A large effect of COVID that isn’t talked about too often is its impact on people’s ability to exercise. Remember during lockdown when we were stuck inside for 2 months? Well during those two months, unless you were fortunate enough to have a home gym, there was a large drop-off in exercise. I know for me, I put on a few pounds because of this, and I even tried to maintain some improv fitness.

One of my go-to exercises during COVID lockdown was running. This not only gave me the opportunity to be outside (a rare thing to have at that time) but it also helped me keep a little bit of fitness in my routine. It was literally a breath of fresh air getting out of the house and experiencing a small piece of normal life at that time. However, it was still quite a struggle to achieve sufficient exercise.

A funny outcome from the lockdown appeared in my football practices. Because we could no longer meet in person, my coaches decided to hold zoom calls where the team would workout together with whatever supplies they could find. We would do an exercise and figure out how to jerry-rig a weight to fit the exercise. I remember one of my teammates was using cinderblocks as his weight, and another used a bucket of concrete. Although very improvisational, these zoom workouts promoted fitness and creativity in a time where it was very tough to create sufficient workouts.

The pandemic, however, also had a large effect on fitness even after lockdown. I noticed that once gyms opened back up, they were very empty. You would think that people would be itching to get back in, but it was the opposite. Maybe it was the lingering fear associated with the pandemic, but it might also be the fact that many people decided to build home gyms during the lockdown. No longer needing a gym membership, these people contributed heavily to the lack of people in gyms. This made a major impact on the gyms. In fact, the gym I go to at home, LA Fitness, is planning on closing in the next year because of the lack of members.

So the pandemic has had a very large effect on people’s exercise and especially, how they exercise. Many of us took a hiatus during the two months of lockdown, and this hiatus brought lasting change.

Running is one of the easiest and oldest forms of exercise. It is simple, and you control how fast, far, and hard you want to go. But many people see it as something scary or intimidating. Any time running a mile is mentioned in a high school gym class, groans and disgust is everyone’s reaction. However, it does not have to be this way. The stigma surrounding a mile can be broken.

My first experience with running a mile happened when I was five years old. My mom was an avid runner and knew its benefit to health. However, she also knew the stigma surrounding running a mile and how hard it can be to get people to do it. In an effort to fight this mindset in my and my brother’s minds, she took us all on a mile run while we were young. She wanted to show us that a mile really isn’t that bad and that once you do it, the prospect of running another mile isn’t as daunting.

The first attempt at the mile, however, was very daunting. It was a simple loop around my neighborhood, but the last quarter mile was a winding, uphill, torturous grind, and knowing this was ahead of me had me nervous before the run. Little legs are stronger than people think though, and I was able to complete the mile. The overwhelming feeling of accomplishment had me grinning ear-to-ear between each pant for breath, and it sparked my interest in running from an early age.

This interest continued into the present day as I am still an avid runner. I find it a relaxing and stress-relieving exercise that doesn’t take too long, yet gets me tired fast. One of my favorite aspects of running is exploring new areas through new routes.

In my first week at Penn State, I decided to go on a run and explore the campus. Running down Curtin, looping by Rec Hall, and making the trek up Bigler was a nice tour of campus, but I wanted more adventurous jogs. My next route was inspired by my brother. He told me to check out the running trails behind the Arboretum. It was a definite success. The foliage and exploring the area distracted me and made it feel like I wasn’t even running. By taking my mind off of running and instead allowing me to focus on the foliage around me, I got an even better exercise and experienced a new part of campus.

In all honesty, running isn’t that bad. Yes, sometimes it can be exhausting, but its benefits are superb. So I encourage you, run a mile. You will see that it really isn’t bad.

Something that I feel like we all struggle with in college is getting enough sleep. We all stay up late grinding work on the weekdays and then abuse our bodies by staying out on weekends. For me, I am always telling myself that I will go to bed early and get a good 8 hours, but the number of times that I have actually done that is sad. However, I can tell that this sleep abuse cannot be good for me. Especially, it is not good for fitness.

Sleep is wonderful. It renews energy, helps your mind focus, and improves your overall mood. I always think of it as closing the lid to a laptop after hours spent on an essay; it’s satisfying and also gives the laptop a much-needed break to recharge and not overheat. This idea applies to the human brain if thought of as a computer. Without sleep, the body begins losing control of itself. Your brain gets hazy and you do not perform to your normal standards. In fact, health.gov explains that sleep reduces stress, improves your mood, allows you to get along better with others, and helps you make better decisions (health.gov). These are all very important when trying to be a functional and pleasant person to be around.

But sleep affects much more than just your emotions. It reduces your risk of sickness, lowers chances of serious diseases such as heart disease or diabetes, and also, helps keep you at a healthy weight (health.gov). This is important for staying fit because you can’t exercise well while sick, and one of the main goals of exercising is to lose weight, so abusing your sleep could reverse that effect.

I have felt this effect numerous times while at Penn State. My most notable experience was after the Auburn whiteout game. Having stayed up late until roughly 4 am, I woke up at 8 to see a text from my brother asking when I’ll be ready for the gym. I had completely forgotten my agreement the day before about lifting in the morning, so I rolled out of bed with all four hours of sleep and headed over to the White Building. Now I’ll admit, this was one of the worst workouts I have ever had. While he was pumped up, I was tired, annoyed, and weak. None of this was good for my health.

I learned a large amount about the importance of sleep to fitness after this lift. The lack of energy sucked the life out of me, but the balance between fun and fitness is tough. So what is my advice?  You should make an attempt at getting good sleep, at least sometimes.