Working Out as a Law Student

As I’ve made pretty clear throughout this blog, it’s likely you’re going to experience a unique type of stress during your time as a law student. No matter what you majored in during college or what work experience you had afterwards, there is nothing quite like law school. It’s well known, although I’m sure not always well taken to, that exercise is a great way to keep stress levels down. Let’s dive into making the time to work out as a law student and what type of movement could work for you!

Make the Time

I’m not going to spend time on every post I make laying out how to fill in your calendar, but want to make sure I reiterate its importance. Go through your calendar each week and try to find time slots where you can squeeze in some sort of movement. It doesn’t have to be every day, and honestly probably shouldn’t. I like to try to opt for 3-6 days depending on how busy my week is, making sure I allow myself the flexibility to switch it up.

Finding other law students to motivate you can be a great tool as well. My law school has a few student clubs whose main focus is exercise, such as basketball, yoga, rock climbing, etc. If you don’t want to join a formal club, see if one of your friends wants to go on a walk with you after class! Exercise doesn’t have to fit into the strict mold of making time to drive to the gym; it’s a lot more simple to find ways to move your body than you might think.

Find What Works

I’ve switched up my exercise routine many times throughout the years. I get really into one thing, eventually get bored, and find it’s time to choose something new. That works for me and I like the variability. Because of my extensive list of exercises I’ve tried – I can give some insight into what they’re like!

Yoga

“Yoga” is a pretty broad term. At the studio where I do yoga, there’s a ton of class formats that all fall under the umbrella of yoga – yoga sculpt, yoga barre, yoga flow, restorative yoga, etc. My favorite class type has always been yoga sculpt. To me, it feels like a lower impact HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout that has me dead by the time the 50 minutes is up.

If you have a background in dance, a barre class might be more up your alley. I was having trouble figuring out how to explain barre, but Google told me that it’s “a full-body workout that combines ballet, yoga, Pilates, and strength training movements to improve strength, balance, and flexibility.” So if that sounds cool to you – give it a try!

As law students, we are very often strapped for cash. Before I became an instructor (hellooo free membership), I sought out yoga studios that offered student discounts and picked from those. But even with a student discount, having a studio membership might be out of budget, which is OKAY! There are SO many ways to get the same workout in without being a member of a yoga studio, such as YouTube.

If I don’t feel like leaving my apartment to go to class, I choose between the following YouTube creators – all of which are unbelievable and I can’t believe that access to them is free:

• Move With Nicole
  • Nicole offers a variety of pilates and yoga workouts that range from 15 minutes all the way up to an hour! I have never had an instructor make an hour feel like 10 minutes while still kicking my butt. She’s my all time fav.
• Growing Annanas
  • I do Anna’s workouts when I want to incorporate more of a HIIT style workout. She has no weight and weighted options, and will sometimes do some yoga inspired workouts too!
• Kaylie Daniels
  • Kaylie is the most yoga-y creator I’ve come across on YouTube. She’s not as well known as the other two, which shocks me because her classes are so well produced and she is an amazing teacher. Most of her classes are a bit longer – so I save them as a sort of treat for when I have the time.

I will say that some of the at home workouts occasionally require some additional equipment. I have resistance bands, light weights, and yoga blocks – all of this is more than enough for most of the workouts I listed above!

Running/Walking

Whenever I’m struggling to figure out what to do for a workout, I always just end up going for a run or long walk. You don’t need a fancy membership or any gear other than your running shoes, making it a staple in many law student’s routine. Also, if you’re new to the area where you go to law school, running or walking around can be a great way to get out and see your new city!

If you hate working out alone, join a run club! I personally treat running as my “me” time, so I don’t do run clubs, but I have many friends who’ve joined or even created run clubs to meet like-minded people. As I’ve said before, if you can double-dip with your time, like mixing socializing with exercising, that can be a great way to feel more fulfilled with your day-to-day.

Feel free to follow my Spotify for playlists that make running a little more enjoyable 🙂

When it comes to my long walks, I usually go for a podcast. My favorite lately has been Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard!

Cycling

Whether you go on bike rides outside or go to spin class, cycling is a favorite for many people. I used to be an avid CycleBar advocate (until I got bored) but I do know many people who’ve been committed to spin classes for years!

One of my friends in law school bikes to school every day. Not only does he get his exercise in for the day, but he saves gas money too! I think this is a great example of making the time for exercise in a way that works with your schedule.

If you do want to look into finding a spin class studio – I would recommend looking for those with student discounts just like I mentioned above with yoga. I also failed to mention ClassPass is a thing and if you are at all unsure of what kind of workout you like, you should try it!! I don’t know a ton about it, but you can read all about it here. From my understanding, you pay a limited amount each month and you get credits that you can “spend” on a wide array of fitness classes. I have friends who use it and they’ve been able to go to spin studios, pilates classes, kickboxing, etc.

Weight Lifting

Weight lifting used to be my go to. Nothing could compare to the feeling of drinking my little energy drink on the way to the gym, lifting weights to my perfectly curated playlist, and heading home feeling so strong. But, as is routine for me, I got a little bored! I played sports in high school that required me to constantly be weightlifting, so when I got to college, I was over it for a while. Then I picked it back up again, and then got bored again. That’s OKAY! Exercise is meant to be a way to move your body and relieve stress. Even if it’s not always fun, I don’t think you should ever be dreading it, and I started to dread lifting weights – so I stopped.

I do still incorporate resistance training with my yoga sculpt and occasional light lifting days because I think it’s necessary for long term health, but I don’t feel the need to try to hit a PR on my bench press every month anymore. In fear of being redundant, it really is all about balance. If you run too much or lift too heavy, you might injure yourself. If you only do yoga or only cycle, you might get bored. Choosing exercises that keep you excited and motivated is the only way to make sure you’re consistent in the long term – so, as always – keep it fun, find your balance!