BY JAMES PEETERS
Cold temperatures, short, dark days, and schedules filling up rapidly add to the stress of completing this year’s prolonged semester in the five weeks ahead. Sheridan students looking for a way to deal with the most hectic time of the school year could take advantage of Sheridan’s many counselling services.
However, some are finding another way to deal with the pressures of the final weeks of class: physical activity at Trafalgar Campus’ gym and cardio room.
Ani Qose is an Athletic Therapy student at Davis Campus. He has been training seriously at least four times a week since 2016. For someone who is in incredible physical shape, he maintains that the physical benefits are only half the reason he is so dedicated.
“Working out is 100 per cent a way for me to alleviate stress,” Qose says. “At first it sucked, but once I got better at doing the movements and started seeing results, it just became satisfying and relieving.”
The Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit medical practice and research foundation based in the United States calls the feeling a “runner’s high”. Your brain raises the production of neurotransmitters called endorphins during activity. It’s these endorphins that tell your brain you are feeling good.
“The feeling of exerting myself is definitely a great outlet,” Qose continues. “But mainly I go there and just escape, especially once you start getting familiar with people and the staff. It becomes a social environment, its own little community. I’d say 95 per cent of people there go to Sheridan or went to Sheridan and still live in the area. Sheridan provides a discounted rate for alumni that could encourage them to keep using their facilities.
Not feeling social? Qose makes it clear that no one takes offence if you use headphones to ignore everyone else there.
“You can totally zone out and clear your head. For the time you are there, you can totally cut off contact with every other person in the world.”
Being physically active for reasons other than changing body aesthetic is not uncommon. Ask Steph Dinsdale, a photography student at the Trafalgar Campus. Dinsdale says her main reason for using the gym is to clear her head.
“A lot of thoughts and stress build up throughout the day, so it’s good to take time for myself and work on my physical and mental health. I just focus on myself and try to end all my workouts with yoga to get in a good head space.”
Dinsdale also mentioned the tight community of regular members she sees when she works out as a positive. “There is never any judgement.”
Full time students’ gym membership is included in your student fees, so you never have to worry about paying at the door. As long as you have a student card, any full time student can enter without hassle.
The gym at Trafalgar Campus is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday. Weekend hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
