College life is busy. You have to make time for so much more and one of the first things people eliminate, in order to have “more time” is their self-care. That’s what your workout is, and you should not work it out of your schedule completely. For several reasons that I won’t get into here. Instead – don’t think about logging in an hour at the gym, try shooting for something closer to 25 – 30 minutes. These quick workouts you can do in your dorm should help you get started.
If you think you can’t get a good workout in doing yoga, you either haven’t tried it or you’re not doing it right and you need to try again. There are plenty of YouTube channels with different routines to fit every level and every time frame. Even if you’re a beginner or you’re only able to squeeze in ten minutes of working out. I suggest you grab a mirror or make room in front of your mirror so you can make sure you’re doing the moves right. Once you have the moves down, you probably won’t even need to watch the video. You can just focus on your body getting the best out of the moves and releasing all the tension and stress from classes.
The best thing about yoga is that if you start and you keep at it, it’s something you can do pretty much for the rest of your life.
My favorite workout is actually a mix of pilates and yoga but before I got to that, I did both of them individually. My favorite pilates workout was actually on a DVD but there are plenty of these to stream from YouTube as well. I always enjoyed the ones that mixed pilates and dance. Those always get your heart racing with some good cardio and then tone your muscles with nice bodyweight exercises.
Pilates is great for those who don’t want to use a lot of equipment, need something low impact but don’t like to hold poses for a long time.
Have you ever just felt completely blah until you put on some good music and start grooving to the beat? Dancing is definitely a nice and quick workout you can do in your dorm room. Embrace your inner ‘90s baby and put together a dance routine to your favorite song. Or look up the official routines on YouTube and start workin’ it! If you really love to dance, YouTube is full of workout dance videos for you to choose from.
Have you ever wanted to belly dance? It’s an amazing ab workout! And if you incorporate your arms into the movements – it’s great for your shoulders too. It will make you feel sexy and help you become more aware of the different ways your body can move. Channel you’re inner Shakira and learn to shake those hips so that they don’t lie!
Did you know you can do those high-intensity interval training workouts at home, by yourself? With today’s resources, there is absolutely no reason for you to join a gym or pay an outrageous amount of money to get yourself in shape. HIIT workouts are also streamable on YouTube and there are a few different apps you can download as well. If you don’t like searching for a workout every day, an app might be a better choice. The workouts are usually easier to find and sometimes they even come with a predefined plan so you’re not stuck doing the same thing every day.
A lot of the HIIT workouts are basically in place cardio but if you don’t want to follow along with someone, it’s easy enough to set up your own dorm room cardio workout. A few in-place cardio workouts you can do include; jumping jacks, running, mountain climbers, high knees, burpees, and tuck jumps. The easiest thing to do in your dorm would be to pick a few of those exercises, set a timer for at least thirty seconds, and see how many you can do within the time frame. Each week you could either increase the time for each or work to do more within the 30 seconds.
This one, you’ll have to leave your actual room but you don’t have to leave the building! Stay inside and make a loop of your floor. Walk up and down the hall for thirty minutes or extend your walk to the rest of the building. Make sure to take the stairs instead of the elevator and walk as fast as you can without jogging. Where a backpack full of textbooks or ankle weights to get a little more out of the walk.
If I’m just walking, I like to get a little mix it up a little and incorporate lunges or squats as well. That’s something easy enough to work into your walk around the dorm. Your booty can never be too firm!
When I lived in the dorms, it wasn’t very often that anyone used the stairs. Unless they were running late for class and couldn’t wait on the elevator. If your dorm has stairs (if there is an elevator, there are stairs) you can get in an excellent cardio workout with just one flight. Set a timer and see how many times you can go up and down the flight within a minute. Or, use the bottom stair for a cardio step workout. I suggest the bottom step in case you lose your balance. Using the last step, you should be on the platform in between two flights of stairs, so if you do lose your balance, you’re not falling down a flight of stairs.
You could also use the staircase for a few strength training exercises like inverted or tricep push-ups.
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