Pictured Above: Criminology senior Nino Bartolone works as the student supervisor at the fitness center on campus.
Courtesy of Nino Bartolone
By Lily Theisen
Three USF St. Petersburg students want others to know what it takes to make a fitness goal a fitness habit – and they promise it doesn’t have to be painful.
Aliah Farley, Catherine Burke and Nino Bartolone said they enjoy making time for physical activity in their busy schedules because it makes them feel good.
Farley, a mass communications senior, said that she started being active in college because she needed an outlet for stress.
“For me it is just a lot about self-love;I don’t work out to punish myself or make it a chore,” Farley said. “I work out because it makes me feel good, it makes my body feel good, I have more energy, and I am in a better mood.”
Farley said that she mainly works out at home because she likes doing yoga with her roommate. However, if she wants to lift weights then she will go to a local gym.
Burke, a mass communications senior works at Sweat St. Pete, a group fitness gym in the North Kenwood neighborhood.
Burke loves working out with people because she said they hold her accountable for showing up.
“I think the two main things that keep me going are that the people at the gym are relying on me to be there,” Burke said. “If I miss a class and I come back, they ask where I was. The other thing is that you never regret a workout. You may not always feel like going, but once you get it finished you always feel good.”
Burke also said that she thinks working out should be enjoyable. She said that she schedules workouts around times in her day that suit her.
“You don’t have to wake up crazy early to workout. A workout at 7 a.m. is not going to be any better than a workout at 7 p.m.,” Burke said.
Bartolone, a criminology senior and the USF St. Petersburg Fitness Center student supervisor, said that he focuses mainly on weightlifting, but wants to get better at cardio.
How to Get Into the Workout Habit
Burke and Bartolone both said that they started making fitness a habit before they got to college because they were encouraged to stay active by coaches or family members.
Bartolone said he enjoys the understanding of anatomy that comes with the development of muscles, not the image.
“It is not about losing weight,” Bartolone said. “Human beings are active creatures. We move. It is kind of what we do. It is also healthy to move and it just happens to be so. It is not all about being bodybuilders, it’s about being healthy.”
Farley and Burke also said they agree that teaching yourself to stay active is not only about losing weight. They said that being active is about being healthy.
Farley said that she thinks some people might be discouraged going to a gym to work out because they don’t feel like they know what to do. Her biggest suggestion to people who feel uncomfortable at a gym is to try YouTube videos.
“It is okay to be a beginner at something, it is okay to be new and have to learn new things,” Farley said. “Also, you can always start working out at home, there are so many videos where you can get the basics down (and) get the form down. Practice in the privacy of your own home and then when you are comfortable you can take those skills to the gym as well.”
The trio said that they often have to find creative ways to motivate themselves to stay active.
Farley said she suggests using treats as motivation.
“Say if you work out for a month, maybe you could buy yourself something nice. Give yourself something to work for, like a tangible goal that maybe isn’t even fitness related, but that you can reward yourself with,” Farley said.
Burke said that she keeps herself motivated by working out with other people. She also suggests making a calendar to plan workouts ahead of time.
“I have a big calendar in my room, and I write down what days I’m going to work out and what times fit in my schedule. I guess that holds me accountable because if I see that I missed yesterday and I was planning on it, I kind of get disappointed in myself because I had time and I didn’t do it,” Burke said.
Bartolone said that another way to stay motivated is through scheduling an InBody session with the USF St. Petersburg Fitness Center.
The InBody session is a service that provides an assessment of body composition balance. The Fitness Center provides the service to students at a discounted rate.
“If you are trying to, let’s say, lose weight it will tell you your weight, your percent body fat, and your visceral fat,” Bartolone said. “It will calculate the fat that is healthy to have and the fat that is not healthy to have. If you are a person that needs to see progress in some way to stay motivated, the InBody is a great tool for that.”
Farley and Burke said that on days when they are not motivated, doing a small workout is better than doing nothing.
“Even if you do a small half-assed workout, it is better than nothing. It is still better to go on a walk around the block or do a couple squats at home than to do nothing,” Farley said.
Tips to Get Started and Keep Going
The best tip they could give other students who want to learn how to stay active is to not expect too much of themselves.
“Don’t expect a lot out of yourself at first, because then you are just going to crash and burn, and you won’t pick it back up. Start slow with maybe walking, then maybe get a gym membership and then maybe look at group fitness,” Burke said.
Burke said that although staying active doesn’t have to be painful, it will be hard sometimes.
“If you just keep pushing yourself to go even on days you don’t want to, you are going to develop a habit of liking it, liking the feeling, and slowly seeing results,” Burke said. “Then you will start to like it. You’re not going to love it at first if you haven’t done it your whole life. But there is a reason so many people do it.”
Burke suggested that people stick to workouts that they prefer to do.
“If you don’t like running, don’t do it, there are so many other ways to get your cardio in, try different things, try different workouts at the gym, try different machines, try a spin class, or the elliptical and if you don’t like that, there are so many different options,” Burke said.
Bartolone also said that he suggests working out at home and outside if going to a gym is not possible or is not enjoyable.
“People run outside all the time, push-ups, pull-ups. You don’t really need a gym to become active,” Bartolone said.
The students said that they believe everyone can be active, it is just a matter of self-motivation.
“Whether or not you spend the six months dedicated to yourself and whatever your health and fitness goals are, that time is going to pass no matter what so you might as well work on your goals,” Farley said.
