Auburn University’s Recreation and Wellness Center is ranked one of the best in the country according to Men’s Health Network.
The center is offering new programs this semester, including group fitness classes, personal trainers and an original invention: deskercise.
“One of our goals in these new programs has been to promote health over sickness,” said group fitness coordinator Christina Coleman.
Coleman said William Jackson, director of recreation programs, has always held a vision of promoting movement at any location. He wants people who are stressed or busy to feel like they still have time to exercise.
“It’s shown that even small amounts of exercise will increase productivity and brain power,” Coleman said.
This was the driving force behind the idea of deskercise. Deskercise is a resource available on the Recreation and Wellness Center website that features weekly videos of 3-5 minute workouts.
“The videos are a blend of different exercises that you can do at home or at your desk without having to change clothes,” Coleman said. “We currently have five weeks up and people can mix them up, but just take a minute to do those four exercises twice.”
Laure Butcher, coordinator for personal training, said this year they delved into improving the personal trainer program, focusing more on what students wanted out of the program.
“We wanted to offer different types of personal training, but also keep them at a minimal cost so that students could afford it,” Butcher said.
Along with the typical personal trainer, the Recreation Center also offers small group training and semi-private training. Semi-private training was created for students who don’t want to train alone, but also don’t want a large group, Butcher said.
“After you meet with your trainer for your assessment and you tell them what you are looking for and what you want to work on, then you work out your schedule with them,” Butcher said.
The small group training sessions are different because they are made for 4-8 people and occur twice a week, according to Butcher.
“Right now we have small group sessions every Monday and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. for five weeks,” Butcher said. “You and some friends can come and sign up to exercise together.”
Butcher said all of the personal trainers are certified and the classes range in price from $12-18.
The personal trainers can be personalized for certain events such as Greek sing.
“We had a lot of feedback from the student body last year about students wanting to be better prepared for Greek sing,” said Susannah Taylor, coordinator of fitness at the recreation and wellness center.
Greek fit classes are currently offered free of charge at the recreation center every Monday and Thursday at 8 p.m. Students will be able to work on conditioning, coordination and any number of specified movements such as “burpies” or synchronization.
“The way it’s set up is so that Monday is more of a conditioning class and Thursday is more of a performance style,” Taylor said.
“Another new thing is that we now have trainers on the floor everyday from 4-7 p.m.,” Butcher said. “We wanted people who work out to be able to have someone there to spot them or offer guidance when they need it.”
Butcher said small group training features an a la carte option, allowing students to sign up (minimum of four people per class) for a class that they can design themselves.
“You can sign up on our website and we offer suggestions for what you may be looking for like strength training, or maybe you’re training for a 5K,” Butcher said.
Taylor is also in charge of Destination Recreation, a new program launched this fall to help freshmen adjust to all of the new facilities offered at the Recreation Center.
“The program is six weeks long, and we meet twice a week,” Taylor said. “Each week we highlight a different program, and it really helps open their eyes to all of the different options they have here to be physically healthy.”
Destination Recreation was created for freshmen to learn about the entire Recreation and Wellness facility. The class is oriented at helping them meet new people.
“The feedback has blown me away already with freshman saying that’s what they look forward to each week,” Taylor said.
Butcher said many of the Recreation and Wellness Center’s programs were designed with the mental health initiative in mind.
“Coming up, October 5-9 will be our exercise initiative: mental health, that we have teamed up with different departments,” Butcher said. “Every department is sponsoring a different event, and we are just trying to get people talking and thinking about the relation between mental and physical health.”
All of the fitness classes and personal training information can be found on the homepage of the Recreation Center’s website.
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