Students often feel they don’t have enough time to stay active, given the stressful load of college demands.

The freshman 15 is often joked about, but it is an all too common occurrence. A study published on health.com found that 70 percent of students will gain weight during their college career.

Staying active doesn’t mean having to give up on striving for good grades, but, rather, it could be something as simple as injecting a few downtime changes. It can be easy to follow a few tips and tricks to staying active while still having the time for class work.

The change is a matter of a commitment and mental state change. Becoming active isn’t restricted to being an athlete in training, but rather starting small and staying consistent.

Start by doing a few ab exercises every night. Begin with a small amount and increase the repetitions every week, even if the only time to get them in is right before bed.

When the Netflix counter begins for that in-between show pause, do some jumping jacks with a challenge of how many you can get in before the next show starts. Make it interesting by keeping track and seeing how much you can improve.

Take the longer route between classes instead of taking shortcuts and arriving early, just sitting and waiting for the classes to begin. Force all the stairs to become an easy task by consistently avoiding the elevators.

During long study breaks and homework sessions, switch between sitting and standing to active the legs muscles and create more focus by standing.

Find a friend that has the same goals and begin doing activities with them to keep each other accountable.

Any free time during the weekend could make for a good opportunity to play some pick-up basketball, Frisbee golf or any other games that include moving.

Dates can even incorporate a healthy lifestyle by walking around a zoo, exploring a conservation area or simply just wandering through downtown while enjoying the views.

Join an intramural sport to help find those friends that will help to induce a more active lifestyle.

Being active in college doesn’t require an entire lifestyle makeover, just the start of small trends to help toward a bigger goal.