Witness the Fitness | Natalie Montanez

Last Wednesday was a perfect day in State College. The temperature was in the upper 60s, the sun was shining, and the HUB lawn was covered with students studying, playing volleyball, and enjoying themselves despite their stresses. Realizing that I too wanted to get involved in the festivities,  I gathered my books and a freshly popped bag of popcorn and made my way to the Atherton Courtyard. On my way down the stairs, I heard my stomach growl. I hadn't eaten all day, so I decided to open my bag of popcorn. This was my first mistake. As I was opening the popcorn, I missed a step and fell to my demise. To top it off, I heard a loud thundering crack from my ankle. I started laughing because of course, it would be me who would fall down the stairs because I was THAT hungry that I couldn't wait to open my bag of popcorn. I'm just happy no one was there to see me because I actually would have died of embarrassment. Picture of woman falling from Google Once I was a...

Picture of Candy Hearts from Google Happy day after Valentine's Day! Today is a day I look forward to all year. Not only is all the lovey-dovey stuff over, but Valentine's candy is also 50% off!!!!  Because of this fact, I needed to work out so I didn't feel as guilty when I spent a ludicrous amount of money on truffle chocolates and Skittles. My best friend, Ava.  My friends, Ava, Emily and I went to the gym last night because we are all super single and wanted to do something to make ourselves feel better Ava is basically a gym goddess; she is on the Club Field Hockey team, runs every single day, and can beat anyone in a push-up battle. Her mission of the day was to teach me and Emily her personal workout, which I was not prepared, considering I ate not one, but THREE West Cookies today. The workout began with the deadly treadmill. If you have read my previous post , you know that the treadmill and I don't always see eye to eye, however, I wanted to f...

Winter is my favorite time of year. Not only is the scenery beautiful, but it's also so cold that I have an excuse to not leave my room. Winter is usually my offseason in terms of running, so I become a sloth throughout the snowy months of December through March. Sloth Picture from Google Today, Penn State declared a snow day!!!! All of the buildings on campus were closed, including the gym. To me, this meant that I was going to sit in bed in my pajamas and drink hot chocolate all day. However, I knew this was not conducive to my "fit lifestyle." The grind does not stop solely because of a closed gym. So, I dragged myself out of my warm bed, put on workout clothes, and started googling at home workouts. I was able to find a decent workout  online and modified it in order to fit my level of endurance. It is called a "Full-Body Circuit for Women." This type of workout includes small bursts of different movements with minimal breaks. But before I starte...

We are going to throw it back to my high school years. I started running competitively when I was a freshman after playing soccer for years. I had no idea what being on the cross-country and track teams team would entail other than knowing I would have to run a lot. Little did I know the extent of mileage I would be running. Every day I ran an average of over 5 miles.  YUP, YOU READ THAT RIGHT. 5 miles a day, 5 days a week. I was in the best shape of my life. Pictured to the left is me at the William Invitational running my record in the mile run at 5 minutes and 48 seconds. Looking back now, I can hardly believe that that was me less than a year ago.  Now let's come back to the now. I went to the gym with my best friend Nina on Monday night. We decided an evening run would be easier because no one goes to the gym at 10p.m., right? WRONG!!! We walked into the jungle.  Picture of Jungle from Google Imagine the Amazon with its moistur...

Riding a bike has never been a favorite activity of mine. First of all, it requires effort from basically every muscle in your legs and second of all, helmets are uncomfortable, unattractive, and just disgusting. Old Natalie would have avoided bikes at all costs, however, I am on a mission to be fit. So I swallowed my pride and went to my first spin class.  Picture of Man on a Spin Bike Spinning is a high intensity interval type of workout that incorporates all the difficulties of outdoor cycling without actually being outdoors or wearing the grotesque helmets I talked about previously. The bikes are stationary and can be adjusted based on your height. They include a knob that adjusts resistance, meaning it can adjust how hard it is to pedal the bike, mimicking biking uphill.  I was extremely intimidated walking into this spin class. On the Penn State White Building website they said it was required for participants of the class to bring a TOWEL . Basically, this m...

1...2...3... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! If you’re like me, every January 1st you’ve made a long list of inspiring resolutions that never get accomplished.  However, this year I am determined to get fit. Trust me, I know this goal is generic. Millions of people have my same goal every year and not many people accomplish it.  Like those millions of people, I am not someone who can dedicate countless hours to the gym and I don’t love healthful food. But I do love the way working out makes my body feel. In high school, I was a part of my school’s track and cross country teams. That feeling of running kept me level headed in academics and overall physically fit. However, as a freshman at Penn State, I have done the bare minimum in terms of physical activity. Working out is not only beneficial for my physical health, but also for my mental health. Penn State academics are not easy, especially not for a young Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major like myself. I need to work o...