OPINION: Student Exercise

11th October, 2022, by Yelim C. (G.10)

How many of you sit in your tiny little chairs and study for like seven hours at a time? Don’t deny it—I know many of you do—because I have been there too. For two days in a row, I had a chemistry test followed by a theater line assessment. I sat in my tiny little creaky chair at home and studied like there was no tomorrow. But later on, I felt a major pain in my back. At the doctor’s, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. Scoliosis is when the spine curves and in my case was followed by a bent neck.

Sitting for a prolonged period of time is harmful for your body, therefore, students like us need more opportunities to exercise.

Even UCLA Health claims that sitting for a long amount of time can be stressful for your back, neck, arms, and legs. In addition, they stated that sitting in a slouched position can stretch the spinal ligaments too much and strain the spinal discs (Ergonomics for Prolonged Sitting). By exercising, you are stretching your body, also working your back. This would really stretch you out and merely stretching and taking some time off to go for a walk can improve your back health. Thus, we need more opportunities to exercise regularly rather than to sit in chairs and study.

Not only is exercise beneficial for our back, it will help us release stress from sitting in chairs all day. According to Harvard Health Publishing, they claim, aerobic exercise is good for your mental health as well as your physical health. They elaborate by saying, “the mental benefits of exercise have a neurochemical basis . . . reduces levels of the body's stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol . . . stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body's natural painkillers and mood elevators” (Exercising to Relax). Sitting in chairs all day may make your body stiff and stiffen up your brain as well. Your brain won’t work well if there is a problem with your physical self. So, in order to release stress and make your body work more efficiently, you should move your body and loosen it up a bit.

Having more opportunities to exercise can benefit students physically, mentally, and socially. By exercising regularly, students can gain the benefits of physical health. They would be healthy and more likely to be less vulnerable to diseases. They would also be much happier since they could be releasing stress. Which is true in my case. According to Harvard Health Publishing, when exercising, endorphins are released. Endorphins are the brain’s natural pain-reliever, and also releases stress (Endorphins: The brain’s natural pain reliever). Now you know why we feel so refreshed and satisfied after exercising. While it may not seem apparent, exercising also helps with socializing. When you exercise, there are many types of exercises to choose from. You could choose an exercise that requires more than one person to participate. Cooperating with others while exercising could bring social benefits that are beneficial for you. This form of exercise also brings endorphins to the body in two ways, chemical and mental.

But some say the benefits of exercise are overrated. They may say that exercise is a waste of time that just takes away the time that could be spent studying. But from my own experience, studying while stressed doesn’t do you any favors. My brain does not work well when it is stressed, in fact, it messes it up even more. Because my brain won’t work when I am stressed, I ran or walked to clear my head and that secreted endorphins, a natural painkiller. This destressed my brain; there is nothing taking big breaths of fresh air for me when I am stressed. As a result, exercising when stressed will be beneficial for you and also will increase efficiency of studying.

Thus, I believe more opportunities are needed for students to exercise than studying simply because: it helps release stress, it benefits students physically, mentally, socially, and it boosts efficiency of studying. It is recommended by CDC that children and adolescents aged 6-17 take an hour of exercise per day at least three times a week (Physical Activity for Different Groups). I generally think schools can help by creating a daily morning exercise program where students are encouraged to move around in their choice of exercise.

Sources:

“Ergonomics for Prolonged Sitting.” UCLA Health System,

https://www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/spine/patient-resources/ergonomics-prolonged-sitting.

“Exercising to Relax - Harvard Health Publishing.” Harvard Health, 7 July 2020,

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercising-to-relax.

“Endorphins: The Brain's Natural Pain Reliever.” Harvard Health, 20 July 2021,

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/endorphins-the-brains-natural-pain-reliever.

“Physical Activity Recommendations for Different Age Groups.” Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 July 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/age-chart.html.