No time for the gym....how to stay healthy?

<p>I've only gone to the gym like once in the past two weeks simply because I haven't had time. I have at least 300 pages to read per week and I literally don't have time to do anything else. What are some ways to put in aerobic activity without sacrificing reading time? I just want to be healthy :(</p>

<p>Hm. I treat gym time as a commitment, just like classes. Half hour of hard work, then I get back to whatever it is I should be doing. If I’m really that crunched for time, I bring readings to meals, pull a book out whenever I have a couple minutes of waiting time, what-have-you. It’s surprising how much time you can find if you really, really need it.</p>

<p>Aside from the normal take the stairs, etc. ideas, you could prop a textbook on top of a stationary bike or elliptical or treadmill or stairstepper or or or or… pretty much anything that has a spot where you can prop a book while you’re working out.</p>

<p>Just don’t get it sweaty.</p>

<p>What about going jogging around campus?</p>

<p>Get the Insanity DVD. It’s a great workout, mostly aerobic, and only 35-40 minutes long the first month, 45-50 min the second. Even if u don’t follow the schedule, it’s ideal for intense cardio with limited time. P90x if want more muscle building/toning.</p>

<p>EVERYONE has 4 minutes. I don’t care who you are. </p>

<p>A popular regimen, based on a 1996 study by Professor Izumi Tabata initially involving Olympic speedskaters, uses 20 seconds of ultra-intense exercise (at an intensity of about 170% of VO2max) followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated continuously for 4 minutes (8 cycles). Tabata called this the IE1 protocol. In the original study, athletes using this method trained 4 times per week, plus another day of steady-state training, and obtained gains similar to a group of athletes who did steady state (70% VO2max) training 5 times per week. The steady state group had a higher VO2max at the end (from 52 to 57 ml/kg/min), but the Tabata group had started lower and gained more overall (from 48 to 55 ml/kg/min). Also, only the Tabata group had gained anaerobic capacity benefits.</p>

<p>In other words, sprint or bike at a controlled 90%-95% of maximal effort pace for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds. Repeat 4 times. </p>

<p>Do this 4 times a week, and on the 5th day jog on a treadmill with your books in front of you.</p>

<p>Well if you’re doing a lot of reading, just get on one of those bike machines at the gym and cycle while you read.</p>

<p>If you’re reading novels/classics in an English class, see if you can get the text on an audiobook.</p>

<p>You have to make time. Surely you can find an hour in your schedule 3x a week, or even just 30 minutes.</p>

<p>Try Tabata (as suggested above) or another type of HIIT, where you workout really, really intensely for just a few minutes. </p>

<p>Just make sure you’re as active as possible and remember that your gym probably opens fairly early, like ~6 am or so.</p>