Many people think going to the gym just helps you physically. They are wrong.
Even if you disregard the mental health benefits and routine building, going to the gym can be absolutely over powered academically. I am in the process of trying this myself, so take this with a grain of salt, but I did some simple calculations at the end.
Importance Routine Goal in life Opportunities physical health mental heath
Lecture while working out #
I used to listen to music when working out. It was the motivation for me to go to the gym.
One day, my friend told me he watches lecture in the gym. At first I thought there is no way I could do that. Listen to lecture which requires focus and cirtical thinking when I am psuhing myself lifting weights?
I thought I need the music to keep the intensity, and listening to leacture instead would make me lose motivation to go to the gym.
But I tried it.
The first time it did not work. The second time it was amazing.
The difference was the first time I listened to a lecture I was behind on, and the second time I listened to a lecture from a class I was very interested in.
Listening to lectures on classes I was genuinly interested in made me enjoy it more, and also took the pressure off to have to understand everything and miss nothing.
As my friend put it “Its about the mindset”. “When I go to the gym, I don’t dread it, Im actually excited about what Im going to learn about today!”
At first I thought he was crazy, but now I agree.
Why it is Over Powered #
If you are a student, watching lecture while working out effectively doubles the classes you are taking. So if you are taking 8 classes per year, you will be effectively taking around 16.
Let me show you the numbers: I will assume you workout 6 days a week for 1 hour a day. This is what I aim for and is a typicall routine called Push Pull Legs. 1 hour x 6 days a week = 6 hours a week 6 hours a week x 52 weeks in a year = 300 hours a year (rounded down)
The average class at Berkeley has 3 hours of lecture per week, and 10 weeks of instruction 3 hours per week x 10 weeks = 30 hours
so watching lecture while we workout gives us 300 hours/ 30 hours = 10 classes worth of lecture per year.
When I first looked at these numbers I couldnt believe them. The typical student takes 4 classes per semester, about 2 technicals per semester. If you watch technical lectures, even if you compare to a student taking 4 technicals a semester (these are typically the double STEM majors on a difficult semester)
You are learning more technical material WHILE WORKING OUT than the hardcore STEM majors are as a full time student.
We have to keep in mind, you arent doing the homework or taking the exams, so your understanding is not as solid as a student who took the class. But I think the level of understanding you get is perfect for classes you are interested in but wouldn’t have the time to take, or classes you want to audit before actually taking them later.
The knowledge you gain would be similar to Reading before class, so the class will become much easier when it is time to take it.