I take working out seriously as a daily supplement to my physical and mental health. First thing I do after waking up early every weekday is to hit the gym. It was difficult at the beginning, but I owe to this habit the sense of anchorage it provides me for the rest of the day. I feel refreshed and energized to start my day with full alertness. It also has me sleep soundly at night.

One thing I have noticed though is that I almost never bump into another graduate student during my workout. It is true that I tend to be too early for the average graduate student since I am a morning person. It is also true that some choose to workout at home. But, even when inquire others in my program, very few of them respond positively about working out regularly. In fact the vast majority don’t work out at all. Most graduate students report that they have very little time to dedicate for working out, given the workload they have. Others say it is going to drain their energy and leave them too tired to do research.

I understand that working out everyday is not everyone’s cup of tea, and neither should it be. The other extreme however is as problematic. Physical activity is important both for the body and the mind. We live in a time where most work is done at the desk. In addition, Covid-19 has turned our lives into a mesh of Zoom meetings. We are constantly fatigued by sitting for hours staring at the screen, not getting enough fresh air or sunlight. A little run in the park might be all we need.

What alarms me more, though, is the fact that students are not finding the time to take care of their physical needs. More precisely, they are feeling guilty for taking care of themselves. That is the dangerous part. It is when the self becomes less important than the goal.

I admire that many undergraduates take care of their fitness. I think that is an respectable habit to develop at a young age. But, I also think this disparity has a US vs. international dimension. I have noticed that Americans in general take their well-being seriously, whereas in many developing countries, fitness classes are cancelled in favor of scientific ones. This cultural difference might be one of the reasons many graduate students have not developed a strong sense of self-care.

I am glad that many graduate schools offer fitness sessions for students. These act both as a workout and as a time for socialization. I believe that more advertising and encouragement to join such classes would go a long way into normalizing physical health for graduate students. Promoting that in parallel to having a balanced diet and enough sleep can have a highly positive impact of the graduate community’s mental health.