The freshman fifteen. We’ve all heard of it and are undoubtedly scared that it will happen to us too. With unlimited access to the dining hall and hundreds of dollars to go towards the food court, the freshman fifteen is not something that is hard to achieve. It’s important for freshman, and all college students for that matter, to stay healthy with all the temptations surrounding them.

The key to keeping up with exercise in college is to spend an hour or so only four to five times a week, or less even. At Furman, they offer group exercise plans which give you unlimited access to any class they offer. These group plans are ideal if it’s hard for you to get to the gym. They are also guided, which takes the pressure off of new exercisers who don’t necessarily know what to do once they get there. If your school provides these classes, I highly recommend going; not only are they a good workout, but they are really fun too!

So now to my weekly workout routine:

Monday

On Mondays, I go to a class called Body Fit. Body Fit is simply an all-around body workout that only lasts 45 minutes. We rotate between different arms and legs exercises that we only do for one minute each with cardio between each set. Although I do this in a class, it’s an easy plan to replicate for an individual workout. All you would need to do is stretch, warm up with some cardio, and Pinterest some leg and arm exercises that satisfy what you want to work out.

Tuesday

On Tuesdays, I go to Strike It! It’s a fun cardio/karate class. We learn different blocks, kicks, and punches that we repeat over and over again to build flexibility. Doing these blocks and kicks 50 plus times workouts out the arms more than you would think. Only one hour of this class typically burns between 300 and 400 calories. This class focuses on repetition and mastery of form, so it can also be easily reproduced individually.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I go to Tae Bo, which is an abbreviation for Taekwondo Boxing. Similar to Strike It, this class incorporates punching and kicking with aerobics to burn between 300 and 400 calories per class. In Tae Bo, all facets of the body are hit; we do core exercises, arms, legs, glutes, and more. This class contains complicated moves that makes it harder to replicate, because typical Tae Bo classes have instructors who have trained for long periods of time to master this exercise.

Thursday

Thursdays are more relaxing in terms of exercise, because I attend a yoga class on campus. Although it is not high in intensity, it is the most difficult class that I go to, in my opinion. It tests flexibility in a relaxing way. Similar to Tae Bo, it’s hard to replicate for an individual practice because when done incorrectly, it’s not beneficial and can cause pain. Yoga best to do with a trained professional.

Friday

Rest.

Saturday

On Saturdays, I don’t go to any classes because they are only available during the week. So instead, I go with a couple of friends to the gym and we do our own thing. We start off with 15 minutes of cardio to warm up. I usually go back and forth from the elliptical and treadmill, because I get too bored doing the same thing for too long. After that, I hit the weights and exercise every muscle group I can. I start with shoulders and work my way down through the arms to the legs and finish with abs. This workout isn’t as intense as the classes I go to, but I’m working out for longer—between an hour and a half to two hours.

Sunday

Rest.

Avoiding the freshman fifteen is more than just constantly exercising or only eating salads for lunch; it’s a balance between exercising and eating right. There is no need to go spend three hours at the gym every day or completely swear off pizza (because let’s face it: it’s the shortest line, which is pretty nice). Just make sure that you aren’t spending too much time in the cookie line and not enough time in the gym.