Sporty Slovene Students

It was the middle of March and about 15 people were gathering in the student organization in Koper. Some of us were students on Erasmus+ mobility at the University of Primorska who were looking for fun activities and chances to meet some local students. We met there for a weekly workout session as part of a month-long student project called “From Lazy to Fit”. Nastja, our trainer came with her big smile and tremendous energy, put some motivational music and the exercise could start. After an hour of demanding strength and cardio training, we were all sweaty but really happy. The air was filled with positive vibrations and the organizers invited us to join them next week for training and the healthy food workshop. Little to say, I was fascinated that a group of students put this effort to organize a month long event of weekly training and workshops devoted to a healthy lifestyle.

This was the second year that the project “From Lazy to Fit” was organized – said Damira Omerčević, the organizer from Student Organization of the University of Primorska. This year the project included activities from boot camp fitness programs which were held by Nastja Podrekar, the graduate student of kinesiology. Omerčević explained the goals of the project: “Some of the goals were to make this project from student to students, so they can use Nastja’s knowledge of kinesiology and see how it works in real life. Another goal was to show to students that you can live healthily and be active even if you are a student and don’t have money for fitness clubs or group exercises.” Besides the workout programs which were held once a week, the project also included lectures about eating after working-out and the workshop on healthy sweets. “From Lazy to Fit” had proven to be very well accepted among the student population, as they participated in larger number than in 2017. “On the first meeting there were about 26 students, the workshop on healthy sweets was full with registrations”, Omerčević said and concluded that the number of participants depended greatly on the weather. If the weather was bad, there were around 4 or 5 people attending the training, otherwise, there were from 10 to 15 students.

The proven fact is that Slovenia is a country of sports lovers. The 2018 EU report about Sport and physical activity shows that only less than a quarter of Slovenians never engages in any kind of physical activity, what places them in a high 4th place of countries with the least amount of inactive people, just after Scandinavia. The EU 28 average is 48% of people who don’t do sports or exercise, according to the Eurobarometer survey of 2017. Almost half of the Europeans are inactive what presents the worrisome increase from 39% in 2009 and 42% in 2013. Tibor Navracsics, the commissioner for Education, Youth, Culture and Sports said that he encourages “all actors, from public authorities to sports organizations, to intensify their efforts and work together” in promoting healthy lifestyles, something Slovene students have no trouble doing.

Source: Sport and physical activity study: https://ec.europa.eu/sport/news/2018/new-eurobarometer-sport-and-physical-activity_en