Start and Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle with Campus Recreation

Starting college students believe they will keep with their exercise routines and continue eating healthy. For many this goal lasts only a short while. Dining halls are all-you-can-eat, outings with friends can turn into late-night snacks and social activities can deter students from their workouts.

Being social is the biggest part of college. In the end students will look back and reflect on their friends and what they did together more so than their classes and what types of assignments they had.

Campus Recreation acknowledges this aspect of college life and over the past year and a half, has added depth to the program’s group fitness classes. The schedule used to have 6 classes and now is a host to 44 classes.

Group Fitness Schedule

“Our objective is to get them started and to establish a more healthy lifestyle,” said Pam Wiggins of Campus Recreation.

The staff noticed a drop off in the number of students per class as the semesters go on. By adding classes with a variety of times and lengths in the duration of classes the staff hopes students will be more likely to continue a steady, healthy lifestyle even when their lives start to take on major changes; such as graduation and starting a job.

“The hope is that students will continue to come even if they can’t make the hour class,” said Wiggins, “Maybe if they can’t make one of the hour classes they will run over and do a quick 30 minutes abs class.”

Group fitness is another way to socialize. The most popular classes are yoga, kickboxing and zumba. Zumba has grown and now hosts around 100 people on the courts at the Student Activities Center for class.

“Getting 100 people worked out in one hour on the court just enjoying each others company,” said Wiggins, “What more could you want for your college experience?”

The boot camp program has also grown in numbers. Last fall the program signed up around 20 participants and now has almost 60 in the morning program alone. Boot camp is a ten-week program of drills, calisthenics and more.

The instructors are vital to class success. Some outside instructors are now joining the program along with instructors who have completed Auburn University’s ten-week basic instructor training program. Through the influence and commitment of its great instructors and support of the management, Campus Recreation has built a real community and a great program that continues to grow, according to Wiggins.

With such growth over the past year and a half the Campus Recreation team wants to continue its growth and keep giving students what they want. Through surveys they have been able to find out the students likes and dislikes and what they want from the program. Past surveys have led to plans to hopefully add later classes. Campus Recreation is also in the process of plans for a focus group in the near future.

Finding room for a healthy lifestyle takes commitment to make it work and Campus Recreation has developed a program they hope will motivate those who start to stay with it.

“We’re aiming for the whole wellness picture. And when you take care of yourself, you take care of the community,” said Wiggins.


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