<p>I’ve been a tennis player in high school, but I won’t be playing competitive tennis in college. I’ve always just relied on tennis to stay fit.</p>
<p>So my questions are:
<li><p>How many times do average students hit the gym? </p></li>
<li><p>What motivates you to work out? (I just don’t find any. It’s so boring.)</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Is it important to work out to build up fitness and muscles in preparation for college life?</li>
</ol>
<p>You can be 250 lbs. and still partake in college activities. </p>
<ol>
<li>How many times do average students hit the gym? </li>
</ol>
<p>Seeing that so many college students are out of shape, I would say that very few college students exercise.</p>
<ol>
<li>What motivates you to work out? (I just don't find any. It's so boring.)</li>
</ol>
<p>I don't work out. I walk (at a fast face) for 30 minutes every day. It has kept me in shape.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>no</p></li>
<li><p>the average student works out in the first 2 weeks of January and not much the rest of the year.</p></li>
<li><p>I love breaking personal records, I love working out, I love getting bigger. I feel like I'm more disciplined than 99% of people and I'm proud of that. The only thing that I hate is the dieting.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>tennis kicks ass, btw. I'm an avid player.</p>
<p>
[quote]
3. What motivates you to work out? (I just don't find any. It's so boring.)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Looking awesome and being strong is somewhat more satisfying than looking pedestrian and being meek.</p>
<p>For me, the psychological benefits are worthwhile alone. I feel happy and euphoric hitting the iron. In fact, when I was on vacation last month I had brief periods of sadness and angst due to lack of good gym access. It's like an antidepressant/anti-anxiety/euphoriant drug. </p>
<p>Its effects on my body composition are also very motivating.</p>
<p>I used to workout all the time in High School but when I hit college I was so damn lazy to walk over to the rec center and lift. In result, I'm much weaker.</p>
<p>OP: Exact same situation. I'd grown up as an athlete, but I had to quit before college, and I'd never learned to simply work out, particularly unsupervised. When I tried, I hated it (am still not a fan). By senior year, I was bugged about not feeling in as good of shape as I was used to (yes, it took that long to really become annoying), and what really helped me was finding a friend to work out with. We set aside a definite time 2x/week, but we were only really diligent for one semester. Still, it was a major improvement over my failed attempts to self-motivate :p</p>
<p>I went to a school where gym-going was normal, but not a big deal. We didn't really talk about it, but I knew people who worked out daily, people who never worked out, and people who fell at every point in between. I think we all thought we were pretty typical. Just a personal call.</p>
<p>So, I'm kind of a failure on this front, but I do empathize, and the buddy-system was what seemed to work best for me.</p>
<p>If you get bored with "normal" workouts (weights or running/walking), play some intramurals or join a club sport. You'll stay in shape, especially with a club team that has regular practices, but you'll have more fun and meet more people.</p>
<p>I work at my campus rec center and our 8000 sq ft weight room/track area is packed from about 3pm to midnight. I'd say on average people hit the gym 2-3 times a week, but that includes the people who go 2 or 3 times daily and the people who go once a semester. But tons of people play intramurals and club sports.</p>
<p>I played tennis in high school and I also feel myself getting sluggish. I'm hoping I can motivate myself to hit the gym every so often and I plan on playing intramurals also.</p>
<p>I used to do colorguard (my high school was hardcore about it), which was prettyyy demanding and my arms and abs were really cut. Then I started guard at UNC, which was a lot less challenging and not very exerting at all. So over the year I felt myself getting less and less fit..also I felt pretty lazy because at Carolina everyone is CONSTANTLY RUNNING EVERYWHERE and I don't feel safe running outdoors alone. I've taken a few group classes (<3 zumba!) at the rec centers and used to run on their indoor tracks but never really started a routine. If you can establish a work-out pattern and stick to it, you'll be better off than most of the people you go to school with/with whom you go to school :)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Only if that's your priority. I doubt your instructor is going to hand out 100lb textbooks that need to be bench pressed. </p></li>
<li><p>Here, three to four times a week.</p></li>
<li><p>Health reasons.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I would say there are a good number of people in college who are out of shape. If you always played sports, you might have a hard time adjusting your eating habits to avoid gaining weight. Even if you were never athletic, you'll probably eat more in college and take in excess calories through alcohol. This is why many people return from college looking a bit plumper. You need to decide what your motivation is. Do you want to look good, be healthy, or both? Either way, you need to find some sort of physical activity that you enjoy. I second the idea of joining an intramural team. You'll meet new people and have a reason to stay fit. You can also sneak in exercise. Walk briskly to class and take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get some friends together for a game of pick-up frisbee or for a walk around campus. Watch what you eat but don't feel like you can't ever indulge. Try things you've never done, like swimming for exercise or rowing. And if you gain a little weight, it's not the end of the world.</p>
<p>@ OP
you could continue to play tennis. Even if you are not on the team, there are surely other opportunities to play on another level.</p>
<p>As to working out in general, making it part of your schedule will make all the difference. Rather than waiting for a time when you feel like it, if you make it a standing appointment -- same days, same times -- you have a greater chance of staying commited. </p>
<p>Same goes for signing up for classes, having a standard time with a workout buddy, joining a group run, etc. if they are scheduled you will probably go to more of them.</p>
<p>
[quote]
1. Is it important to work out to build up fitness and muscles in preparation for college life?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How many times do average students hit the gym? </p></li>
<li><p>What motivates you to work out? (I just don't find any. It's so boring.)
[/quote]
</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Like you, I played tennis in high school. I also am not playing competitively for my university.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Unless you’re attending a military academy, no. The only school I know of that requires its students to pass a specific fitness test is Washington & Lee. I think you have to pass a swimming test before you can graduate.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t know how many times the “average” student goes to the gym. I lift weights three times a week and play tennis once a week.</p></li>
<li><p>In my opinion, if you go to the gym, you must have a goal. It’s not any of my business what your goal is, but you’ve got to have one, and it doesn’t matter what it is. It could be you want to run faster, jump higher, lose weight, gain weight, look better naked, whatever. Pick a goal and try to achieve it. Otherwise, you’re not going to maximize your time spent in the gym.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>Building muscle isn't too important, but having good fitness is.</p></li>
<li><p>I can't speak for the entire student body, but most of my friends and I hit the gym 3-4 times a week.</p></li>
<li><p>Seeing results motivates me to work out.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Is this strange? First semester I sat on my fat ass and lost 5-10 lbs. Second semester I went to a gym once or twice a week and my weight was constant. This summer I'm going to the gym 3-4 times a week and have gained 10 lbs (not muscle). I drank most first semester and don't drink at all at home so no empty alcohol calories. I think God wants to mess with me.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great responses, they're very helpful!</p>
<p>I'm supposed to be working out for football but I've been so busy this summer working from 8am to 10pm at night that I really haven't had time to be going to a gym. That being said I've learned that you don't always need a gym to work out. You just need to be a little more creative:</p>
<p>Doing pullups on random pipes around campus > lat pull down
(if you can't do many pullups, you can do negatives)
Strapping a backpack full of weights on your back and doing push-ups > bench press
(if you don't have weights you can just do those clap push ups and try to push yourself off the ground as high possible)
Running on the track > running on a treadmill
Partner glute/hammy raises > leg curl machine
Pushing a car/truck up a hill or incline > stairmaster/leg extension machine (make sure someone is in the car though)</p>
<p>I'll still go in to do squats and hang cleans but I feel a lot more athletic and cut just working out with my own body weight outside of the gym.</p>
<p>actually no. If you're doing pullups, you can't change the weight and add any progressive resistance unless you're using a dipping belt or using a backpack or something. That pushup thing just wouldn't work. Not a worthy substitute for a bench press. Doesn't matter where you run, I agree. Glute ham raise does not hit the same heads of the hamstrings as leg curls. </p>
<p>If you want to make any significant gains, you need a very good diet and good routine. What you just outlined wouldn't get you anywhere. You need more variety and the ability to progressively overload on a continual basis.</p>
<p>Well no one said that was a "program". It's just called making the best out of what you have. I'd take going to the gym and doing the olympic lifts (squat/clean/push jerk/snatch) any day, but sometimes that isn't possible.</p>
<p>If you want variation, then go ahead and add a weighted backpack for the pullups, and if you don't have weights just fill up as many milk carton gallons with water as possible instead.</p>
<p>I disagree with your opinion of the push up thing. Depends on how much weight you add. From my own personal experience doing pushups with three/four 45lb plates on your back is a lot more beneficial for athletics than doing 225lb on the bench. It's so easy to cheat on the bench; so many people just bounce the bar off their chest or start lifting their legs, etc. College strength and conditioning coaches will tell you that the bench press is a pretty overrated lift in general. In my opinion, doing something that requires a lot of core stabilization and shoulder work like weighted push-ups is a more accurate reflection of the demands you're going to be putting on your body in a game or competition. Also, this might not be true for everyone, but after I started doing weighted push ups, my bench also increased dramatically, so I think the two exercises go hand in hand and complement each other well.</p>
<p>And I have no idea what specific muscle locations the glute ham raises hits, but I do know that if you are doing them correctly and not cheating (bending your back or using your hands to push off), they are one of the hardest exercises to perform, but also one of the most beneficial for overall leg power/speed, since most people have overdeveloped quads but underdeveloped hamstrings.</p>
<p>In general it is always better to do a compound exercise than something that isolates a specific muscle group. Point is, just be creative, think outside the box, and add variation so you do get bored and your muscles get used to the same lifts.</p>