What is your daily routine after school? Grab a snack, check Facebook, check e-mail, glance at your backpack, check Facebook again, decide to put off homework for a couple of hours then settle down to relax.
If you are like Brittany Smith, a sophomore in mathematics, relaxing is out of the picture. It is off to Umstead Park to run about 20 miles, then back home to rest and eat as much as possible to make up for lost calories. Going out to a party is not considered; Smith said she rests as much as possible so she will be ready to wake up early and run again.
Such is the life of a student who bases life around exercise. These students are not simply going to the gym for a few hours a week; they are going every single day for multiple hours at a time. They are not going for a quick jog around campus; they are running for up to five hours per day. For these students, exercise simply becomes their life.
‘It can be difficult to plan a social life around my workouts,’ Smith said. ‘If I want to do something like hang out with a guy I really like, I have to think about if I have a long run that day or not. My life revolves around my runs, and I love it.’
The same is true for students who spend a considerable amount of time in the gym, like Colby Benfield, a junior in sports management and a former University football player. Spending about two hours in the gym every day, five days a week certainly takes time away from his social life, Benfield said, but he believes the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
‘I would definitely say I have planned my social life around working out because for me, working out in the gym is incredibly important,’ Benfield said. ‘I need to stay motivated to keep fit and keep working hard to get the body I’ve always wanted.’
Students like Smith and Benfield may have different motivations for making exercise a lifestyle choice, but one thing that they can agree on is proper nutrition. Smith, for instance, said she has chosen to become a vegan, a person who does not consume any animal products such as meat or dairy. Unlike other students who might choose to go vegan because of animal rights, Smith changed her entire diet in order to better suit her exercise needs.
‘I make sure I eat raw vegetables every day because what you eat the day before affects how you run in the next few days,’ Smith said. ‘That’s why I don’t eat dairy or meat, because I run slower when I do.’
It is clear that for these students, exercise is more than a pastime. But could it be harmful? Natalie Freeland, assistant director of fitness with Campus Recreation, said too much exercise can be a bad thing.
‘It’s a fine line between working towards a realistic goal and becoming obsessed with working out,’ Freeland said. ‘If you’re sacrificing other healthy habits to lose weight or train for a sport, there should definitely be a concern.’
According to Freeland, if a student is not healthy while putting a significant amount of strain on the body, many adverse conditions can result. Working out too much can cause stress, lower one’s immune system and affect sleep habits, mental concentration, focus and overall wellness.
So when does exercise become too much?
‘If you’re having fun and it’s not affecting your health in a bad way then you’re pretty much OK. Cross-training is definitely a good way to go because then you’re not putting stress on the same joints or areas of the body all the time,’ Freeland said. ‘It’s all about balance.’
