Ways To Exercise Around Campus Without Going to the Gym

With temperatures dropping and stress levels rising, many of us could use extra endorphins right now. But we also know it’s much easier to spend the next 10 minutes scrolling through Instagram instead of walking over to the MAC, let alone spending the next 30 minutes half-jogging, half-walking on a treadmill with a mask on. So we’re here to show you some gym-free ways to get your sweat on and help your New Year’s resolutions survive the start of the spring semester.

Forget Something In Your Dorm Room

We all know the feeling of finally getting to your destination five minutes early for once, only to realize that you left your Harvard ID on your desk so now you can’t enter. The bright side? That 20-minute round trip back to your dorm, including three flights of stairs thanks to Harvard’s classic architecture, will get your heart pumping.

Switch Your Concentration to Engineering

This is for the most dedicated of readers. Be prepared for not only long psets (and long pset sob sessions), but also long walks just to get to class. The appeal of sleeping in may have never seemed higher. But rest assured: if you actually make the effort to get yourself over to the SEC five times a week, you’ll be getting your steps in. Bonus points for trying to sprint over from the Science Center Plaza without the shuttle with only 15-minutes between classes.

Pick the Top Bunk

Especially for those with low ceilings and cramped rooms, finding a way to jump into the top bunk without hitting your head or falling off is a full-body workout, helping you work on your flexibility, creativity, and muscle strength all at once. At this point in the semester, burning an extra 10 calories each time you climb into your bed for those ~quick~ naps can add up fast.

Make Friends In the Quad

After years of being told that getting quadded will be the end of all your non-Quad friendships, imagine if being a Quadling could actually make a friendship more attractive to a River Person. With your new mindset focused on staying active, take those half an hour walks from your dorm to theirs as an opportunity to self-reflect, vibe with good music, and exercise, instead of cursing the geography of our campus.

Look for Love with Datamatch

The easiest way to get your heart racing? Meet up with a complete stranger, who is supposedly guaranteed to be your soulmate. Pro tip: start mentally listing out their negative traits like a generic taste in music or inability to talk about anything but their summer internship at *Insert Boring Tech Company* to get your heart rate up even more.

Carry the Weight of the World’s Expectations

Whether from your professor, your parents, your hometown, your adviser, your friends, or, most probably, yourself, striving to meet expectations seems to constantly be at the forefront of any Harvard student’s mind. These pressures are not a light load, but carrying them everywhere you go—to the shower, to the dining hall, to office hours—must burn some calories, right?

Regardless of how you get your exercise in, make sure you do move around and get some fresh air. It’s too early in the semester to spend your week switching back-and-forth between your desk and your bed, no matter how tempting that may seem with grab-and-go dining and weather that is ~crisp~ at best. Even just walking around outside for 10 minutes or taking a quick study break to learn a new Tik Tok dance with your suitemates can do wonders for your physical and mental health.