Norman — Taking time to exercise is crucial during the college years. There are plenty of ways students can fit a little toning and tightening into their busy schedules. Students around campus choose to uniquely exercise by utilizing free time, getting creative and really pushing themselves to be active.

Go to the park:

Climb up the fireman’s polls, do pull-ups on the monkey bars, push someone in a swing—the opportunities are endless here!

Flex your muscles:

Frank Lezu, computer engineering junior, refuses to waste his time when he could be sculpting his body.

“If I’m sitting doing nothing, I just kind of flex my muscles,” Lezu says. “My arms, chest and legs are the ones I usually do just so I don’t feel totally sedentary.”

Have sex:

Vigorous sex can burn up to 300 calories an hour.

Hair side bends:

“You stand up straight while you dry your hair, and while facing the mirror you just lean over to one side and then the other,” says Jennifer Cox, women and gender studies senior.

Clean:

It’s not the most exciting way to exercise but it’s a great way to burn calories (up to 180 every half hour) and to hide last night’s party before a parental visit. Examples include vacuuming, moping, dusting, organizing and dishwashing.

Drink cold beverages:

If it takes one calorie to raise one liter of water by two degrees then for every 40 F liter of cold beverages you drink, you’ll burn about 30 calories (you have to bring the temperature to about 60 F to maintain a constant body temperature). So drink up!

Go dancing:

Whether it’s doing the swing, the waltz or just getting jiggy with it, dancing is a great way to burn calories and have fun.

Have a mini-fiesta party for one:

Hold a 1, 2, 3 or 5 pound dumbbell weight in each hand. Extend arms outward and shake the weights like they are maracas. Do this for as long as possible—it gets really hard, really quickly.

Get really serious:

Matt Whiteway, physics senior, not only uses a few extra minutes here and there to get an out-of-gym workout, he takes up entire hours of the day to burn tons of calories. In fact, last week he biked 25 miles, then ran five miles immediately after in what he calls “fun exercise.”