Arushi Sharma | The more the healthier

In the middle of last semester, I pulled out a pair of shorts I hadn't seen since June. The weather was perfect for them. My waistline was not.

If there is such a thing as the Freshman 15 there is definitely the "Transfer Student 10." Gargantuan amounts of fatty, free food at Penn had consistently added calories to my otherwise-healthy home-cooked diet. My new addiction to late-night lattes from "the Wa" didn't help.

In October, friends began tweaking my cheeks and commenting on how "cute" I was a little too often. Okay, I value cuteness, but when people started referring to my cheeks on Facebook, I decided it was time to do something.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't being a lazy bum on purpose. Academic stress, extracurricular commitments, a general aura of fatigue and lack of motivation all prevented me from creating a solid regimen for myself. But determined to reform, in mid-December I pulled out my planner and began allotting times and dates for specific workout sessions.

You guessed it. It didn't work. Sometimes I procrastinated on the computer, sometimes I went out with friends, other times I just forgot or got buried under a backlog of work.

This semester, I decided to try again. After my first workout, I met College freshman Jana Hirsch. We engaged in a conversation that veritably changed my life.

Jana: "What are you working out for?"

Me: "My shorts."

Jana: "You should do 8 minute abs and buns with me. I'll do it with you right now."

Me: "Wait, aren't you working?"

She wasn't any more. I soon found myself leg-squatting and foot-popping with Jana to the eight-minute fitness DVD for arms, legs, thighs and buns featuring Jaime Brenkus.

As a solo work-outer I would never have dreamt of huffing and puffing in spandex, let alone while following a tape from the 90s. But killing the fat alongside an abs enthusiast worked like a charm. I went from being the diffident gymer to Jane Fonda's biggest fan.

To add to the joy, I realized that I had some serious company in my workout efforts - I found 10 people in my building who loved group workouts, too. The physical and mental results have been spectacular.

Seeing other people in the same boat as I am has renewed my confidence, enthusiasm and motivation for sticking to a workout plan.

A College sophomore and one of my workout buddies, Amin Osman agrees that working out is more "fun to do in a social environment." Even when he was in high school, he used to go the gym with friends or with his dad. While he feels that there is a stigma against workout tapes for men, he does prefer to kick it with female friends because "there's less competition" and he can do what he feels comfortable with.

He graciously offered DP readers a chance to check out recent results: "If you wanna come by and squeeze the abs, I'll let ya."

College sophomore Kelly Jin overheard our conversation. Though fit as a fiddle, one could tell she hadn't gotten sweaty in a while as waves of guilt passed over her studious face. She asked Amin, "Hey, do you wanna work out with me on Thursday?"

Working out with friends doesn't just motivate, it creates discipline and can help get you back on track when you stray from your regimen.

For example, I can't eat pizza and cake in front of Jana because I feel like I'm violating our bun bond. When College freshman Atenas Burrola bulldozes into my room with a foot-high ponytail at midnight for a quick workout, I say "no" because I'm writing my term paper. But I make sure I exercise with her the next day. She also screams at me when I choose the elevator over two flights of stairs.

You can get an additional burn by working out with people who make your laugh muscles hurt. This happened to me recently in a 24-minute Brenkus session as I lay on a mat between Atenas and College freshman Danielle Daitch.

"I can't close my legs, look how well she closes her legs."

"I feel like I'm having a baby."

The success strategy for group workouts is that they should be short, flexible and done in a time frame where at least one potential partner is free. For us students, that's usually late at night. Better than making "appointments," indicating a time range to your friends maximizes the chances that any one of them will knock on your door.

While group study may be a wholly unproductive enterprise, I strongly advocate that students get pumping with their friends. Results guaranteed.

Arushi Sharma is an College junior from Rockville, Md. Her e-mail address is sharma@dailypennsylvanian.com. A Case of the Mondays appears on Mondays.

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