The liklihood is that the gym is at the bottom of your priorities when it comes to being a student. Deadlines, reading, socialising and clubs/socities take up the majority of your time at uni.
Obviously, your course work should come first, but I found that sticking to my training programme whilst at uni helped my productivity. Especially in my fourth year, when I was only in classes a few hours per week, it was important to keep myself motivated and keep to a routine. For me, this routine was getting up nice and early, hitting the gym, studying until dinner time then giving myself the evening off. In some ways it kept me sane!
I’ve put together a few tips on how to juggle uni and fitness:
1. Schedule in your gym sessions at the beginning of each week
Write out in your calender in your phone when you’re going to go to the gym. If you know when this will be, it will be easier to schedule the rest of the week and figure out what you need to complete course work wise in order for you to fit your gym session in. This hopefully will also prevent too much procrastination as each day will have a structure
2. Be strict with your rest times and know what you’re going to do each session
In order to give yourself most of the day to work on your studies, be strict with the time you spend in the gym. Time your rest periods to make sure you don’t waste too much time between sets. By having a set plan of what you’re going to do before you go to the gym, you won’t waste time deciding on what to do when you’re there.
3. Be wary of meal deals and pre-prepared food.
When I was at uni, the easiest thing for me to do was grab something quick from Sainsbury’s round the corner. The rubbish thing is that most of the sandwiches/wraps are suuuuper high calorie and not the most nutritious. If you have time to prep some meals to take with you to uni you will not only stick to your nutrition goals, but save some cash too!
4. Get a coach
In order to get the most out of your training and your plan, having a coach will help you to reach your goals so much faster. Not only will a PT motivate you and hold you accountable, but they will be able to tailor a programme that works for you training wise and time wise. Whilst I was at one of my busiest times at university, writing a dissertation, finalising projects for my final year, I began a cut. My coach at the time helped me through this and we got fantastic results (below)!
Being a former student, I completely understand the financial restrictions surrounding getting a coach. That’s why I’m offering students a monthly package to help reach your goals. Train in two 1-1 sessions per month with me in the gym, have weekly online check ins, nutritional guidance, and regular measurements to ensure you are progressing as best as possible.
All for a reasonable £100 per month 🙂
5. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep and stress levels are kept to a minimum
This is easy said, but it’s so important to keep calm when you have all these assignments coming in! Find something that helps you keep mentally positive when you may feel like you’re being drowned in work. For me, I managed to maintain a healthy mindset by ensuring I did enough work during the day so I didn’t have to do work after 7pm. I then spent my evenings cooking myself a nice dinner and binge watching some series.
My mind doesn’t focus particularly well in the evening anyway so trying to force myself to do work at this time would just leave me frustrated and stressed. If this sounds like you, make sure you get up early in the morning and make the most out of your day. Set yourself deadlines such as ‘I’m going to write 1000 words today’, or ‘I’m going to submit this assignment by late afternoon’ to motivate yourself to not procrastinate.
If you are someone who prefers to work at night, try not to stay up super late and make sure you are getting around eight hours of sleep per night. Stress and lack of sleep will both stall your progress when it comes to your physique, so help your body the best you can so it can give you the results you want!
But lastly, please don’t restrict yourself too much!!!
The chances are, you’re only going to be a student once. Although I was cutting in my last semester at uni, in no way did this stop me from going out at least once a week and treating myself when it came to food! Don’t miss out on any experiences just because you’re focused on your physique. It’s all about balance and by not overly restricting yourself, you will be in a better mindset on days when you are sticking to plan!