university. This may even cut down on travel time for those who normally walk and can easily be worked into a schedule by leaving just a little bit earlier for those who would normally use another method of travel to school.

Of course, jogging could always be substituted for bicycling, which also allows those who live further away to still get to school on time while getting exercise. However, there are students who simply live too far away from the university for this to be a viable option.

One tip for those who can’t work exercise into their daily commute would be to work it into daily routines. Do short exercises like jumping jacks or sit ups as a 10-minute study break rather than surfing Facebook or watching Netflix, both of which can keep you distracted longer than you probably intended.

Overall there is always a way to fit exercise into almost any lifestyle. One simply has to look at their schedule and find time — or make time when time cannot be found. With all the benefits that come from exercise it is not only a worthwhile endeavor, but also essential for a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

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Jack Thompson / Staff Writer

Graphic: Lesia Karalash / Graphics Editor