Corey Gambon leads a stretching exercise during the WREC’s morning boot camp session. Mornings at the WREC are less busy than afternoons and evenings, allowing students more room to work out.
While you’re pushing, shoving and clawing your way into the gym this semester, you might be asking yourself whether it’s Black Friday, and if there’s a cut-rate TV inside.
The first few weeks of the semester have traditionally been a time for enthusiastic gym-goers to attack their fitness goals, and this year is no exception. The Wildcat Recreation Center has seen extreme amounts of usage since school started.
There is usually a huge increase in activity at the gym during the first two weeks of both fall and spring semesters, said Teresa Clements, the assistant director of member services at the WREC.
“Students are excited, they have a schedule in mind and they are putting their semester plan into place during the beginning of the school year,” she said.
Before 3 p.m. the crowd is less chaotic, Clements said. The evenings are the busiest time of day, and 5 p.m. is when the crowd really starts to grow.
“It’s crazy how many people are here,” she said. “We open at 6 a.m. and it’s nice and quiet in the morning.”
Senior communication design major Katie Mason said she goes to the WREC about two times per week and has noticed an increase in students recently.
“The other day I went to the gym at 11 a.m. to run on the treadmill and it was pretty crowded, but not too bad,” she said. “But by noon, tons of people started pouring in for workout classes, probably during their lunch breaks.”
The overwhelming number of students using the WREC is just a trend that will eventually die out as the school year continues, Clements said.
But Mason thinks otherwise.
“I honestly think the gym will always be crowded because working out has become a trendy thing to do, which is good for health reasons,” she said. “People go there to socialize and get their stress out, and over the past few years I think it has gotten more and more crowded.”
Junior exercise physiology major Ryan Ceccarelli admitted to being one of many students who go to the WREC more frequently at the beginning of the year.
“It is definitely always busier during the beginning of the school year because everyone is trying to get in better shape fast,” he said.
Ceccarelli finds it annoying when he is trying to work out in the crowded gym.
“If it’s really bad, I will cut my workout down by a few sets just because it’s frustrating,” he said. “But if I make my way all the way down there I’m not just going to leave immediately.”
Although it’s apparent many students feel a bit claustrophobic and overwhelmed by the busy gym, they shouldn’t get discouraged because the crowds will dissipate as the semester progresses, Clements said.
Kayla Smith can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.
