Students use exercise to manage stress, keep healthy lifestyle

By Briana Garcia | Reporter

Students around campus have found many ways to work out in their busy schedules. Some physical activities can be more strenuous than others, but they all have the same common goal: taking the stress away from school.

“It helps me clear my mind and focus on what I am doing at the moment,” Athens, Ohio, senior Lindsay Zatta said.

Zatta recently joined an organization called Gain at Baylor. The program is an all-women’s group that tries out new gyms every week. Zatta said that they have tried D1, Rush Cycle and Duality and that they will be going to Crunch Fitness this week.

“We get to try out all the gyms for free essentially and get to bounce around Waco and see what workouts work for us,” Zatta said.

Out of all the locations she has worked out at, Zatta said that Duality was her favorite because it involved yoga and made her feel the most relaxed. Zatta said she enjoys hot yoga because it helps her burn more calories while being in a tranquil state of mind.

“It’s a different form of working out without the stress of competing,” Zatta said. “It’s taking the time to reflect on your day and to reflect on your body and just enjoy the process and take it in.”

While other students enjoy going to the McLane Student Life Center (SLC) to work out, Axtel junior Logan McCowan said he is able to stay on task while getting his physical activity in by following an organized workout plan.

“I use an app called Playbook, and it has full workouts for $15 a month,” McCowan said. “It usually takes about an hour per workout, and they time it for you, so you stay on task.”

McCowan said his workout plan focuses on the lifting aspect of his workout, and for cardio, he does rugby twice a week. He said he tries to keep the same schedule to stay consistent and live a healthy lifestyle.

“I’m bettering myself and my health when I am working out,” McCowan said.

Hastings, Minn., senior Kathrin Notch said she enjoys sand volleyball at the SLC and looks forward to playing every Tuesday and Thursday night. Notch said she got involved by joining a GroupMe chat called “Baylor Rando Volleyball University,” which is a chat consisting of 290 students in which people send out times and locations to play volleyball.

“It has helped me to know other students, especially underclassmen,” Notch said. “We will all play and then go get food after and get to know one another.”