Exercise in UCD

There are plenty of choices in UCD to try exercise and a beautiful campus to go for walks in.

UCD run an 8 week ACE (Active Campus Europe) programme which is open to all students and may be an easy way to get started. Please click here for more information.
For more information on sports and fitness facilities check out the ucd website http://www.ucd.ie/sport.
To check out UCD's award winning gym please click here and to register for a student membership click here.
Please also check out Healthy UCD. It is a great resource for all things healthy and details of what health events and activities are happening around UCD campus.

Why Exercise?

Exercise can boost your mental and physical health, improve your academic performance and overall contribute to a happier more fulfilled life. Oftentimes, we make excuses about why we cannot exercise but take a few minutes to consider the benefits of exercise and plan how you can build it into your life.

I don't have time to exercise! You don’t need to spend large amount of time exercising to gain benefits. You can build it into your normal daily routine e.g. walking at lunchtime, cycling or walking to college, taking brief exercise breaks while studying.

How Much Exercise? The amount of exercise required is about 25 to 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 4 to 5 times a week. Moderate intensity exercise requires that you push yourself to a point where you feel you have to breathe harder, but that you would be able to talk to a person if they were beside you.

Exercise does not have to be the gym. It can be a dance class, swimming, hill walking, cycling or any combination that suits you.

Recognised Physical and Psychological benefits that result from taking regular exercise:

Boosts energy levels
Feel and look better
Improves ability to fall asleep and sleep well
Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and high blood pressure
It is very effective in helping weight management (in combination with a healthy balanced diet]
Being active and feeling strong will help you feel more self-confident and sure of yourself.
Promotes mental wellbeing, improves mood and reduces anxiety
Improve focus and performance in your college work. You feel mentally sharper and have a better student-life balance.

According to Dr Mike Evans, small changes and 30 minutes a day can have a massive improvement on your health. Please see www.eva nshealthlab.com/23-and-12 -hours for more information.