Warm weather has arrived and, for the seniors at Lewis, odds are that in the last month of the semester, so has senioritis. Rather than let yourself be dragged down by laziness, work toward your health and get some exercise in.
Lewis has plenty of areas for you to get in some walking. The fieldhouse, on a treadmill, on the nature trail running along the campus or other surrounding trails, to name a few. I recently walked the trail for the first time in my two years here at Lewis, and was surprised by how long it is, as well as the unique setting it provides.
I have been affected heavily by the desire to forego class work in favor of spending what little downtime I have available to me outdoors; however, why allow yourself to fall behind on your schoolwork when you have the ability to enjoy the best of both worlds?
Take your work with you outside on a nice day and do it while enjoying the breeze. Take small breaks to get something productive done. Break up your course load with a small amount of exercise, providing you don’t get caught up in distraction and completely shy away from getting any work done.
Even around Lewis, there are other places to get away on some other trails in the area. On 135th Street, for instance, there is another nature trail that can provide a different venue to go for a run or walk and take in the scenery. In Lockport, on 9th Street, the Lincoln Landing provides another area to go for a long walk and take in the scenes and heritage of Lockport.
Lincoln Landing has various different “checkpoints” that give brief snippets of the history of the founding of Lockport and the I&M Canal. While the Landing is its own separate entity, the path runs along Canal Street and branches off, running for miles along the Canal.
Having walked that path myself in the winter, the trail provides a view of the Lockport locks, as well as various other pieces of Lockport history, should you choose to stop long enough to read them.
What better way is there to get away from nonstop schoolwork than to take in new views of the environment?
Not only are you getting a different view than your basement wall or the mirrors in the Rec center, but you gain benefits that help in the course of your life. Walking has great benefits to your heart, lungs and general well-being.
Getting some walking in throughout the day, at least more than walking between classes, is going to provide you with some level of cardiovascular fitness that will both strengthen your heart and work toward a higher level of fitness for your everyday life.
Walking is a low impact way to help lose weight, increase metabolism and help your body’s immune system in the fight against various diseases.
For commuters, I highly recommend going for a run around your neighborhood. Not only do you get a higher level of cardio in, but you can also relieve stress and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
In short, getting sidetracked from your regular workload is easy at this point, especially now that the weather has turned and the semester is coming to an end. The impulse to put everything on hold to do something more fun is strong, but make sure you don’t get lost and let your studies fall by the wayside.
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