Dorm Room Exercises

When you have a busy schedule, it can be tough to find the time to make the trek to the gym. Plus, now that it’s getting cold out, it’s hard to find the motivation to get out of your warm cozy bed and face the cold weather on your way to the gym. But, there’s a simple solution to this problem. You can do workouts in your dorm room! Using items that you have in your room, you can get just as good of a workout as if you had gone to the gym. Here are some exercises that can be done in the comfort of your dorm room.

Cardio:

Marching/running in place

Running stairs in your building

Jumping jacks

Kickboxing moves

Dance to your favorite music

Mountain climbers

Jump roping (if there’s space)

To not make it so boring, mix up your routine, but try to get in at least 30 minutes of cardio three times a week. Another great thing you can do,though it is a little more expensive, is to buy workout videos for pilates, belly dancing, whatever suits your interest, and watch those. You may have to spend $20 on them, but I know I’d rather follow someone doing Zumba than jog in place for 30 minutes. Or there are tons of great fitness apps.

Strength

Dips using chair or bed

10 Would You Rathers: UMN Twin Cities Edition

Triangle wall pushups

Reverse plank

Push ups (see variations you can also do here)

Planks and variations like side planks or planks with leg lifts

Crunches (and variations)

Body weight squats

Lunges, both forward and side lunges

And don’t forget to stretch! Flexibility is a big part of working up. Dynamic stretches like walking lunges, walking butt kicks, leg lifts, and others are a great way to get your muscles warm and stretch them at the same time. Stretching your muscles while they’re cold could lead to injury, so static stretch after you warm them up.

So there are just some exercises you can do in your dorm room. Now there’s no excuses! Get off your butt, pick some of these exercises, and do them. You don’t even have to go outside, and it’s easy to fit in a couple of these during a study break. For more information on these exercises, check out this site.

Pictures from here, here, and here.