Why is it that patrons in the MBNA fitness center cardio room are 80 percent female while the weight room users are predominantly male? Look closely at the fitness classes and you will notice that they, too, are attended by mostly female students. It seems that the lines are drawn, girls go here, boys go there. But who wrote those rules? And can we break them?

As a general rule, the majority of college-aged females are concerned with maintaining their level of fitness. This is easiest to measure by keeping an eye on their physique. Do the pants you wore last year still fit? How much do I weigh today?

The majority of college males, on the other hand, tend to measure their fitness by what they SEE in the mirror or push in the weight room. How big do I look? How cut do I look? Can I bench this much weight.

Believe it or not, both groups have the same goals and both groups can be achieve these goals by doing similar fitness programs. That means, ladies, you can burn calories while lifting weights. And, Yes, guys, you can get a benefit from a Butts and Guts class.

Push ups can be as effective as a bench press in conditioning the chest muscles. So while individuals in the gym are pushing iron, individuals in a fitness class may be doing a pushup with body weight. Both are strengthening the same muscle groups. To make the chest muscle, or any other muscle, stronger it needs to be introduced to "load" and be challenged. That muscle does not know if it is pushing 40 pounds of iron plates, 40 pounds of body weight, or 40 pounds of hay. The result is the same.

So how do we get the ladies into the weight room and get more guys into fitness classes? Here are a few suggestions. Ladies, leave the spandex at home, throw on a pair of shorts and a grey t shirt and head to one of the on campus fitness centers. Ask a trainer to help you with whatever machines you are uncomfortable with or read the instruction panels on the side of the machine.

Or strike up a conversation with the really hot guy on the machine next to you and ask him. Choose exercises that have a similar action to the movements you do in fitness classes. Press the dumbbells over you head to work your shoulders, just like you do with a Body Bar in Full Body Workout class.

Guys, try a class. Maybe you begin with a non-intimidating class, like Washboard Abs. You cant beat it for ab toning. But don't miss out on the experience of a Butts and Guts class. This unique bland of abdominal crunches and squats can bring even the strongest weight lifter to his knees. The class is taught with a weighted bar that is at least 10 percent of your body weight. Your muscles are fatigues by a combination of the weight of the bar and the number of repetitions.

Randy Moore, Senior, Kineseilogy tried a Butts and Guts class. "It was a good workout. Much harder than I thought it would be." "It's all about how much you want to push yourself so I picked a heavy bar." "My legs were worn out by the end."

If arguments above don't convince male and female student to cross the imaginary gender lines in the fitness facilities perhaps I can sway you with another argument. I spoke with one young man who was waiting in line to get into a Butts and Guts class. He had a unique perspective.

While all of his guy friends were in the weight room sweating on eachother and hanging out with other guys, he was in line, waiting to get into a class with 54 very fit, college-aged females. And he was the only guy. Who wouldn't like those odds?