Learning Challenge: Deskercises

(Image Information: Exercise Pictogram

United States National Park Service Source: Wikipedia)

For this week's Learning By H.E.A.R.T, I decided to read about different Deskercises. The article I picked was "A workout at work?" posted by the Washington Post (the article can be found here).

While there were many exercises that I felt were really useful to use at work, I found it very amusing that this article included a "humilating?" scale with each exercise. It turns out the harder exercises were less humiliating (who would've thought?). 

As simple as it may be, I think the "walking" exercise and taking breaks while you're studying or at work are super important. Now, in the Union, if you walk into the Student Life Center, you'll see that many of the offices have standing desks now.

This means they're computers are now on this apparatus that allows the computer to be raised at standing height level. This encourages less sitting, and more standing. There seems to be studies that sitting a lot can also be detrimental to health. So, I'm not sure if these desks are becoming a trend, or if people are becoming more health conscious.

Either way, I really like how people are continuously trying to find ways to keep active. This article does a great job of introducing some easy-to-do exercises that are pretty difficult and geared to get you moving. I'll try incorporate one or two of these this week, as I know I'll be sitting and studying a lot for the two tests I have this week. 

Learning Challenge: The Importance of Sleep

(Image Information: No Sleep Records Logo

Chris Hansen Source: Wikipedia)

~~~

I read the article "Why Sleeping May Be More Important Than Studying" by Katrina Schwartz (found here) and was amazed by the information provided.

I knew sleep was important, but I never really knew the scientific reasonings behind why it was so important. I knew REM was a phase that we all fell into while we slept, but I also didn't know this was the time our minds took the time to organize all we did the day before.

Before I even started college, my cousin told me that that was his key to being successful in college: when he was tired, he would go to sleep. He found no point in staying up all night because it was only detrimental.

Coming into college I had this misconception about all nighters. And, it wasn't until I realized how bad I performed during the day without sleep that I realized I am not one of those people who can stay up all night prior to an exam.

This past summer, I fell into a routine of sleeping 8 hours, working out, and studying. It was the best routine for me because I woke up every day ready to learn more, and information was being absorbed. Now that the semester has started, I have to force myself to stop what I'm doing when it reaches 11 PM, and just go to bed. I know that there won't be any good coming out of me staying up till 2 AM, when I should be sleeping instead.

Time management is key to college, and sleep is one of the best things in the world, right? How could we give up on that?!