Martina Gardeva (Bulgaria)

My name is Martina Gardeva and I am a Bulgarian postgraduate student in MSc Tourism Management and Marketing. When I am not studying, I really like to spend my time working out or playing tennis. As you know, football is a religion in the UK, but let me assure you that there are many other options available here at Bournemouth University.

State-of-the-art gym

The gym is very modern with plenty of space and machines available at your disposable. What is best is that you can create an account and log on every time you are doing cardio exercises and track your records. Also, you can get personal training and free nutrition diets for muscle gain, weight loss and so on. My recommendation is to go early in the morning, around noon and on the weekends, when there are not so many people.

Fitness classes

When you sign up for a gym membership (which is only £25 a month) you get free access to all the fitness classes as well. Whether you like relaxing yoga and pilates or something more intensive like spinning and HIT, SportBU has something for everybody. You can also sign up for training classes like abs &core, legs, total body conditioning, etc. All these are quite fun and easy and you get the chance to meet new people.

Pay & play sports

As a student of BU, you get the chance to take part in a variety of sports activities for relatively low prices. What is more, when you get the gym membership some of those will be free. Examples are football, badminton, volleyball, boxing, futsal, karate, basketball, etc… (you can find more information here) Apart from those, during the summer semester you can join the exciting adventure Wednesdays sports and learn sailing, windsurfing and kayaking. Training and equipment are all included in the price.

Teams and clubs

If you are really into a particular type of sport, you can join the club or the society for that. Popular choices are the boat club, the swimming club, the surf club and the sailing club, amongst others. On the other hand, if you are advanced enough and want to compete, you are more than welcome to join the university team for the sport you are interested in and represent BU in the national leagues.

No matter the sport or activity you enjoy doing, my advice is to find something you really like and do it in your free time. Working out not only keeps you in good shape, but also helps the body release the “hormones of happiness!”

By Martina Gardeva, Bulgaria, MSc Tourism Management, 2017/18