Exercise Your Frustrations Away

Whether it is jogging, walking, biking, mild aerobics, pushups, or a pickup basketball game, physical exercise is a very effective
way to stimulate both your mind and body and to improve your ability to think and concentrate. A surprising number of students get
out of the habit of regular exercise, ironically because they’re spending so much time prepping for exams. Also, sedentary people—
this is a medical fact—get less oxygen to the blood and hence to the head than active people. You can live fine with a little less
oxygen; you just can’t think as well.

Any big test is a bit like a race. Thinking clearly at the end is just as important as having a quick mind early on. If you can’t sustain
your energy level in the last sections of the exam, there’s too good a chance you could blow it. You need a fit body that can weather
the demands any big exam puts on you. Along with a good diet and adequate sleep, exercise is an important part of keeping yourself
in fighting shape and thinking clearly for the long haul.

There’s another thing that happens when students don’t make exercise an integral part of their test preparation. Like any organism in
nature, you operate best if all your “energy systems” are in balance. Studying uses a lot of energy, but it’s all mental. When you take
a study break, do something active instead of raiding the fridge or vegging out in front of the TV. Take a 5- to 10-minute activity
break for every 50 or 60 minutes that you study. The physical exertion gets your body into the act, which helps to keep your mind and
body in sync. Then, when you finish studying for the night and hit the sack, you won’t lie there, tense and unable to sleep because
your head is overtired and your body wants to pump iron or run a marathon.

One warning about exercise, however: It’s not a good idea to exercise vigorously right before you go to bed. This could easily cause
sleep onset problems. For the same reason, it’s also not a good idea to study right up to bedtime. Make time for a “buffer period”
before you go to bed: For 30 to 60 minutes, just take a hot shower, meditate, simply veg out.

NUTRITION AND STRESS: THE DOS AND DON’TS

Do eat:

Don’t eat:

Fruits and vegetables (raw is best, or just lightly steamed or nuked)

Low-fat protein such as fish, skinless poultry, beans, and legumes (like lentils)

Whole grains such as brown rice, whole wheat bread, and pastas (no bleached flour)

Refined sugar; sweet, high-fat snacks (simple carbohydrates like sugar make stress worse, and fatty foods lower your

immunity)

Salty foods (they can deplete potassium, which you need for nerve functions)