Grad students, how do you find time for exercise?

Depending on how my schedule stacks, i use to go at 7:00am every morning, then it changed to 8:30pm at night, now it's 6pm at night, you just find a routine to work around what you're doing.

Once you get into your routine, it becomes like second nature, you won't really think twice about going to the gym after you've consistently done so for a month or two. More importantly ensure you have goals set, which plays a part in your discipline and also makes exercising more enjoyable to achieve something.

I'd say 3 days a week minimum if you want to achieve something through your exercising regime, 3 days just enough for you to still be able to achieve something great with your workouts as long as you're giving it your all. If you can do more than that, great!

All the best, hope you find something that fits and you can stick to it

Prioritize. This shouldn't even be an issue. No grad program is so grueling that setting aside an hour a day or three a hours a week would be so difficult. I know quite a few full-time grad students who run nearly every day. Some trained for anything from 5Ks to marathons while in school. There are many more who find plenty of time to go out and get wasted several times a week, or otherwise entertain themselves. I should know, I was one of them. Surely there is time to exercise (not that I did).

To say nothing of those who go to school part-time while holding full-time jobs. With kids. Now there is a challenge. Yet even some of those find a couple of hours a week to exercise.

Quite aside from your fitness goals, any study regime that would require so much time that exercise is impossible is recipe for a quick burnout. I don't know of any.

Prioritize.

I'm not a grad student anymore, but I was. I kept it simple. If it was warm enough, i went running outside. When it wasn't, I did high intensity bodyweight intervals at home. Not having to commute to a gym made all the difference. Now. Did plenty of my classmates go the gym? Yes. Sure they did. Just like single mom's with 2 kids find time to train for marathons while working a full time job. But just because its possible, doesn't mean you will. For me, keeping it simple was the approach that kept me consistent. I worked out, consistently, throughout grad school. (It wasn't till I graduated that I stopped! :grumble: )

And to tack on some unsolicited advice--graduate school can make you feel like you have to eat any "free food" on offer. Because you start to think of yourself as a starving graduate student--even though I have never met a real starving graduate student. I think they only exist in fictional novels. It took me a semester to realize that free food isn't free. Pizza, cookies, muffins, leftover over-stuffed sandwiches made at the local deli with enough processed meat and mayo to feed a family of four--all that food isn't free--it costs plenty.

I think recognizing your needs for exercise just like you need time to study, sleep or do other school things. I'm starting my last semester of grad school now, and I was slacking off on fitness/sleep/healthy eating for the past couple semesters. It's taken a big toll on my mental and physical health, especially with school, internship, work and a 3 hour commute between home and school/internship. But when I can I use workout videos from the library, and I go to a cheap gym that's open 24/7, and I try to take walks between classes/internship, especially if I'm stressed. Even a walk to get some coffee or water is better than nothing, especially when you're writing papers or reading for hours straight. Also, if you do any travel to campus, try to fit in public transit or park a little further away (in a well lit parking area) to fit in some exercise. Everyone has their own issues with grad school that makes it tough to balance their schedule, so don't feel like your needs are any less important than others. You just adapt an exercise schedule as best you can, and keep adjusting.

I wake up at 4:30 :sick: Prepping meals in advance helps save a lot of time in the day too - pack lunches the night before, and fill your freezer with dinners you can just thaw and reheat on busy nights. You just have to make it a priority.

Hi!

I am a grad student who is currently writing their masters thesis before moving on to a PhD. A few things that I found really helpful were:

Creating a monthly schedule with all of my workouts added. This way it was a part of my daily routine and missing it would be like missing office hours or a class.

Going to the gym with another student - I made friends with several people in my department who wanted to get in shape and had similar schedules to my own.

As many people have already said going to the gym on the morning is really helpful. There have been many days where the stress has piled on and by evening time I decide to skip the gym to work late or relax.

The biggest thing that helped me was understanding that part of being a successful student means being able to care for yourself properly while still going to school. If I don't work out I don't feel as good which usually translates into a decrease in productivity or accuracy in my school work.

It is by no means an exact science but support and organization can go a long toward making the commitment easier. I know I am still trying to discover ways to be more committed :P

Anyways I hope this helps and congratulations on beginning graduate school!!

Best,
Ali

I'm also a grad student, in my first year of my PhD….. and exercise is something I'm putting off for a little while longer! There's time for it, and it's certainly necessary for both physical and mental well-being, it's often just a case of motivation (something I don't have much of :P).