Question
“Dear Josephine Miner, I need to start working out and getting in shape, but don’t know where to start or what kind of workouts to do. What do you suggest? Sincerely, Jane”
Answer
Dear Jane,
It is difficult to decide how to start the journey to getting in shape. Thankfully, students here at Missouri S&T have a brand new fitness center open from 6:30am to 10:45pm during the school week. This gives students time between classes, meetings, and work to find time to make it to the gym. The gym has weight machines that instruct the user how to properly operate the machine. There is also a multitude of fitness machines, treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, and more that have interactive programs that help the user keep record of their exercise. Students are also welcome to run on the university’s track when the varsity athletic teams are not practicing. For reference, four laps around the track is 1600 meters, which is equivalent to one mile.
Students are also welcome to join intramural teams for a wide variety of sports as a way to get into shape and spend time with friends. Most games last 50 minutes or less, and are a moderate to rigorous workout depending on the sport and the number of players on a team. Most teams play one game a week excluding tournament games and playoff periods for each sport. Intramural sports only last on average 2 months, so students can continuously participate throughout the semester. For more information about joining an intramural team check out the following website: https://studentrec.mst.edu/intramuralsports/.
To work out a particular part of your body, thirty day challenges are a good starting point. Thirty day challenges help increase strength in an isolated part of the body by starting off easy and working up to a challenging feat by day thirty. Common challenges include the wall sit challenge and plank challenge that end with the user being able to do a 300 second wall sit or plank. Some common challenges for a leg workout include the lunge or squat challenge. Most of these challenges can be found on the internet and are a great start to strengthening an individual body part.
Lastly, Ber Juan Park has a 1.8 mile trail with various workout stops along the way to give runners or walkers a total body workout. Some of the various workout stops include different agility, strength, and speed exercises like pull ups, walking on a balance beam, and lunges. The trail is about fifty percent shaded and is mostly hilly. The official trail start is located at the entrance to The Center located on 1200 Holloway Street in Rolla. This trail can offer a comprehensive total body workout, a good run, or a leisure walk.
Good luck to all students starting or continuing their workout journeys throughout the rest of the semester. Readers in need of advice please email any questions to miner@mst.edu.
Sincerely, Josephine Miner
