Student Blogger Shares Overall health and Physical fitness Knowledge with University Friends |

Being healthy, trim and healthy can be hard for college students, and attaining the infamous “Freshman 15” is all the more probably these days supplied constraints necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s why overall health buff Nick Siegel ’22 decided to unfold the conditioning gospel on the web. His site, seagullstrength.com is a health guide customized to the wants and mentality of busy college or university students, showcasing exercises that can be done in a dorm home or exterior in a tranquil treed spot on campus.

You might consider that somebody who had been a lifeguard for the Recreation and Wellness swimming pool, served on the Campus Neighborhood Crisis Reaction Group, and belonged to Stony Brook’s Sailing Club would be brimming with overall health and self-confidence — but it wasn’t usually that way.

In point, the Stony Brook College biochemistry important, who is minoring in maritime science, endured from a weak self-impression for a lot of his teenage yrs. Caving to peer stress to seem greater, the self-described ectomorph used substantially of his youth making an attempt to bulk up, with unsatisfactory success.

Eventually he figured out a really hard lesson: His disparagers and taunters only cared about preening before the fitness center mirrors. Siegel at some point shifted his emphasis from only searching excellent to feeling match and becoming healthful. During the training course of his workout journey, even though reassessing his health goals, Siegel’s excess weight fluctuated from a “scrawny” 130 lbs to a bulky 180 pounds, and again down to 160 lbs and lean.

“I utilized to get cranky and hungry all the time, but now that I am concentrating on my nourishment and eating the correct meals at the proper periods, I sense much more energized and refreshed in the course of the total working day, even when I am hungry,” Siegel said. “Meditation has also assisted me feel significantly less nervous and pressured about each day functions and schoolwork, and I am much more in tune with my system and my feelings than at any time ahead of.”

His ultimate goal: getting rid of fats and attaining lean muscle in its place. The Seagull Power site helps to maintain him on observe and provides friendly, frequently humorous, tips to his friends.

“Seagull Toughness is a perform on terms of my previous title ‘Siegel,’ and I also like the alliteration. A fantastic pal of mine [Sid Maharjan] also intended the symbol that can be noticed on both equally my web page and Instagram of a seagull lifting a dumbbell,” he claimed.

The blog is structured into 4 categories, or what Siegel calls the four M’s of health and fitness: foods, muscle mass, meditation and way of thinking.

Each individual Tuesday, he posts a new website entry in a various classification of health, at some point rotating by way of all 4 subjects.

“I have an understanding of what kids like me are going by means of, and I realize how really hard it can be to stay in good shape and balanced in university,” Siegel explained.

His website and movies occur with a typical perception disclaimer for the exerciser to consult a medical doctor just before starting a fitness application.

“It is important to mention examining with your health care provider 1st simply because it’s possible one university student has knee problems and really should not be accomplishing an workout like squats, while one more student has excellent knees and squats are the ideal point to be doing,” he said.

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Siegel grew to become fascinated in exercise at a very younger age, but extra lately grew to become fascinated with the entire world of nutrition and how it ties into wellbeing. In particular, he realized that being overweight and being overweight-relevant deaths in The usa are escalating complications.

“If you have been overeating considering the fact that a youthful age, it can be extremely difficult to alter your behavior and lose excessive weight afterwards in existence,” he said. “That is why I feel commencing to target on your well being now, as a higher education pupil or even younger, is particularly crucial to reduce being overweight later on on in lifestyle.”

Siegel said the point of his web site is to market in general physical fitness.

“I do not want people today to total my workout ideas, drop 10 kilos, and then prevent and right away acquire it all again,” he stated. “My intention is for them to find out some good practices that they can continue on in the course of the relaxation of their school encounters or even their lives to keep healthy and healthy for prolonged periods of time.

Siegel claimed he turned to Instagram for the duration of quarantine as a way to encourage himself to continue doing the job out.

“If I forced myself to publish my exercise routines on Instagram, I would have my followers keep me accountable to basically complete them,” he reported. “However, I immediately fell in appreciate with the setting up, filming and editing of the movies I was making, and began publishing more and extra. Then I observed my next raise, so I needed to publish more enlightening information and facts that was scientifically based to help teach individuals about fitness and workout.”

Instagram, even so, has its limitations — it does not have significantly room for captions and most men and women are not on it to discover. Siegel came up with the strategy of a weblog that will allow extended posts and a web site that individuals can visit to learn how to keep healthy and in shape.

Up to now, Siegel relied on promoting his blog site by means of Instagram and other social media platforms this sort of as Facebook and Snapchat, with mixed achievement. Despite the fact that he is now basically relying on word of mouth and hoping individuals indication up for email notifications on his site, his final target is to get more individuals to sign up for his electronic mail checklist.

He credits Stony Brook University biology courses for encouraging him understand how to go through and analysis posts in a far more productive method, primarily when he is seeking to find the finest and most trustworthy types to cite in his posts.

Even though Siegel would never take into consideration himself a “computer whiz,” he does have a prosperity of technology working experience that has aided him fully grasp how to use the software package required to layout his blog site internet site.

For instance, he is the assistant to the meeting and events coordinator at Stony Brook’s Southampton Campus, exactly where he allows established up AV devices and troubleshoot technological innovation issues.

Siegel takes a neighborhood-minded technique to health, and is normally eager to assist others reward from what he has learned.

When he initially obtained commenced with Instagram, he presented conditioning guidance to close friends and spouse and children, occasionally even building total work out strategies for them for no cost.

“I actually just savored supporting them make improvements to their wellness and health, and it manufactured me really feel so superior to see how grateful they were being,” he reported.

Siegel realizes that no conditioning journey can be concluded by yourself, and he emphasized how significantly it intended to him that his good friends and spouse and children ended up generally there to support him in the two his possess private conditioning journey and now his new journey to help other folks, which was sparked by a nationwide tragedy.

In late May well, George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis.

“Having seen the movie of him currently being murdered, I realized I had to do anything, so I commenced providing workout plans on my Instagram for $10 just about every to elevate dollars to donate to the NAACP Lawful Defense and Educational Fund,” he said. “My moms and dads offered to match whatever I was capable to increase. I finished up raising $300, and in whole, considering the fact that I started out my Instagram, I have assisted 28 people with either exercise guidance or complete work out designs, and I really don’t program on halting whenever quickly!”

The conditioning routine on Siegel’s web site is primarily based on strategies that he had produced for other people.

“However, considering that several inexperienced persons have the identical aims and the identical tools, I decided to upload these on to my web site so that everyone can reward from them, not just private pals,” he reported.

As for Siegel, he functions out 4 days a week in his dorm space with resistance bands and parallettes bars, which resemble the parallel bars that gymnasts use. Two times a week he will work his full higher overall body, and the other two times he is effective his reduce overall body. He also follows the “if it suits your macros” (IIFYM) type of eating, outlined in his blog.

“The IIFYM Diet regime is just one of the least difficult diets to do while on a campus meal approach — where by I am in a slight calorie surplus, I am seeking to gain some lean muscle mass pounds.”

Though Siegel’s web site and website just take up a very good portion of his time, he always has an eye toward the upcoming.

He is now on a pre-med track, but is however undecided about which route to go after.

“Obviously, I am incredibly fascinated in overall health and nourishment, but I do also enjoy spending time on the drinking water and learning marine science,” he reported. “So I am currently striving to investigate all the possible paths out there and determine which one particular is the ideal a person for me. I could go down the nutritionist, actual physical coach or maritime science paths, or continue down my recent doctor path. There are numerous choices to pick from. But following all, is not that what faculty is for? To determine out what you want to do in existence? And so significantly, Stony Brook has been the great position to do that!”

— Glenn Jochum