A day in the life of a college student is, well, a very busy day. From classes and meetings to studying and homework, too often we are forced to pick and choose what we will accomplish in a day, and many times exercise gets booted off of that list.

But, new studies are beginning to show that exercise could benefit your studying more than you might think.

Exercise tends to decrease stress and improve sleep, which can indirectly benefit your studies, but now there are also early studies showing direct benefits of actually exercising while you are studying. 

So how exactly is it possible to study and exercise all at the same time? Well, you could attempt to balance your textbook on the elliptical in the gym, or you could try out one of the FitDesks in the ZSR library.

FitDesk carries a variety of different desks that encourage exercise while doing your work, but in the ZSR you will find the Bike Desks. These desks combine a stationary bicycle with a desk, making it possible to read a book or even type on your laptop while bicycling.

Sophomore Ansley Edwards gave the FitDesk a try while reading for a class.

“It’s so easy to lose focus or get distracted while sitting at a table, especially after being in class all day,” said Edwards. “I really noticed that the FitDesk helped me concentrate on my work while also burning calories.”

According to the FitDesk website, this unique approach to studying not only promotes weight loss but can also improve your focus, boost your energy and can even help you retain information better.

As college students, it is common to walk into the library as the sun is coming up and to stay sitting at your proclaimed table until it is absolutely impossible to study any longer. After those long hours sitting in the ZSR, it can be hard to motivate yourself to make it to the gym.

Devoting some of that time to being active while studying could solve this problem, and you could begin to see these beneficial results.

Although the FitDesk may not measure up to your full workout in the gym, it can be a good compromise if you are too overwhelmed by homework to make it to the gym.

With finals quickly approaching, days will begin to seem shorter and work will begin piling up, but studying while exercising could be a beneficial way to save time.

So, next time you feel like you may have to skip the gym to finish writing a paper, consider trying to integrate exercise into your studying process, and you may be surprised by the positive effects you see.