By Karina Barajas
Finding it hard to stay active this winter? Feeling the winter blues? Not to worry, The Lawrentian has you covered. Staff and students share tips and tricks on what they do to keep their New Year’s resolution of staying in shape:
Director of Wellness and Recreation Erin Buenzli creates wellness programming for students, staff and faculty based on research, campus assessments and student input. These opportunities include yoga, Boot Camp, TRX and the Healthy Viking personal training program. She meets with students to discuss biofeedback, nutrition, performance and orthopedic injuries. She is the advisor to club sports, works with the YMCA and teaches a three-unit personal sustainability class on wellness.
During winter, her favorite activities are TRX class, racquetball, badminton and pickleball. Her advice to students to be more active is, “find something fun that helps you move more. Find friends with the same interests and try new things. You are much more likely to keep up an activity you enjoy. Movement is a long-term investment in your overall well-being and it promotes increased growth of your brain cells to help your academics.”
Freshman and Wellness Center student worker, Jason Lau said, “People view the winter as something that stops them from working out and staying fit, but really, it’s not like that. It’s more of a motivation to do it just because everyone else isn’t and you want to yourself.” Lau runs outdoors on a trail by the Fox River behind Trever Hall and swims whenever he can. His advice to motivate students to stay active is to “set small goals” even if it means working out five to 20 minutes.
Sophomore Meg Krautsch works out in Alexander Gymnasium every other day. She does weights, squats, pull ups and bench to target her legs, upper body and core. Her purpose for doing so is training for softball season and motivational videos. Her advice for a student finding ways to stay active is, “Working out is a process. If you put the work in, you will begin to see changes within yourself.”
Junior Jackson Straughan stays as active as possible by participating in indoor track, weightlifting and training for football. He says, “Huge distresses gets me out of the room and keeps me active during winter.” Jackson works out or “hits the iron” three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. His advice to keep students motivated during the winter is “set goals and time away for yourself for classes, working out and your schedule. Knowing who you are and your schedule helps you stay motivated.” He also enjoys skiing, snowball fights and making snow forts with his sister.
Whether it is braving your way to the Wellness Center, working out to online workout videos or running up the stairs in Warch Campus Center, you are sure to find different ways to stay active out of the snow. Of course, bundling up by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa every once in a while is not a bad idea either.