How Many of You Work Out Consistently?

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A while back I used to be the "fat kid" which really sucked. I turned to working out in order to get rid of this label - and it worked. Of course you end up studying the stuff that you're interested in and the more I learned about the world of physical culture the more I realized that keeping one's body in prime physical condition the better your life will be overall. This extends to one's mental ability.

I've lifted heavy for a while now and eat really clean in order to obtain my strength goals. I use hill sprints for conditioning. I've pretty much done some type of intense physical activity 6 days a week for 4 years. Unfortunately, I've not been as consistent since taking on the increased class load.

How many of you guys find that the time that needs to be invested in order to prep for applying to pharmacy school crowds out physical fitness activities? Are there people out there that can do both and succeed?

Originally Posted by Doulos

A while back I used to be the "fat kid" which really sucked. I turned to working out in order to get rid of this label - and it worked. Of course you end up studying the stuff that you're interested in and the more I learned about the world of physical culture the more I realized that keeping one's body in prime physical condition the better your life will be overall. This extends to one's mental ability.

I've lifted heavy for a while now and eat really clean in order to obtain my strength goals. I use hill sprints for conditioning. I've pretty much done some type of intense physical activity 6 days a week for 4 years. Unfortunately, I've not been as consistent since taking on the increased class load.

How many of you guys find that the time that needs to be invested in order to prep for applying to pharmacy school crowds out physical fitness activities? Are there people out there that can do both and succeed?

A valuable lesson that most students don't take away from college is the importance of time management. I myself have struggled with it but after graduating from school and working for almost a year in the real world, I feel like I have better management over my schedule.

It is perfectly possible to get great workouts in while applying to pharmacy school. The only REAL time consumer is gonna be your personal statement and PCAT studying (which I don't need to worry about since I have already taken it). Everything else should just be a matter of inputting your grades, etc.

I still run 10 miles every day and spend about 2 hours in the gym 4 times a week. I do cardio for 2 hours every day in the afternoon. What do I do in between workouts? Work on my personal statements and do some more background research on schools. This is working out for me great. On top of that, I am also studying for my GREs (gradschool is my backup plan in case I don't get into pharmacy school).

Lots of options and ways to apply to pharmschool and workout efficiently

This was an open ended question really and it depends from case to case how well you can manage your time and what you are willing to sacrifice.

There was a period of time that I would go to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Right now, since it is summer, I would be playing soccer for hours every Tuesday and Thursday. Because of my full schedule prepping for pharmacy school, I can't even enjoy my summer, let alone have time to sneak into the weight room at night every other day for a quick workout. You can say time management this, time management that, but trust me, when you're studying for a pcat, "enough" never exists. Even if you set a goal of studying an hour per day, it never feels like enough studying. I keep telling myself though, a few more months and I can relax a little bit

I had a hard time getting to the gym so my fiancée and I purchased an incline trainer, total gym, and rower. Now I have no excuse to not work out. I usually do 20 minutes on the rower three days a week while I watch a show. I do the treadmill twice a week on a difficult setting for thirty minutes. I do the total gym workout (15 minutes) three times a week. On weekends I'm on my feet moving around all day at work.

I just started this regimen a month ago and two pairs of pants are now too big for me. I haven't lost weight but it's because I'm building muscle/toning. My goal is to have the most amazing abs without losing my genetically favorable rear end (or so I've heard)

Working out doesn't take long at all and it increases your energy. Stick to it during school. By giving you a clear mind and improved concentration, you'll be more efficient at studying, which will offset the time you put in to work out/train.

An hour a day every day for the PCAT is a lot

I also strive to exercise daily. These days it is accessible to pretty much everyone. I remember about 15 years ago, the only way to have access to gyms was to fork out 150+ dollars for a recreation center membership. Now, there are those full service gyms on every street corner that only charge about 15 bucks a month.

I have found that exercising has increased my concentration, stamina, and overall attitude.

When I had classes and work, I hated working out because I wanted to relax when I had time off. Exercising is a good stress reliever for me, but it was hard to make time for it because I would guilt myself that I needed to study instead of work out. I'm swimming 3-5 times a week now that I have a break, but need to remember to keep it up when I start pharm school this fall. I'd like to think my time management has improved, we'll see how I feel in a few months!

Right now I'm decreasing my workout routine. I'm cutting out all weight-lifting stuff until the end of summer. Now I just run for 3 miles (~about 30 min.) and workout my abs only. I don't want to lose those hard-earning six packs 'cause ladies love them

With summer classes, upcoming PCAT, and PharmCas, I need that one extra hour from the workout routine.

Do the cost-benefit analysis!

I think it's very possible to fit time in for workouts. I used to work out for about an hour a day, trying to gain muscle mass because I'm a very skinny guy. I had to get up very early sometimes, but it's very possible.

Unfortunately for me, it wasn't so much an issue of time as it was money. It cost me way too much to eat the calories that I had to eat in order to gain weight (healthy food only), on top of the $50/month gym membership. I would have just bought my own weights but I had no room to put them in my house. So I just gave up working out.

I worked out today for about an hour but then remembered that I had in n out burger 4 times in the last week. I think I'm moving backwards

Originally Posted by Notecard

I worked out today for about an hour but then remembered that I had in n out burger 4 times in the last week. I think I'm moving backwards

With animal fries ?

I spend more time at the gym now because it's summer break and I'm bored, but while in school I found time to train for Warrior Dash. Anyone who has halfway decent time management skills shouldn't find it too hard to find an hour a few times a week to exercise. If you really can't pry yourself from application stuff or school, I did see some people bring their notes to the gym with them to look at while on the cardio machines. Personally, I like to keep school out of my gym time and have the mental break though, because I'm sure it helped me maintain some sanity, but to each their own.

=lauradiddle;12612429 I did see some people bring their notes to the gym with them to look at while on the cardio machines.

Whoa!! This is a great idea! Sometimes the easiest things are what elude us the most...

Originally Posted by owlegrad

An hour a day every day for the PCAT is a lot

I hope this isn't sarcasm because I know people who told me that they used to in the summer wake up, study, go to work and repeat during the weekdays. I think that's too excessive anyways.

I promise I wasn't using sarcasm. What are your classes for if they are not preparing you for the PCAT? (Other than preparing you for pharmacy school I mean)

I did very little 'extra' studying for the PCAT and did just fine. An hour a day for several weeks or months should allow one to blow the PCAT out of the park, provided you have recently taken the required coursework and succeeded.

Originally Posted by Buk Lau

I hope this isn't sarcasm because I know people who told me that they used to in the summer wake up, study, go to work and repeat during the weekdays. I think that's too excessive anyways.

Originally Posted by owlegrad

I promise I wasn't using sarcasm. What are your classes for if they are not preparing you for the PCAT? (Other than preparing you for pharmacy school I mean)

I did very little 'extra' studying for the PCAT and did just fine. An hour a day for several weeks or months should allow one to blow the PCAT out of the park, provided you have recently taken the required coursework and succeeded.

Ya, but I forgot pretty much all of the organic chem reactions. Also, I forgot a lot of Calculus since I took that a year and a half ago. Studying org. chem., biochem concepts, and calculus will be my greatest focus. I won't have much time to review anatomy and physiology and I hope they don't ask any specific questions about that.

Originally Posted by Buk Lau

Ya, but I forgot pretty much all of the organic chem reactions. Also, I forgot a lot of Calculus since I took that a year and a half ago. Studying org. chem., biochem concepts, and calculus will be my greatest focus. I won't have much time to review anatomy and physiology and I hope they don't ask any specific questions about that.

OK so it has been too long for me to give quality advice probably, bit I only recall the very simplest calculus problems being on the PCAT. Depending on your specific weaknesses I would recommend focusing on higher yield topics.

I think the biggest topics are verbal/RC, and basic chemistry/biology? Then some ochem, a little A&P, new this year biochem? Then the math of course, but not much Calculus that I can recall. I think Pearson gives a breakdown of the percent of each.

Originally Posted by owlegrad

OK so it has been too long for me to give quality advice probably, bit I only recall the very simplest calculus problems being on the PCAT. Depending on your specific weaknesses I would recommend focusing on higher yield topics.

I think the biggest topics are verbal/RC, and basic chemistry/biology? Then the math of course, but not much Calculus that I can recall.

That's what I remember too, the calculus bits were easy because they were just basic calculus. The harder questions were the algebra and trig ones lol.

Originally Posted by rxlea

With animal fries ?

Not really a fan of onions. I wish though they look so tasty.