I am Kate Cramer and I am a certified gym and fitness freak. I think part of my reason for coming to Millersville was the fact that they had a gym that was super close to my dorm and that it was open 18 hours a day, minus the weekends. And that was even when the fitness center was downstairs in the SMC basement where the men picked things up and put them down in one room and the girls did cardio while watching Teen Mom in another. Now that we have this new and beautiful fitness center, I am obviously one of the happiest ladies around. I mean what’s not to love? It’s close, it has those huge windows that allow for excellent people watching while running, and it has a lot of equipment to get a fantastic workout in each day. I found that not everyone is as much as a freak of nature when it comes to the gym, so I went on a mission to provide some pointers and the best things found in our fitness center.
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Best Time to Go
This semester, I’ve found that the best time to go to the fitness center is in the early morning, if you’re a morning person, or late at night, if you’re a night owl like myself. I feel as though students just realized we had a fitness center and the afternoon in there is completely mobbed. Also by Friday everyone seems to peace out on the place so weekends are always a prime time to get your work out in.
Best Cardio
The treadmill. If you’re shaking your head thinking this should be the worst, just give me a minute. Now I used to hate the treadmill with a passion, but then I started to change my workouts on it. Somedays run a mile or two, somedays walk on incline and watch some reruns of The Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother, or power walk on incline and bring your Kindle to catch up on your free time read. Either way you’re still working out, you’ll have a good sweat for sure and it isn’t the same thing every time.
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Best New Feature
The indoor track. I’m a runner, who looks ridiculous when she runs, but I still love it. So when I walked through those doors when the new fitness center opened and saw that beautiful track I was ecstatic. I could run inside all day, every day if I wanted to. Only downside is you have to run 9.5 laps to make a mile, so it may result in dizziness if you’re planning on running a lot (this is from personal experience while training for a half-marathon!). The track is great and convenient, and also allows for a lot of people to get their run, walk, or lunge on.
Best Class
Zumba. I can honestly say I always try to go to different classes at the fitness center, but Zumba is my all time favorite. Zumba is great because it’s a fun thing to do with friends or roommates, you’re dancing and shaking what your mama gave you for an hour and burning off a ridiculous amount of calories. I have honestly come out of Zumba drenched from all the work you do. Also this is a great time to realize you do in fact look foolish while trying to dance with friends, but having a good laugh during your work out is always a plus.
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Cramer’s Favorite Things
If I don’t feel like going to the Fitness Center…
Cosmo has a great workout in each issue. The workouts usually work out one central part of your body, or sometimes a whole body workout. Tracy Anderson is the workout guru and she totally delivers. I just started doing her Get a Tight, Sexy Core, and with that amount of pain I hope that I do! The workouts are found in the magazine or online at www.cosmopolitan.com. Check them out!
Fun workouts with your roommates in the living room…
If you have cable, OnDemand offers an entire section on fitness. There are lots of different workouts to choose from, there’s anything from belly dancing to Jillian Michael’s workouts. So whenever my roommate and I want to have a good workout right smack in the living room we just pick something random, for instance we did a 12-minute kickboxing workout and got owned. So next time it’s rainy and you don’t feel like being lazy, try OnDemand!
The best music app…
iHeart Radio is my new favorite workout app. I seriously have been a devout Pandora listener since freshman year, but this new iHeart Radio is where it’s at. You can download the app for the iPod Touch, the iPhone and smart phones and be rocking out at the fitness center, on a run or, you know, walking to class. The best part of the app is you can create your own stations or even listen to radio stations around the country. It’s free, so might as well try it out!
Photo Source:
(Treadmills) www.mufitnesscenter.com
(Zumba Logo) www.zumbawithamy.com