Hitting the Gym is Good for you, I Promise!

In college, my motto was “work hard, play hard.” I studied and wrote papers for hours every week. I went to meetings and extracurricular activities a little less often. I got together with friends, went to football games, and lived the college life. Between all of that, I tried getting to the gym as often as possible, but I have to admit that when time grew scarce, the gym was the first thing to go. According to a new study, that might not have been a great idea. Whoops… 

A report presented at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting shows that there is a positive correlation between at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise a day and GPA. As exercise levels go up, so does GPA. The study was conducted at Saginaw State University in Michigan and tracked the grades and exercise habits of 266 undergrads. Certain things were controlled for, like gender, study time, and participation in college sports. These things might have an effect on either the amount of exercise a student gets, or their GPA. The students’ area of study was also controlled for, as a person studying exercise science may be more likely to get to the gym regularly than a history or English major.

Here’s exactly what they found. On a 4.0 grading scale, students who engaged in vigorous exercise every day had GPAs that were an average of 0.4 points higher than those who didn’t exercise. What a difference! That could be the difference between a B and an A! Or a D and a C! But this caveat cleared my conscious concerning my own college exercise habits: Correlation does not mean causation. Better grades do not cause a student to exercise more, and exercising more does not necessarily mean a student’s grades will be higher. A likely theory is that a high academic work ethic will also translate into a higher commitment to exercise. Work hard, Play hard!

Even though a cause and effect relationship hasn’t been established between these two variables, young people should not shirk exercise. (I should have listened to my own advice, right??) Exercise, especially weight bearing exercise, increases bone density! A study done in Sweden showed that the group of 18-year-old men who participated in sports or used to participate in sports had greater bone density than those who never did sports. They also randomly selected 500 75-year-old men and found that those who had played a competitive sport three or more times a week at some point between the ages of 10 and 30 had higher bone density than those who hadn’t. There is a positive correlation between exercising while young and higher bone density while older. It might even be a causal relationship.

PLEASE NOTE that this study was examined men ONLY! While I would assume that similar results would be found if women had been studied, women’s bodies function very differently from our male counterparts. Do not fret, my peers! Studies have been done on older women that prove weight-bearing exercise increases their bone density.  There are lots of other benefits associated with exercise in young women.  Just a few are decreased menstrual pain, better mood, reduced risk of breast cancer, stress reduction, and an overall sense of well-being. I encourage everyone to work exercise into their daily routine. For example, I walk a total of 2 hilly miles every day to and from the metro station, and do Pilates at home. One of my good friends slathers on sunscreen and takes a dip in the pool for 20 minutes in Florida’s sunshine. Another friend takes the traditional gym route and uses the elliptical machine and weights.

No matter what you hope to get out of exercising- good grades, good health or both, there is little negative that comes from exercise. But REMEMBER! If you have health problems, consult your doctor before starting an exercise routine. Work hard, play hard!

Sources:
New York Times article by Tara Parker-Pope. “Vigorous Exercise linked With Better Grades” http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/vigorous-exercise-linked-with-b....
American College of Sports Medicine Press Release. http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=About_ACSM&CONTENTID=14753&T...
Science Daily article “Those Who Exercise When Young Have Stronger Bones When They Grow Old.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503111744.htm
Young Adult Health article http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=240&np=297&id=...