Buff up Your Back-to-School Body

The Real College Guide: Health & Fitness

From the Editors of The Real College Guide


photo credit: ©iStockphoto.com/huaxiadragon

If you’ve spent your summer break lying by the pool -- instead of swimming laps in it -- chances are you’ve lost some of your all-star collegiate athlete muscle. Want to buff up your back-to-school bod? Meghan Hamacher, exercise instructor at the student recreation center at University of North Carolina Wilmington, stresses that you need both cardiovascular and strength training to really maximize body toning and fat burn.

“If you increase your muscle, you will increase your metabolism and maximize your fat-burning potential,” says Hamacher. So while cardio exercises are great for shedding fat, a muscular person burns more calories during rest than does a flabby person. “Ideally, you should work out at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week, to lose weight and tone quickly.” For cardio, Hamacher says good choices are biking, swimming, running, skating or even walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes. Below are her instructions for strength-training exercises, along with a recommended fitness routine.

Exercises to Get Buff Now
If you’re a beginner or pretty much have been idle all summer, start by doing half the recommended repetitions the first week before gradually easing your way up to the suggested amount of reps. For maximum toning, the courageous can try working up to doing each day’s circuit twice.

V-ups: Lie on your back on the floor, arms at your sides, then lift your legs and chest at the same time to form a V shape with your body, extending arms in front of you for balance. Hold for a count of one before lowering yourself back to the floor. To make it harder, only lower your legs and chest about halfway (so your feet and shoulders never touch the floor). This will really challenge your legs and abs! Try four sets of 15 reps.

9 Tips to Survive Dorm Life

Photo By: Peter Alfred Hess

Sarah Fudin currently works in community relations for the University of Southern California's online Masters in teaching program, which provides the opportunity to earn a Master’s degree and learn how to become a teacher. Outside of work Sarah enjoys running, reading and Pinkberry frozen yogurt.

Going off to college presents many new challenges students may have never faced before, but one of the most daunting is living on your own, away from home and, for most freshmen, in a college dorm. Coming from a tight-knit east coast family I was both excited and anxious when I received my roommate information via mail – she was from Beverly Hills, CA and yes, her zip code was 90210! These tips will help make living in a dorm a positive experience.

1. Explore your dorm early
When you get to campus, take some time in the first few days to familiarize yourself with your dorm. Find out where the laundry machines are, where the lounges and study spaces are and what they offer, and of course, where the closest bathroom to your room is. Knowing what’s available near you will be important when you feel like you need to...

2. Get out!
Living in a small dorm room can make anyone feel claustrophobic pretty quickly. It pays to get out of your room and go study or hang out elsewhere. It’s more than just a change of scene, you will meet more people this way.

3. Organize your room early
It can be tempting to put off setting up your room at the beginning of the year when it seems like so much is going on, but it only gets busier. Take the time to set up your room, making it organized and clean so at least you know it can be. Consider bunking or lofting your beds to make create more space, and find ways to pack away winter clothes and other things you don’t need under your bed or in a closet.

4. Give your room some personality
Just because your one room double is only slightly larger than some closets doesn’t mean it has to be depressing. Get creative with decorations. Put up posters and pictures of friends, hang your track medals from high school or put up Christmas lights. The sooner you make your room your own with fun decorations, the more you will enjoy living there.

Hilarious "Back to School" Fails!

Check out these hilarious Back to School Fails put together by the Huffington Post from FailBlog. Some of them really make you wonder who's teaching these kids.

I personally like the "Back to School" sale on Trojan Condoms.

5 Move-in Mistakes That Rob You of Space

The Real College Guide: Campus Life

By Maria Moy for The Real College Guide



Losing sleep over the dimensions of your dorm room? Rest assured, you can survive -- and thrive -- in close living quarters. We tell you how.

Unless you were raised in a jail cell, your dorm room is going to seem way too small for storing all your stuff -- and yourself -- without frequent fits of claustrophobia. Upon moving in, you’ll inevitably find that your closet is too small and that you have to make hard decisions about what will actually fit in your room this semester (big-screen TV or roommate? Hmmm ...).

Here are the top five mistakes to avoid when stuffing your stuff into a small space:

1. Leaving furniture as is By far, the biggest mistake you can make on move-in day is to leave the furniture where it is. You are totally allowed -- with your roommate’s blessings, of course -- to move it! And don’t be shy about trying out a few different arrangements. Often, there is a better way to position your furniture to at least give the illusion of more space and even privacy. Typically, pushing your bed and desk against the walls leaves an open area in the center of the room. Pushing bureaus back to back can create private nooks for dressing or sleeping (so you never have to wake up to eye contact with your creepy roommate).

2. Not using vertical space The sky (OK, ceiling) is the limit when you are organizing your room. Even if your desk doesn’t come with shelves, you can pick up cost-effective shelving units at places like Kmart and Target. Be sure your shelves are durable enough to support the considerable weight of your textbooks or whatever else you plan to keep on them -- clothes, shoes or even people if the shelves are waist-high. If you have room, a full-out bookcase is great for storing groceries, cooking supplies and other dorm miscellanea. Or opt for wall shelves, which free up floor space but might not be as sturdy. Hint: Buildable cube shelving gives you sturdy flexibility and can be recycled for whatever space you find yourself living in next year. And you can shove a single cube at the bottom of your closet or on your desk for additional organization.

What the New Facebook Privacy Overhaul Means for College Students

If you haven't noticed already, Facebook is going through some changes. It appears that Facebook is finally answering the privacy calls of the masses and straightening up their act.

So what does all this have to do with you? You're just an average college student using facebook to keep up with friends.

Well.....

TCSH Back to School Collection!!

To start off this grand Back to School occasion, I thought it would be fitting to share with you a little round-up of previous posts already written on the matter.

- 5 Money Saving Tips For Buying Textbooks
- How To Avoid Those Freshman 15
- 5 Ways NOT To Be A Terrible Roommate
- 4 Questions You Must Answer Before Renting
- How To Do Laundry in 10 Easy Steps
- Top 5 Ways To Suck Up To Your Professor
- How To Make Proper Ramen Noodles
- How NOT to Get Overextended at College!
- 7 People You Should Socialize With In College
- Getting Back to the College Mindset

Make sure to check back in for some fresh-new-post-goodness later on!

Back to School Week!!

If you haven't done so already, then you probably will soon....it's time to go Back to School! Yeeeaaah!!!

Ok -- maybe not "yeah", but you still have to get ready to go and (lucky you) I'm here to help. This week is dedicated to aiding your Back to School woes -- so make sure to check in regularly for advice.

Keep Surviving,

-Ben

(P.S. - How do you like that sick banner I made?)
(P.P.S. - Did anyone else on the East Coast feel that?)

Getting Back to the College Mindset

By Elizabeth Cunningham for The Real College Guide



It’s natural to be a little anxious about the change of pace from summer to school -- but if you take advantage of the beginning-of-the-school-year energy and lighter workload to get a jump on the year, you’ll feel ultra-prepared. From your social life to academics to settling into your new dorm or apartment, here’s how to get your place in order, social life on track and brain in gear from the moment you set foot on campus:

1. Get Settled
Dorm rooms and campus apartments are designed to be utilitarian, so getting organized and personalizing your space are key to feeling like you have a home.

• First things first Unpacking can be overwhelming, to say the least, but Vassar College senior Katie Hoople has this advice: “I always make my bed first. It’s really nice to have an oasis of calm in the middle of all the chaos.” There really is something about tidy bedding that makes the whole room seem more polished.
• Pull it together When it comes to dorm rooms and apartments with limited space, there isn’t enough praise in the world for closet organizers, available at most discount stores. If you’re driving to campus, you can even pack your clothes right into the organizers and just hang them when you arrive.
• Spiff up your space Late summer and early fall are prime time for yard sales -- and are right in the college student’s price range. Plus, distinctive accessories will give your space a unique “decorator” touch. “Last fall, I found this awesome bedside table at a yard sale,” says University of Colorado junior Samantha Rosenberg. “It was shaped like an elephant and only cost me 50 cents!”

2. Be Social
Whether you’re a freshman searching Internet groups for friendly faces or an upperclassman whose friends have been scattered all summer, make some plans to socialize.