Goergen Athletic Center, the gym, GAC. It’s a place that can inspire as much loathing as it can drive. It’s a facility that one find on nearly every college campus in the U.S. It is as universal as it is important for the students of a university, even if many don’t take advantage of its benefits.
The Goergen Athletic Center should be a crucial part of every college student’s life at the University. There are many clear health benefits that come from the use of a gym, and taking those few hours of your week to pump iron or run on the treadmill can have a multitude of noticeable benefits. For one, there’s the obvious improvement in outside appearance. Whether one wants to show off that increased muscle mass or is improving physical appearance simply for one’s own personal gain, the gym is the place to go. But beyond physical appearance, there are important health benefits to such activities as well. While one works out to a song, or a humorous podcast, they are working towards a decreased risk of heart disease and lower levels of cholesterol. That early foray into exercise will do each participant well in the future when most Americans suffer their first heart attack.
Yet there is more to using the gym than just physical benefits. If one’s feeling unusually stressed out- perhaps there is a massive paper due in a few days, or a big test tomorrow- exercise is here to help. According to Psychology Today, using the gym can be a massive reliever of stress. That’s because cardio exercises release something called norepinephrine, which moderates the feeling of stress. Along those same lines, endorphins and other “happy chemicals” are released over the course of a workout. What about if you have trouble falling asleep at night? Well, by working out a few hours before lights out, you will find that sleep comes a little more easily. That’s because working out raises your body’s temperature, and when your temperature starts trekking back down, it brings you down from wakeful to sleepful as well.
And while these physiological reasons for mental health improvement are great, a workout also offers a fairly unique time to reflect in today’s hectic fast-paced world. Taking a moment, while running a mile, to think about one’s tasks to be completed, visualizing one’s future plans, or simply thinking through the various challenges one to face in the future, can be incredibly beneficial. According to Frank Niles, a Ph.D. at John Brown University, such moments of goal visualization are vital to successfully completing these personal hopes and dreams. The time at the gym presents a tremendous opportunity to experience such moments of self-reflection.
Finally, the gym is a fantastic opportunity to socialize with fellow students. Finding a weekly workout partner, or even a workout group, can help to strengthen friendships while physically strengthening one’s bodies. Or, if one doesn’t bring a group with them, the gym can be a place to find a new friend.
Overall, the gym is a fantastic place to physically, mentally, and socially improve. Every student at UR should take advantage of GAC.
