Unique Ways to Get Exercise in College

It is a proven fact that exercise has a positive influence on mental health, but while in college it may be hard to get the exercise that one needs to not go crazy from all the work. You might not want to go to the gym, large projects may keep you inside for long periods of time, or perhaps you have no interest in any of the sports offered on campus. Regardless of the reason, many students either don't feel they have the time to exercise or do not enjoy the most widely used forms of exercise.

If you are one of these students, there are options and they probably are not what you would have expected.

1. LARP

This first one probably will only appeal to the very nerdy, but regardless it is a different way of getting out of your dorm. Live action role play, or LARP, is an activity where people take on a persona of someone in a fantasy world to the point where they give themselves a name, race, back story, and beliefs. They then interact with other participants and let creativity take the reigns. LARP's exercise comes from the quests or the created story that have the people involved traveling fairly long distances, doing tasks that could be physical, or even fighting each other with foam weapons (LARP's most famous aspect). Every player creates their own swords, daggers, axes, bows, ect. out of foam or other soft materials, with some safety restrictions, and frequently engage in duels or large fights with other players. These can get quite hectic and can be a lot of fun. If this sparks your interest, you can up about it more here and see if your campus has a LARP club or something along the same lines, maybe even start one up yourself!

2. Humans vs. Zombies



Started in Goucher College in Baltimore nearly 6 years ago, Humans vs. Zombies, or HvZ, has spread like wildfire across college campuses in the US and to other countries as far away as Australia. The game plays like a large game of tag. Everyone starts off as a human except for one or more players designated as original zombies, OZ's for short. Their objective is to find the other players and attempt to tag them. If they can successfully do so, that player becomes a zombie as well and must go after other humans. Humans can defend themselves, however, by using foam dart guns, such as Nerf guns, or balled up socks. If they can shoot a zombie or hit them with a sock, the zombie becomes "stunned" and cannot tag humans for an allotted amount of time. Humans are normally marked with a bandanna wrapped around their arm while zombies wear the bandanna wrapped around their head, making it clear who is who. The game is played 24/7 for a specified amount of days or weeks, meaning if you're a human who needs to get to class that you should either move quickly, go a longer yet less traveled route, or move with another human. The rest of the game is variable depending on the campus. Many schools only allow tags outside of buildings, some let humans defend themselves with marshmallows as well, and some schools organize missions where the humans have to complete a task that, if completed, will make rule alterations in their favor. The missions are normally the most fun part of the game for both humans and zombies and can have players running all over campus. The game is a blast and is not only a great way to get exercise, but also to meet new friends. If interested, you can get more information here. See if your school will be running any games in the future or talk to the school to see if you can get permission to start a game of your own.

3. Simply Walk More

Say your schedule really is so crammed that you don't have time for a club or activity. If this is the case, you would be surprised how much better you could feel if you decided to not drive to a class one day if you live on campus, or maybe skip the cross-campus bus for a change and instead leave your dorm early and walk the whole way. If you already have to walk the whole way, take a detour that will have you walking longer. Sustained walking for at least 30 minutes a day gives significant health benefits and the more you get, the better. For a list of all the benefits, click here.