Opportunities abound for students wanting to get in shape

Campus gyms are good bargains

Every year, around mid-January when a new year begins, many Americans find a renewed interest in working out and staying fit. After a long winter break, many Penn State students returned to University Park hoping to keep their recently made New Year's resolutions and get in shape.

There are several locations to work out, both on or within one block of campus. These places offer a variety of different services, including price, location, equipment and atmosphere. Each fitness gym provides customers something unique, whether it be to someone familiar with working out or someone working out for the first time.

Bodyworks Health and Fitness Center

Denny Lingenfelter, manager of Bodyworks Health and Fitness Center, 127 Sowers St., boasts that Bodyworks is "the largest, best equipped health club in town."

Bodyworks does offer an impressive amount of fitness equipment and other services. A flyer for Bodyworks advertises over 50 different features. Highlights include 5,000 square feet of free weights, a variety of cardiovascular equipment and a number of aerobic work outs.

Variety seems to be one of Bodyworks' best features.

"We try to motivate the people," Lingenfelter said, "by having so many different things to use that they don't get tired of using one piece."

Lingenfelter said Bodyworks appeals to students by offering helpful service whenever needed. He also stressed his health club's convenient hours. Bodyworks is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Kevin Nash (junior-administration of justice), who works out five days a week, said he likes Bodyworks because of its shear number of equipment.

"I've worked out at Rec Hall a couple of times and the IM (Intramural) Building," said Nash, while working on curls. "I found the equipment there was limited."

Good location is another important aspect of a health club.

Joe Romano (senior-architecture engineering) goes to Bodyworks because of its location.

"It's close to where I live," said Romano, who lives on East Prospect Avenue, "and it's got everything you need."

One possible drawback of Bodyworks, though, may be price. The health club advertises its services at $24 per month, but this is after a $99 initial investment. The $24 fee is charged only with a 24-month membership, while memberships less than two years cost more than $24 per month.

Lingenfelter insisted that $24 per month is a reasonable price for students.

"We set a price based on students' budgets," he said.

Intramural Building

The IM Building provides one of several opportunities for students to work out on campus. For those who choose the IM Building, cost is not a problem. It is free for students to work out.

However, there is not much of a selection of equipment to choose from. The weight room is small with only a handful of weight machines. There are no free weights and no cardiovascular equipment.

Caralyn Worth (senior-kinesiology) gets the cardiovascular workout she needs by walking from where she lives on Pugh Street to the IM Building to lift weights. She feels the IM Building has all the equipment she needs to get a good workout.

"I went to Bodyworks for a while," Worth said, "but I found out I could get just as much here without spending the money."

Martin Piotrowski (junior-sociology) also likes the fact the IM Building is free.

"I really didn't want to pay for a serious gym," Piotrowski said.

Because there is no cost to work out at the IM Building, there is no money to pay attendants and often equipment can become damaged.

An employee who works at the equipment room in the IM Building, who wished to remain anonymous, said there have been incidents of vandalism and misuse of IM equipment. He still feels, however, the IM Building is a good place to work out because of its available hours: 7:30 a.m. to midnight everyday.

"It fits your schedule," he said. "It's always open."

Another reason people work out at the IM Building is because it is usually easy to get on a machine.

Piotrowski said he prefers to lift at Rec Hall, but he comes to the IM Building because it's not as crowded.

Troy Sober (freshman-landscape architecture) likes IM because he also can play basketball and racquetball in edition to lifting weights.

"It's close and convenient," said Sober, who lives in East Halls.

Rec Hall

Rec Hall is another place on campus where students can lift weights for free. Chip Harrison, the strength and conditioning coach at Rec Hall and the man responsible for managing the weight room, said the two biggest advantages of working out at Rec Hall are "the location and the fee."

Rec Hall conveniently is located on campus and, just like the IM Building, it doesn't cost a cent to work out there. The building holds two weight rooms, but only one of these -- the smaller one -- is available for student use. The larger weight room, located across the hall from the student weight room, is reserved for training Penn State athletes.

The student weight room is relatively large, several times bigger than the one in the IM Building. It is considered "just a weight room." There is no cardiovascular equipment at Rec Hall. The facility concentrates on weight equipment, such as free weights and weight machines.

"I use the free weights -- the bench and the squat -- and some of the leg presses, but that's about it," Gusmar said. "Basically, I use the free weights."

Despite having a good selection of free weights, students cannot use the weight room whenever they want. The facility is closed when Penn State weight lifting classes are using it.

Still, Harrison said the facility is trying to address the needs of the students. The building is open 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The weight room is open noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.

Chris Lytle (senior-accounting) likes the hours Rec Hall provides.

"They have really flexible hours," Lytle said. "It's free and convenient."

East Halls gym

The East Halls gym is a workout facility on campus that charges a small fee for use of its equipment. Located near Findlay Dining Commons, the gym offers a large amount of free weights in addition to a few cardiovascular machines.

The cost is $70 for a year and $40 for a semester.

Troy Bloom (junior-finance) is a secretary on the East Halls gym staff. As a staff member, he is responsible for maintenance and operation of the facility. Bloom said East Halls gym is mainly a "free weights gym."

Bloom feels East Halls is a convenient place to work out for students who live nearby.

"It's convenient," he said. "For those students who live in East Halls. It's right where they live."

East Halls gym is open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays. It's open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays as well.

For those looking for a hard-core lifting environment, East Halls gym may be the place to go. Staff members enjoy blasting loud rock music to motivate members while they pump iron.

Erik Steiner (freshman-biochemistry), who has squatted an impressive 575 pounds, bench pressed 345 pounds and deadlifted 600 pounds, is a national power lifting champion. He works out at East Halls gym in preparation to defend his title.

"It is a good place to work out," Steiner said. "The atmosphere is great."

One doesn't have to be a national power-lifting champion to join East Halls gym, however.

Cathy Hark (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) recently joined East Halls gym.

"I want the aerobic workout and the weights all at once," said Hark, who plans to utilize the few cardiovascular machines in East Halls gym as well as the free weights.

The Fitness Loft

The Fitness Loft is located in the McCoy Natatorium. But those looking to build a massive Arnold Schwarzenegger-like physique should go elsewhere: There are no free weights.

The Fitness Loft offers mostly cardiovascular equipment with a wide variety of step machines, treadmills, NordicTracks and other machines designed to get the heart pumping. There are a few weight resistance machines but no free weights whatsoever.

Many students enjoy working out at The Fitness Loft because of its unique atmosphere. The machines are located on a bridge that crosses the swimming and diving pools at the natatorium. Students are able to look down at the pools while working out.

Tom Griffiths, manager of the natatorium, said many students and faculty enjoy working out at The Fitness Loft because they can get a birds-eye view of the swimming pools.

"People can look at the pools," said Griffiths. "It's really neat."

Natalie Gallagher (sophomore-journalism) works at the front desk of The Fitness Loft and takes advantage of its equipment in her off-time.

"I like working out here because it's convenient and I like the machines," Gallagher said.

The cost of using The Fitness Loft is relatively cheap at only $25 a semester.

In addition to using The Fitness Loft, students also can pay to gain access to the natatorium's swimming pools. For an additional $25, students can receive a pool pass as well as gain access to the swimming pool and work out facilities located in White Building.

The natatorium also offers "aquacize." For $20 students can get try aerobics in the water.

Gold's Gym

Gold's Gym, another downtown health club, is located at 131 S. Pugh St. Because of its logo -- a large, muscle-bound character bending a barbell with his bare hands -- many people may associate Gold's Gym as a place where so-called "muscle heads" lift weights.

This is an image ownership is trying to avoid.

The owner, who asked only to be called "Kary the Owner," said, "You see the guy on the logo, but that's not what we're about."

"We don't have any muscle heads or meat heads here," Kary added. "If someone is not acting like a gentleman, we ask them to leave."

Indeed, Gold's Gym is populated by a large amount of women as well as men.

Gold's Gym offers three floors of fitness. Like Bodyworks, Gold's Gym offers a variety of options, ranging from free weights to cardiovascular machines to professional aerobics programs.

Gold's Gym is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays. It's open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. The price is $99 this semester with no initiation fee.

Kary believes it is important for people to feel comfortable when coming to his gym.

"We worry about getting the people in here and making them as comfortable as possible," Kary said.

One student who feels comfortable at Gold's Gym is Leigh Flusser (senior-human development and family studies).

"I like the atmosphere here," Flusser said. "I tried Bodyworks and the Nat, and I like it here better."

Chris Fetcko (junior-agriculture business) said he likes to use everything at Gold's Gym except the stairmaster.

"I always fall off when I try to read a magazine," Fetcko said. "You have to be pretty agile."

So which gym is the best? That question simply can't be answered. It seems any gym, no matter how big or small, has both positive and negative attributes. It's up to each individual to determine what he or she is looking for in a gym, be it price, location, equipment or whatever else is important.

There are other places for people to exercise outside of campus and downtown State College. These include the following: East Coast Health & Fitness, 236 W. Hamilton Ave.; One on One Fitness Consultants Inc., 275 Northland Center; Downtown Swim & Fitness Club, Days Inn Penn State; The Athletic Club, 1510 Martin St.; Athletic Club South, 1445 W. College Ave.

While there may be many different athletic clubs, Kary said each has its own identity.

"All fitness centers offer their own niche," he said. "It's just a matter of finding out where you're going to be comfortable going to exercise."

Finding the proper niche isn't always easy. Students should carefully weigh all their options before choosing a place to work out. After all, it can be a costly and important decision.