Here’s the deal…I believe in staying extremely fit while enjoying life to the fullest! I’m not an advocate of excessive drinking, but I am realistic. I know there is a large group of young people who not only want to look sexy…they want to party like crazy for a few years…they are also known as “College Students”.
(Don’t Become “Frank the Tank”)
Why Do College Students Feel the Need to Party in the First Place?
I have been out of college for 15 years, but I remember those days like it was yesterday. I always went to parties with the idea of meeting girls. I saw all of these beautiful young ladies all over campus all day long and I wanted a chance to meet them in a social setting. I got to admit, I wasn’t very good with the ladies back in college (they practically had to tackle me before I knew they were interested…enough of my pathetic “Skillz”, back to the article…LOL!)
These “Social Settings” Always Involved a Lot of Beer!
I have to mention that I was in a big fraternity (no…I’m not some obnoxious “Zoolander” frat guy…I just wanted to increase my chances of meeting the ladies). At our small fraternity parties we would have 5-10 kegs…our big parties had 30-50 kegs…our “triads” (three fraternities throw one big party) had 100+. You get really “good” at drinking beer when this much is available.
(“Keg Stands”…the result of not having enough girls at the party!)
Don’t Become a Slob, And Waste All the Great Social Opportunities!
It is possible to stay extremely fit, while having a blast in college. I speak from experience…I had a great time while keeping in good shape. If I knew what I know now, I would have been in better shape. I also would have been better at reading girls (to any college-aged guys reading this…if a girl is talking to you for more than 15 minutes and laughing at your jokes…she’s interested).
So How Do You Balance the Beer Drinking and Studying While Staying Fit?
Tip #1: Eat WAY Less the Day of the Party: If you know a party is happening later in the evening, don’t eat that much during the day. The benefit here is that it won’t take as many drinks for you to feel a buzz, so you won’t be drinking as many calories. Also your total daily intake of calories will be less, since you ate less earlier in the day.
Tip #2: If at all Possible Exercise Hard 2-3 Hours Before the Party: When you exercise hard, your muscles get depleted of glycogen. Any carbs that you eat a few hours following a workout help fill the muscles with glycogen again. The idea is that these calories will assist the recovery of the muscles and not get stored as body fat. Beer into muscle? Well, not quite.
Tip #3: Switch from Beer to Water 2 Hours Before Going to Sleep: You will thank me in the morning! This will go a LONG ways towards making you feel better the following morning. I wish I would have had the discipline in college to do this! This is a great fitness tip, because if you aren’t hung over the next day…it is easier to workout.
Tip #4: Don’t Pig Out at 3AM!: I think a lot of weight is gained by the crappy foods that people eat when they are drinking. Have a protein bar or something really light…any food you eat after ingesting all those beers is going to work against you.
Tip #5: Switch to Light Beer and Limit Hard Alcohol: My big secret of staying fit in college was that I NEVER drank hard alcohol. I chose light beer, because with light beer you get full before you have the chance to get really drunk. Also…you take in less than 1/2 the calories throughout a night. If you love hard alcohol, limit it to just a few drinks.
Tip #6: Do an Hour of Low Intensity Cardio to Cure a Hangover: The last thing you want to do is exercise if you aren’t feeling good, but it is the best thing for you. You won’t have the energy to do an intense workout, so just walk on a treadmill for an hour or ride the exercise bike for an hour. When you are done, take a shower and you will feel MUCH better…trust me!
Tip #6: Take a 3 Month Break from Partying Each School Year: This may be the biggest secret of staying fit during your years in college. I used to diet extra hard and limit my partying the month of January, February, and March. I would “hibernate” at the gym…during this period I would hit the gym 5 days a week and still go to parties, but maybe only have 2 beers and then go to bed early.
Tip #7: Workout at Least 3 Times Per Week Year-Round to Limit Stress: There is a lot of pressure in college. A hard workout will help you relax. I couldn’t wait to hit the gym for a hard workout after studying for 4 hours. Exercising will help you from going mad. College is a blast, but it is also a high pressure environment.
