- Nicholar Bava,
ISU junior
NORMAL– Every year when leaves collect on the ground and snow fills the streets, a large percentage of the Illinois State University student population catches something a little more serious than the common cold.
Instead of the sniffles, many students unintentionally have negative reactions to the weather change due to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
The clinical mood disorder has an array of depression-like symptoms ranging from: lack of energy, increase of appetite, increase of sleep and extreme unhappiness or irritability. In addition, SAD has been found to have a direct connection to fitness enthusiasts’ lack of cheer and motivation towards exercise.
“I always feel a bit depressed about exercising when the weather gets colder,” ISU junior business major and fitness enthusiast Nicholas Bava said. “It always takes a little more motivation to bear the cold and go somewhere to workout when it’s freezing and getting dark out quick.”
The decrease in light during the fall and winter seasons is the leading cause in SAD due to the lack of vitamin D people are exposed to during the colder, darker months. Vitamin D is a crucial vitamin that acts like a hormone in the human body, and when the body experiences a deficiency, the tissues become fatigued.
“Most people produce up to 20,000 IU of vitamin D by being in the sun between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the summer, but in the winter leaving for work and returning home in the dark means no vitamin D,” John Martinez, M.D., member of the USA Triathlon’s medical staff, said to Runner’s World magazine earlier in the fall.
However, for Illinois State students, the newly constructed Student Fitness Center provides an incentive for people to overcome SAD and become excited about working out, despite the cold weather.
“With the Rec just being built, the new factor has drawn in a large amount of students who normally would not exercise as frequently,” ISU Fitness Center personal trainer Amanda Trefzger said. “We were initially pretty surprised how many people came to use our facilities, especially with the opening being in the winter when most people want to stay indoors.”
Medical doctors, like Martinez, found the best way for people to overcome SAD is to ignore the symptomatic negative thoughts surrounding working out and exercise for at least 35 minutes a day.
The ISU Fitness Center provides several options for students to increase their interest in exercise.
Machines such as: treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bicycles increase cardiovascular fitness, while the various weight machines increase strength. The fitness center also features a swimming pool, rock climbing wall and an indoor track.
Additionally, the fitness center provides free fitness classes on scheduled days of the week featuring classes such as: zumba, yoga, cardio kickboxing and cycling. A registered, experienced instructor teaches each fitness class, such as Trefzger.
“I didn’t go to the old fitness center in the winter very much because it was hard to be motivated, but with the new one having so many machines, weights and other workout options, I feel more excited about working out every day,” Bava said.
Maggie Barnick, ISU junior elementary education major, has spent the past six months training for a half marathon, and she has been utilizing the fitness center when it is too cold to run outdoors.
“I was really motivated to train for the half marathon coming up in the spring,” Barnick said. “But once winter really hit I had a really hard time sticking to my workout plan. I felt tired all the time and just wanted to stay in my apartment. Once the Rec opened, I instantly found my motivation again. I have been running at the fitness center almost every day and I definitely don’t have feelings of tiredness or lack of motivation anymore like I used to.”
According to nutritional biochemist findings, stress is increased when people skip workouts, particularly people who have mild to severe symptoms of SAD. When stressed, the body releases the hormone cortisol, which can cause a domino effect in the body, reducing testosterone and interfering with brain neurotransmitters. The stress can further result in decreased motivation, anxiety, fatigue and depression.
However, like in Barnick’s experience with training for the half marathon, exercise, specifically running, can act as a natural de-stressor. Running can clear the excess levels of cotrisol and rebalance the negative effects of stress.
“I can see how I could’ve had symptoms of seasonal affective disorder,” Barnick said. “Thankfully, the ISU Fitness Center opened just at the right time.”