Wake up. Breakfast. School. Study. Dinner. Repeat. This was the routine of a typical high school student during Finals Week. Extracurricular sports were put on hold, healthy foods forgotten and replaced with salty snacks, nightly workouts swapped for test-prep. But in the midst of study breaks and sleepless nights, exercise was as important as ever.

“It’s generally assumed that exercise is good for your mental activity,” P.E. teacher Patrick McHale said. “Most people perform better academically if they have had some exercise that day.”

While Parker students hop from class to class during the day and work on countless hours of homework during the night, they may not realize just how important exercise can be.

“There’s better blood flow to the brain and an increase in neurotransmitters like dopamine, which makes you relax,” McHale said. “If you’re more relaxed or in a better mood, you generally perform better. Some people refer to it as ‘a zone.’ Whenever you’re in a space where you really feel good, you perform better.”

Still, exercise is easier said than done, and it can be hard to get started.

“I started exercising my sophomore year, because my freshman year I was very stressed out,”  junior Priscilla Roman said. “I was recommended to try and go running, but I completely ignored exercise. Once I started actually doing it, I fell in love with it, and that became my hobby. You can basically just leave your stress on the weights.”

The benefits of exercise help your whole body just as well as they do your brain. According to “Reader’s Digest: Health & Fitness,” students who exercise have less body fat and better mental health. Active children are better able to focus, and they have better memories and better problem solving skills.

“Exercise has definitely helped me in school,” freshman Anna Amacher said. “I have ADHD, and it helps me get homework done and calm down. I’m happier when I’m healthier.”

Still, it’s not easy to fit a few workouts in with more than five classes a day and extracurricular activities – but Parker can help.

“Parker’s been pretty good about exercise,” Amacher said. “We have Derek, and he’s there all the time. There’s definitely a community in the gym, and we always talk about healthy foods and things like that. Parker has an interesting health program, and they talk a lot about what to eat, but they probably don’t do enough.”

Roman agrees. “Other than sports, I don’t think it’s very publicized,” she said. “We have the weight room, but it’s so cluttered, and there are so many useless equipment. Parker doesn’t really encourage exercising.”

Parker may not go above and beyond to promote weights and training sessions, but the kind of exercise that benefits academic performance isn’t just hour-long workouts and training sessions–any exercise is good exercise.

“It would be nice if we had P.E. three times a week,” McHale said, “but I think that if you look at the level of athletic participation, it’s really high.”

This doesn’t mean anyone needs to hop on the nearest treadmill for hours on end or take chunks out of their day for the elliptical. Maybe instead of driving all the time, walk somewhere. Instead of taking the elevator, walk the few flights of stairs to the classroom.

“I would encourage all high schoolers to exercise,” Roman said. “Whether that’s a sport or just joining Derek the trainer. We get him as a bonus. He’s there to help people get fit. Exercise affects your performance in everything. It makes me feel happier and have better self confidence.”

Now that finals are over and the second half of the year is fully underway, a little bit of exercise can do wonders.