By JOURNALISM I
Students looking to get in shape in the New Year will likely have to compete for a chance to use the campus fitness center. No changes are planned there, but with the onslaught of New Year’s resolutions, imminent users may need to look elsewhere for adequate fitness center facilities.
The modest space on the third floor of the Events and Athletics Center averages about 350 visits a day now. The facility is available not only to the entire student body, an estimated 3,000
undergraduate and 2,000 graduate students as well as also staff and alumni.
At certain times, due to the limited amount of space, access to equipment becomes problematic.
The college has no plans to renovate the fitness center in the near future, according to Dennis McDonald, the Vice President of student affairs. Regularly, the fitness center equipment is updated annually and repaired when necessary.
Since so many students, student-athletes, employees and alumni share the space, competition for equipment is sometimes fierce during peak periods in the day. Many students often have to wait in lines just to use certain equipment because it will be packed so tightly during certain times. The equipment is mainly up-to-date but with such a small space there just is not enough of it.
Although the fitness center is small in size it uses the amount of available space well. It is equipped with cardio machines, assisted weight machines, free weights, yoga mats and medicine balls.
Specifically, there are five treadmills in addition to one recumbent exercise bike, three upright exercise bikes and three elliptical machines if people are interested in doing cardio workouts.
Along with the cardio machines there is also one leg press, two squat racks and four free weight benches with a variety of free weights ranging from 5-100 pounds. Fitness center users do have a variety of options to choose from when working out but there is just not enough of it for the amount of visitors.
For the 36-player men’s lacrosse team, the space at the fitness center is not adequate to accommodate the entire team.
With the lacking of space and equipment in the fitness center certain student-athletes at the College of Saint Rose have expressed dissatisfaction. Having high standards set for team cohesion and performance, some students feel frustrated because the campus fitness facility is not large enough for a team workout.
“Saint Rose has a good gym and equipment but it may benefit from having two separate gyms, one for students and one for athletes,” said Mark Cometti, the Saint Rose lacrosse coach. “We currently do not use the Saint Rose gym at all.”
Student-athletes are required to spend a certain number of hours at the fitness center weekly meaning they must compete for access to equipment along with students who are not athletes, facility and also alumni who want to use the fitness center.
The College of Saint Rose currently has approximately 300 student athletes, 20 of whom play on multiple sports teams. Because athletes must fulfill certain requirements each week, they are limiting the use of many of the machines that other gym users may have wanted to use.
The men’s lacrosse team’s need for lifting equipment has not been met at the Saint Rose fitness center forcing them to workout at Albany Strength on Central Ave. to meet their weightlifting requirements.
Albany Strength is a gym and supplement business located at 330 Central Avenue. It is open to anyone over the age of 16 and the “equipment is geared to strength training, size building and rehabilitation.” The gym is open 365 days a year with varying hours. Monday to Friday they are open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are several options for payment: $5 a workout, $35 per month, $75 for 3 months or $135 a year.
In stark contrast to Albany Strength, Saint Rose’s hours range better for the average college student. Open Monday through Thursday 6 a.m. to midnight, Friday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and both Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. students are able to workout at their own convenience.
Locally, the college and university-rich Albany area supports a wide array of schools with different athletic designations by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Looking at Saint Rose (Division II) and the surrounding colleges such as Sage College (Division III), University at Albany (Division I) and Siena College (Division I) it is easy to make comparisons between what Saint Rose has and also what it also lacks as a college fitness center.
Siena College is equipped with more up-to date-fitness center facilities overall. Saint Rose, Sage College and Albany, Siena has a field house with four basketball courts and a surrounding indoor track. They also have two different weight rooms to work out in, just as Sage also has.
In addition to their fitness centers where there are mainly cardio machines and free weights, all three surrounding colleges have group fitness classes, such as yoga and Zumba that students can join if they prefer engaging in those activities for physical activity. Unless taken as a gym class many of these types of fitness activities are not offered at Saint Rose.
At each fitness center, including Siena, Sage and UAlbany, it is also easy to get memberships for students and also faculty, alumni and even community members.
With UAlbany having the greatest number of students locally, the weekly estimation of students that use the gym daily is around 1,000, according to Peter Kay, associate director of campus recreation. Sage College averages about 100 at their Albany location, about 500 at their Troy location, according to Jill Gerbert, director of recreation and fitness and Siena averages around 200 students, according to Kevin Borden, athletic facilities manager.
The female to male ratio in each gym is about equal. The busiest time for the Siena College fitness center is between the hours of 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. while at UAlbany it is primarily between 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Siena, both Sage and Siena tend to get heavily populated at lunchtime crowd also. All three fitness centers are located on each of the college’s campuses and easy for students and other members to access.
“We need to figure out a way to obtain an additional gym that is larger. One can be used for athletes and the other for students,” one Saint Rose student wrote.
In a recent poll of 71 Saint Rose students 44 of them do not use the gym facilities on campus. With 49 female students and 22 male students, 23 of them currently pay anywhere from ten dollars to forty-five dollars a month to work out at an off campus gym. When asked if the students were happy with the Saint Rose gym, 32 said no, 19 had no response and 20 said yes.
Another student wrote, “I feel that athletes should have a separate gym and that the gym should be able to support the amount of students on campus. By having such a small gym they are not promoting healthy living.”
Only four of the 71 students in the poll were student athletes. “The space is really small so I run outdoors or visit SUNY (Albany) with my other friends,” said one student who is not happy with the space or equipment the Saint Rose gym provides. Over half the students that responded to the survey agree that the gym is too small for the amount of people on campus.
“We do use weights from the gym, but because of limited size we can’t workout there as a team,” said Casey Bergeron, a sophomore lacrosse player at Saint Rose.
“A lot of people on my team work out by themselves in their house, doing cross-fit exercises. I know of many people who would rather workout in their house than go to the Saint Rose gym.”
Nick Longo, a senior lacrosse player at Saint Rose, wants to be able to use the gym for rehabilitation of his ACL yet finding a certain machine he needs to use can be difficult at times.
“I use the Saint Rose fitness center because it is right on campus. However, it is discouraging when I go to the gym to use one of the 3 bicycles and they are all being occupied, especially because recently I tore my ACL and the bicycle is one of the best ways to strengthen my leg before surgery,” said Longo. “Saint Rose highly focuses on academics and I feel like the overall health of the students is disregarded.”
The Saint Rose baseball team uses the college’s fitness center about two or three times a week, and also occasionally visits Albany Strength.
“We have the same machines available to us at school,” said Bryan Carr, junior baseball player. It is just tougher to get access to the equipment because “the gym at Saint Rose is just smaller” and has a decreased amount of machines when compared to other gyms and fitness centers.
The Saint Rose women’s softball team feels that the fitness center is fine but it is just too small. Many people use the gym on a regular basis, making it hard for student-athletes to utilize the fitness center how they may want to.
“I workout in the school gym for my softball workouts and then personal workouts. The gym is not nearly big enough for a team to workout with students there as well,” said Ana Carey, softball player and student. “I think there should be a gym specifically for athletes so over crowding is not an issue.”
The student population alone at Saint Rose is enough to make the space in the fitness center limited but when employees are factored into the equation as well, the math just does not add up for the square footage offered by the fitness center.
Staff and professors from each school at The College of Saint Rose all have access to the fitness center, as well as administration. This even includes adjunct professors at the school, who do not hold permanent positions. Between all schools at The College of Saint Rose this accounts for over 1,000 faculty and staff who are able to swipe in to the fitness center in addition all students.
Along with employees, alumni also have the opportunity to purchase access to the fitness center. Pam Chrysler, Program Assistant at the alumni office, said that alumni would gain gym access after a donation to the college. A donation of $100 or more gives alumni the privilege of free use to many campus facilities. These members are then provided with an identification card, much like the student IDs that allow them to use these facilities. Chrysler said that the number of people with accessibility is unavailable, so the contribution to gym traffic by alumni is hard to track, but it is still adding more people to the equation.
Expansion of the fitness center in the future could create a change in atmosphere for all who use this facility on a daily basis. The lacking of space hinders on the potential of the gym and impacts many students around campus. With subtle improvements over the years, many students will feel pride in their school, both through academia and the athletic facilities.
