Working out in Med School

[DrCheerful]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Do you guys find time to stay active during med school? What sorts of things do you do? How long per day? Thanks!!

 

[MCAT guy]

Do you guys find time to stay active during med school? What sorts of things do you do? How long per day? Thanks!!

I read a lot of threads on this and asked many of the students at all my interviews, the consensus is, "yes, there is time. If you make time for it." And most MS2s, that hadn't been active as MS1s, said they noticed improvement in their concentration, health, and happiness.

As for time, I can't imagine more than ~60 min workouts, 3-5 days a week.

Stronglifts 5x5 FTW. I'm doing it right now and will continue through 1st-2nd year. 3rd and 4th year will be much more difficult, so we'll see.

Definitely google "SDN workout medical school"

 

[mdeast]

You have time. Plenty of time in fact...assuming you want to. Again, I make the point that graduate school (regardless of it's identity) is more of what you make of it. Most medical schools recommend balance between personal lifestyle and school, so it's highly encouraged at US med schools to stay in shape and do other things that make you happy.

I did long runs (4-8 miles) 3-4 times a week my first semester in med school. And, I'm just starting a somewhat intense work-out regime P90x, which so far (3 days in...) has been pretty fun. I actually started this during finals week if that gives you any indication of the "grad school is what you make of it" thing.

Med school is a lot of work...but to be honest, once you develop the right study habits, the volume of the material becomes much easier to manage than it was the first few weeks you were here. You just get in the swing of things and it starts to come a little more natural. You do the work, learn it, and make sure you're not forgetting about all the other things that interest you in medicine and outside of medicine.

Also, while I think it is highly dependent upon where you go to medical school...I tend to feel as though my study time hasn't been ridiculous yet. I put in maybe an hour a day most weeks (outside of attending classes and paying attention). That leaves plenty of time during the day or evening for exercise time (which is a great break from other work), drinking, going out for dinner, whatever you want. For you, maybe this isn't enough time. But for me, it works and I've been passing all my classes thus far without too much trouble.

As for how that changes in your MS3 year once you start clinical rotations and your schedule gets taken over (particularly required clerkships like Medicine and Surgery).....that I cannot attest to. For now, the first two years seem pretty manageable.

P.S. Choosing medical schools with P/F grading the first two years is incredibly beneficial in maintaing this lifestyle.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

I read a lot of threads on this and asked many of the students at all my interviews, the consensus is, "yes, there is time. If you make time for it." And most MS2s, that hadn't been active as MS1s, said they noticed improvement in their concentration, health, and happiness.

As for time, I can't imagine more than ~60 min workouts, 3-5 days a week.

Stronglifts 5x5 FTW. I'm doing it right now and will continue through 1st-2nd year. 3rd and 4th year will be much more difficult, so we'll see.

Definitely google "SDN workout medical school"

I don't think this workout is going to do much for your endurance...

 

[littlealex]

It's interesting because I am literally about to step out the door to the gym. I work out about twice a week for about an hour. With commuting to the gym and showering and all that, it takes approximately 2 hours per session. You EASILY have time for that in medical school. First two years you typically have a lot of free time.

Really the only time you will not be able to make it to the gym w/o sacrificing sleep is during the surgical rotation when the hours are just crappy. You can still work out, I didn't because I just wanted to sleep a few more hours. Many people still worked out during that time though.

 

[silverhorse84]

You just have to make time for it. For me, I have the most energy in the morning, and I wake up early easily so I'm up by 5am and get a 60min workout before heading to school (lift 3x a week, cardio 3x a week, rest 1 day).

We had several people who trained for and either ran or rucked the Marine Corps Marathon (including quite a few MSIIs). Anything's possible, you just have to figure out what you want and how to make it all fit. 🙂

 

[TarHeelEMT]

You can do it without too much difficulty on all but a few third year rotations. I'm on obgyn and can only work out a couple days a week. I just go home and immediately fall asleep from exhaustion most days. 1st and 2nd year I was in the gym a lot.

 

[ronaldo23]

I read a lot of threads on this and asked many of the students at all my interviews, the consensus is, "yes, there is time. If you make time for it." And most MS2s, that hadn't been active as MS1s, said they noticed improvement in their concentration, health, and happiness.

As for time, I can't imagine more than ~60 min workouts, 3-5 days a week.

Stronglifts 5x5 FTW. I'm doing it right now and will continue through 1st-2nd year. 3rd and 4th year will be much more difficult, so we'll see.

Definitely google "SDN workout medical school"

Yep. Stronglifts or Rippetoe's Starting Strength (which is essentially the same thing), is great, and doesn't require a huge commitment more than 3-4 60 minute workouts a week. Also, a great book on nutrition that really changed my life was "Men's Health Muscle Chow" by Gregg Avedon. It's 150 recipes that are all very easy to make and healthy (low sodium, high protein, complex carbs, fruit/veggie heavy).

 

[thefritz]

Do you guys find time to stay active during med school? What sorts of things do you do? How long per day? Thanks!!

If you have a girlfriend or wife that lives with you, forget about it. She will expect anytime that you don't devote to med school to be devoted to her. So, please dump your girlfriend before med school and don't make her and yourself suffer.

 

[SirGecko]

You will for sure have time for exercise so long as you decide that it is something you want to do, particularly in the first two years. I think a lot of people underestimate how much free time they really have or will have in medical school. With the exception of a few time periods anyone who thinks they "don't have time" to exercise is also overestimating the time commitment it requires, you can usually spare an hour or two a few days a week. (of course I can't speak for residency or clinical rotations)

 

[mvenus929]

If you make it one of your priorities, you will have no problem fitting it in. You won't necessarily have time to do everything that you did in undergrad... you will spend more time overall studying, but you'll have time to do other things as well.

 

[MilkmanAl]

The first 2 years, I worked out 3 times a week for about an hour and a half each time. It was no problem at all, even during first year when I was actually going to class. This year, my surgery and OB rotations got in the way of my workout pretty substantially, but now that I'm on psych, I'm back at it. However, I've started going for about an hour each day instead of 3 times a week. The point is that you can absolutely have a normal, productive workout regimen going during med school. There will be times when you'll have to forgo a couple sessions, but for the most part, you'll be fine.

 

[URHere]

As others have said, there is plenty of time for exercise during MS1/MS2, even if the things you like to do are a little bit more structured.

Personally, I've kept up with my martial arts training during medical school and I usually spend about 1.5-2 hours at my dojo 3-5 days a week. I know that others at my school have religiously attended such health center gems as "cardio funk", and about 25% of my med school class ran the Portland marathon last year.

Exercise is worth the time. Besides, at most schools you'll be paying a mandatory gym fee anyway, so you might as well use it.

 

[searun]

I did a triathlon during my first year of med school. I am currently a 4th year med student and I ran the New York City Marathon last month. Presently, I am in the best physical condition of my life. I did have to cut back on my training during third year but I have had plenty of free time to work out and train during 4th year. Alas, I am starting a 5 year surgical residency next summer, so no more marathons for awhile.

 

[n3xa]

Stronglifts 5x5 FTW.

I loved that workout and what it did for my butt. I didn't think I was capable of lifting that much weight.

This year we're doing Tough Mudder so the workout routine is a bit different though.