Young people up and down the country are making one of the biggest moves of their lives, flying the nest and heading off to Uni. University for me was the best 3 years of my life in terms of having ridiculous amounts of fun, making new friends and having new and exciting experiences in and out of the lecture halls.
Enjoy every last second of Uni life and throw yourself in at the deep end academically and socially.
BUT,
One thing that can often fall by the way side due to a multitude of reasons is exercise and nutrition.
Even though you’ve got a lot on your plate it is important to eat right and train smart (and enjoy Uni life all at the same time, right?).
“How do we do this?” I hear to ask.
Well the answer isn’t so complicated folks, it’s literally about doing the simple things right and consistently over time.
In terms of ensuring good nutrition and training smart the best tips I can give you are:
1. Buy the majority of your food in bulk and freeze meals and food to reduce waste – this will save you a tonne of money each week, bit of extra cash never hurt anyone!
Buying the highest quality food that your budget will allow is is of utmost importance.
2. Preparing meals ahead of time and ensuring great taste (no-one likes horribly boring food) – this way you’ll have greater compliance and you will be able to regulate nutrition tighter (instead of hitting up Subway post lecture and wondering what the hell is in that “footlong”)
3. Buying high quality meat for low prices – places like butchers shops and high quality frozen meats are good options. This is particularly important if you’re planning on working out about 3-5 times per week in which case your protein intake should be 1.5-2.2g/kg of body weight to ensure sufficient levels of protein for recovery and aiding those all important gainz!
4. One thing most student are in lack of is time, so training in a smart, effective and time efficient way is key (partying, socializing and those things called lectures take up a lot of time).
The best way to get around this is to use compound movements that use large muscle groups (deadlifts, squats, upper body push and pull exercises like bench press and heavy rowing movements with good technique are the best “bang for your buck” at the gym. Ensure you incorporate your core (abs, glutes and lower back into the equation and finish yourself off with some interval based cardiovascular exercise to keep your lungs and heart functioning nicely (for those runs home post night-club to get yourself to your warm bed) bouts of alternating high-intensity and low-intensity work the best.
Just as a side note – if gym membership isn’t an option for whatever reason then Ghetto workouts and home workouts are a good replacement (just work hard).
Lastly and on a serious note,
5. Late nights, vast amounts of booze and lack of sleep can play havoc with your immune system and cognitive function (productivity). Think about omega-3 fatty acid (fish oil capsules) and vitamin D consumption which will aid your immune system function, ensure you get good quality sleep and avoid excessive stress as much as you can and you’ll get the most out of your time at Uni.
Enjoy!
James Allen
