Editor’s Note: This week marks the final in a three-part, biweekly news section series examining the health and fitness of college students.

Couch or gym? Car or bike ride? Elevator or steps? The latter choices that enhance fitness are activities that are often low on the list of priorities for college students with hectic, fast-paced lives.

Researchers at Rutgers State University recently reported: “Students entering their first year of college are faced with many stresses and changes, including changes in eating and exercise behavior.”

The study, which was published in the July/August issue of the “Journal of American College Health,” found that body weight and fat mass often increase in men and women in their first year of college.

Jason Blessinger, an exercise physiologist and personal trainer with Sac State’s Eating and Healthy Weight Program, explained that decreases in physical activity are partly responsible for this trend.”A lot of people say, ‘I don’t have time’ or ‘I’m too busy’ or ‘I have so much to do,'” Blessinger said. He has individuals with these concerns track their activities throughout the day and bring the summaries back to him for review.

“They realize that they really don?t do that much at all,” he said, adding that he then circles areas in which he wants physical activity to be inserted.

“I work with students to pinpoint spots throughout the day where maybe something like watching television can be taken out and walking can be added,” Blessinger said. Still, he said, most people have an excuse.

“People come in and say they were so active in high school, and now they’re in college and they think they’re so busy.” Blessinger said this is because, compared to having structured school and sports activities in high school, college students have to schedule in their own physical activity, which is difficult.

The danger, he added, is that months of inactivity add quickly and will catch up with students.

Robert Quintana, a kinesiology professor and director of the I.E. Faria Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory at Sac State, agreed that students need to be proactive about their fitness levels.

“It’s really important to be physically active and healthy right now because your lifestyle habits that you set up as a younger person are usually very consistent as you get older,” Quintana said. “Most people gain one to two pounds of body fat per year, so if you’re not exercising as you get older, you’ll gain weight.”

In addition to his teaching duties, Quintana runs SHAPE, the Site for Human Applied Physiology and Exercise, an exercise performance testing center on campus. This program provides state-of-the-art fitness testing by exercise physiology students at prices far below industry standards, including underwater weighing to determine body fat percentage.

“Students should be involved in regular physical activity,” Quintana said. “Your body function, both exercise and academic performance, is tied to its overall health. Even though you might not be clinically unhealthy, unhealthy lifestyle habits can definitely affect you. It goes back to that old principle of a sound mind, sound body.”

Research is examining the link between exercise and physical and mental impacts on the brain. A study presented by Oregon Health & Science University researchers Nov. 8 at the Society of Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans showed that monkeys who exercised regularly had a higher brain capillary volume (better blood vessel development) were more mentally engaged than monkeys that were sedentary. Changes were most significant in older animals that started the study at lower fitness levels.

Dan Potter is a student who is trying to get ahead of the game. The senior computer science major has met with Blessinger twice to have his fitness levels tested and receive nutritional counseling.

“My reason for coming is because it’s a good opportunity to become more educated about my health,” Potter said. “Since I’ll be graduating soon, I thought I’d jump on this opportunity to get a good exercise plan and information about nutrition.”

Potter said that while he was more active in high school and held jobs that included heavy lifting, his more recent computer programming positions have meant less physical activity. Now, as he attempts to add more exercise into his daily schedule, Potter said that time limitations and a general dislike of exercise fueled his sessions with Blessinger.

To help students like Potter, Blessinger schedules free one-on-one sessions where students can receive personalized advice. Blessinger is also in the Solano Hall weight room every Wednesday evening from 6 to 7 p.m. to answer questions and address fitness-related concerns.

Common concerns include weight management, strength training, fitness levels, disease prevention and increased sport performance. But the most requested services are the body fat analysis and fitness assessment, Blessinger said.

Students fill out an initial assessment upon visiting the center to give staff an idea of their current diet regimens, regular physical activities, fitness levels and any medical concerns. The assessment is also used to determine each student’s health-related goals.

From there, Blessinger can test an individual?s aerobic capacity and oxygen intake on a stationary bike and body composition with a pinch test. Both assessments only take a combined time of 30 minutes, Blessinger said, adding that they are beneficial because they can enlighten students as to how fit (or unfit) they really are.

“The tests give you a baseline as to what your physical fitness levels are,” Blessinger said. “They will give you numbers you can look at so you know where you stand.”

He said general guidelines require some sort of physical activity at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. But he said that the most important thing is for people to get outside and start doing something.

“Individuals who are sedimentary and who haven’t done anything in a while just need to get in any type of physical activity to begin with,” Blessinger said. He added that the best way to start is to get up and go out for a walk.

“Walking one day is better than none,” Blessinger said. “After adding that into the day, I tell people to start increasing days and times. I’ll give them target heart rates and intensity levels to work toward.”

Intensity can be varied by doing activities as simple as walking uphill or going for a jog-walk, where you switch between running and walking every two minutes. The key, Blessinger said, is starting small and increasing the amount and level of activity. Once a cardiovascular routine has been established, weight training can be added in.

Not having a gym membership is also no excuse, Blessinger said.

“If students don’t have access to a gym, go outside and go for a run, ride a bike, go on a walk or go up and down stairs,” he said. “Doing things on steps are great for the legs and you can do a lot of upper body exercises on chairs without any weights.” Students can make appointments with Blessinger to get a home circuit prescription, which is individualized depending on what area of the body is being targeted.

If students find it hard to get off the couch, Blessinger suggests becoming involved in a peer-supported activity to stimulate motivation. Recreational sports leagues or campus fitness classes are some options, he said.

Blessinger’s overall goal is to get students concerned about their lifestyles and to promote healthy habits that last a lifetime.

“Everybody knows that it’s good to exercise, but they don’t really understand that it’s a prevention of disease,” he said. “If you can just start doing some activity three times a week for 30 minutes, it’s more likely that you won’t have health problems later on.”

Blessinger may be reached by contacting the Eating and Healthy Weight Program at (916) 278-WELL. The center is located on the first floor of the University Union.

Megan Chuchmach can be reached at [email protected]