While some students focus on school or hobbies, others find different ways to relieve stress. One approach students gravitate towards is finding comfort in going to the gym. This allows them to release energy and partake in an activity outside of school.
The gym is a place to work towards many forms of self-improvement, one of the most popular being a desired physique. Seniors Jaelyn Torres and Adrian Gayosso attend the gym consistently or with this goal in mind. Even though they are not involved in sports they still have to balance the gym, school and jobs.
Taking after her older sister, Torres decided to implement the gym into her daily routine.
“My sister is a big gym rat, so I kinda just started going with her cause I would just stay home and do nothing so might as well go to the gym to start a routine kind of and so that’s what I started to do and it stuck with me,” said Torres.
Not only does Torres attend the gym to feel better physically, but to help maintain her mental health and stress.
“My favorite thing about the gym is releasing stress, like anytime I’m stressed about school or stuff I just go to the gym and it just blocks out everything,” said Torres.
While attending the gym for eight months, Torres was able to achieve a personal record of two 45 plates on each side on a workout focusing on the back muscle group, the back machine row.
“I go four to five days out of the week, I try to push myself even when I work to go after work, so I’d be going like around eight to 11,” said Torres.
Similar to Torres, Gayosso also attends the gym to keep himself in routine by motivating himself to become stronger each week. What adds to the motivation and consistency is the reward of building muscle, creating healthy habits and feeling better all around.
“The progress you’re making or the way you feel after your workout and seeing myself reach my goals helps me with motivation,” said Gayosso.
Gayosso tries to go as consistently as possible to maintain his physique and strength. The gym has helped him achieve his goal of creating a better version of himself as he continues week by week.
Gayosso first started attending the gym consistently when the public gym Planet Fitness offered their free summer pass for high school students that started in May 2023.
A common struggle amongst students who attend the gym is being able to balance workouts and job commitments while still in school, Torres and Gayosso both relate to this due to their part-time jobs.
“Before work I was going more consistently, probably about five days out of the week now I only go about three days a week,” said Gayosso.
Although the gym can be taxing physically and mentally, consistency to a self-made promise translates into real life. Teenagers who are working towards building their character and shaping who they want to become can use it as a way to build discipline, work on self esteem, and build themselves into someone they want to be.
