Shape It Up: _UCLA botanical gardens a fit place for a hike_

The hills and stairs on the UCLA campus certainly make it a workout just to walk to class. But I discovered this weekend that walking to class is not the only hike available to students on campus.

The Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden gives students an escape from campus without actually leaving its borders. It’s a perfect place for a light nature hike.

Upon entering the gardens, I immediately forgot I was at school. The only remaining reminder of the craziness of the UCLA campus was the squirrels.

I started my walk through the gardens at the main entrance on Tiverton Drive. The path brought me down through luscious green trees, bamboo and palms.

The trees provided shade from the hot sun and it felt as if the temperature dropped a couple degrees from the main part of campus. As summer weather is approaching, it was great to be able to exercise outdoors without battling the heat.

If you are looking for a workout more intense than a light walk, the botanical gardens will still suit your needs.

Among the trees, there was a grassy area perfect for conditioning exercises. The trees both allowed sun and cast shade upon this area so you can easily make yourself comfortable.

I saw someone meditating and later saw a man practicing fighting poses, so any student working out there wouldn’t feel out of place. It would also be a great location for a pre- or post-workout yoga session. After making my way through that environment, I turned a corner and started uphill.

This is when I suddenly found myself in the desert. I was surrounded by cacti and other succulent plants and the heat from the sun had found its way back to me.

The hill wasn’t incredibly steep, but the incline still increased the intensity of the walk. If you walk through the gardens more than once, you will eventually feel the impact of it.

For an especially difficult workout, you can use the incline for lunges. The incline will increase the intensity to work out your quadriceps.

While this is a health and fitness column, I have to admit that my favorite part of the gardens was not related to exercise at all: it was the turtles.

Yes, there are turtles on the UCLA campus. As I came to the southern section of the gardens I came across a pond where a bale of turtles relaxed on the bank and swam in the water. At one point, a frog swam by. It was a perfect meditative environment for cooling down after a workout.

This is where I decided it was the perfect time to sit down for lunch. Right by the pond there are some lunch benches in the shade. Packing a healthy on-the-go lunch is simple. Just pack a sandwich, a fruit, an extra snack and a drink.

For the sandwich, stick to whole grain bread so that the carbohydrates provide important nutrients and minerals, as opposed to a white bread that has little nutritional value. Any fruit that you like would work, as long as it is durable enough to handle being carried around for a while. For the other snack, I try to have something like cheese and crackers or trail mix.

The Botanical Garden is an amazing way to get as much or as little exercise as you feel up to by gearing it to your own fitness plan and enjoying a healthy lunch.

Where do you get fit on campus? Email Davis at [email protected]. “Shape It Up” runs every Friday.