When attending university, it is essential that you keep yourself fit and healthy. For many students, this means anything from going to the gym to dieting, but for a lot of students, the struggle is being able to keep themselves fit and healthy and still operate on a student budget. 

Go to the university gym

It’s probably tempting to join the uber-expensive gym in town, the one that has all the super high-tech equipment that looks like it should be in Blade Runner, but not a very economical way of keeping yourself healthy, active and fit. 

Most universities have a gym on-site and they will be able to provide you with a good series of gym facilities and may even have those that volunteer their time to work with you as a personal trainer. 

A university gym will likely not cost you any money, especially if you have a Student NUS Card or an ISIC Card, so going to the university gym is your best chance of being able to get fit on a budget. 

Look up student recipes

There are plenty of student recipes that are healthy and will keep you within budget as well. You might not think that staying on budget is that necessary when it comes to remaining fit at university, but it is!

You need to remember what kind of money you will likely be working with and what you can do with the resources you have at your disposal. In this instance, cooking student recipes solves two problems.

First, it gives you a nice selection of ingredients for you to be able to choose from at any point for snacks or for other meals and secondly, it allows you to fix yourself up some very healthy food for yourself.

You might find yourself going exotic with some pulled chicken & beans, an aubergine & chickpea stew or a spiced lentil & butternut squash soup, all of which can be made for less than the cost of an entire meal deal!

Work with your friends

Exercising with friends is a great way to keep yourself healthy at university and it’s a great way for you to stay in touch with friends.

Whether it be playing football down the park, going for an intense run/jog or even just going for a long walk together, it’s always easier to exercise with your friends and fellow students. What’s more, your friends might even have a few exercising tips and tricks that you can pick up and use as well. 

Working with friends isn’t just for working out, however! Sometimes it can be good to study together to take the next steps together. For many students, they begin looking at potential careers together, searching postgraduate courses together or even trying to find the next place to work out.

Sleep well!

University is the time for studying hard, for most students that means cramming until the early hours of the morning and obsessing over the final parts of their coursework and dissertation before grabbing barely two-and-a-half hours sleep, but it’s probably best to avoid that if you can.

Getting a good night’s sleep is key, not just to remaining in shape, but also for your mental health. Your mental health is one of the most important areas of your life and you need to make sure that you give yourself the best possible chance for a positive outlook. 

Getting to sleep earlier allows you to be more alert in lectures, ready for the day and generally more on the ball, so grab an early night, your mind and body will thank you!

Study hard!

Sometimes, studying is the best thing you can do to keep fit. It sounds crazy, but it’s true!

Keeping your mind active is essential when at university, otherwise, you’ll go mad! Study hard and you’ll be able to keep your mind as sharp as ever! Linking into our earlier bit of advice, you should look into the possibility of studying with friends where possible, not only will this limit your chances of pulling your own hair out, it’s also a better way of being able to understand any tough curriculum that you might be coming against, after all, two heads are always better than one.