Workout Ideas

Most busy college students do not have the time and money to get a gym membership. CSUSB students share workout ideas that are guaranteed to help you stay active, even if you don’t have time to get to a gym.

Health Management major Bianca Scodellaro enjoys stretching and rolling out her muscles while watching her favorite show on Netflix.

“While I’m relaxing and watching Grey’s [Anatomy], I think that’s the perfect time to stretch instead of just sitting there or laying down,” said Scodellaro.

Although it is a light and non-strenuous activity, stretching is extremely beneficial to your body.

It increases flexibility and joint range of motion. It also increases blood flow to the muscles.

For athletes, stretching should be done before and after playing. Stretching prepares an athlete’s body for physical exertion by warming up the muscles, joints and tendons.

A workout or game should also end with stretching to allow for the muscles to repair and recover. A stretch can help break lactic acid, which builds up in the muscles during a workout.

Kinesiology major Crystal Becerra likes to do burpees.

“Burpees are good because they give you a full body workout,” said Becerra. “It doesn’t require any gym equipment either. I’ve done them in my room, at a field, and even at the beach in the sand.”

Burpees work your arms, chest, abs, quads, glutes and hamstrings.

Burpees are effective because they help your body build strength, cardiovascular endurance and abs.

Kinesiology major Cindy Cisneros suggests doing a bleacher workout.

This can be done at any high school, basketball gym or sports stadium that has bleachers. It can even be done on the stairs of a building.

The bleacher workout takes the focus away from the traditional treadmill cardio workout and shifts it towards a new, more inclined platform.

Cisneros runs up and down the bleachers for 15 minutes, takes a break, then runs again for 10 minutes. While this may sound challenging, it is a good cardio and leg strengthening workout.

Cardio is important because it has immediate effects on the body. Some of these effects include increased heart rate and blood circulation.

Cardio also allows the body to burn calories from fat, improves and enhances your mood and helps you sleep better at night.

For Cisneros, bleacher running is a stress-reliever.

“I just put my headphones in, put my hoodie on and run,” said Cisneros. “It feels good to break a sweat once in a while.”

Cisneros says bleacher running is most fun to do at night, under the lights.

For dog owners, a good arm workout can be tackled by playing fetch at the park. The motion of throwing a ball to your dog gets your body moving and keeps you active.

You can get even more creative by doing lunges, crunches or squats while your dog fetches the ball.

For someone who is interested in doing sprint work, they can race their dog to the ball. This active fetch activity is a great way to get exercise while having fun.

Alexandra Benevidez, a kinesiology major here at CSUSB, likes to do squats with weight on her back.

Benevidez wears a heavy book bag to school and tries to take the stairs whenever possible. She also uses her heavy bag as a way to do weighted squats.

“Squats are important to keep your glutes tight and muscular,” said Benevidez. “I mostly do it at home while studying or before soccer practice while we wait for our coach to open up the locker room.”

Several different students at CSUSB utilize fun ways to get active outside of the gym.

From light activity like stretching to an intense workout like bleacher running, there are many creative ways to have fun, multitask and stay active.