If you haven’t already, you need to get a membership at the YMCA, especially since we have one very conveniently across the street from our school. This is the Indian River YMCA. As Regent students, we get a significant discount at the beginning of each school year. Undergraduate students get membership for $10/month and Graduate students get membership for $15/month. This is a huge steal compared to the regular price at the Y and even other gyms.
This Y has an indoor pool, numerous classes, and numerous machines and equipment. I love that there is an indoor pool because swimming is my personal favorite form of exercise. Swimming works out so many different muscles of the body that you just cannot work out with any other exercises. And honestly, it’s less stressful for me to swim instead of trying to figure out a bunch of machines. They also have a system where, if you log your workouts, you get points and they add the points together so that once you get a certain number you can get free t-shirts. The t-shirts are actually pretty cute as well. With the gym membership you can visit about 8 other gyms in the area. I haven’t been able to visit the other gyms, but I heard one of the gyms on the list has heated towels. It seems that most of the other YMCAs in the area also have indoor pools.
They also have a great system called ActivTrak. ActivTrak is system that creates workouts that are custom made to you and skills. It also tracks your workouts. You make a wellness appointment and a gym leader works with you. You go through all of the machines and they teach you how to use them. You then go through the ActivTak system and log your diet, then explain your goal in working out. For example, my goal is for weight loss and toning, so the workouts the system creates is aimed to help me lose weight and tone. I love this because usually I get to the gym and I don’t really know what to do. Sometimes I go in and just get on the bike and treadmill without even knowing what I am doing. With ActiveTrak creating the workout, you know you’re doing a workout that will actually be beneficial and working toward your goal.
I’ve worked at two Ys back in my home city of Charlotte, NC and I’ve been a member of two other Ys, but this Y takes the cake, though it is the smallest Y I have ever seen. However, because it is so small it has a family feel. All of the employees are incredibly kind and helpful. They are also patient as I am not a gym person and ask a lot of questions.
In conclusion, I would highly recommend getting that gym membership at this Y. It has really helped me personally with my health journey. This year I decided to take control and watch the food I ate and make sure I made exercise a priority. This is one of the first years I haven’t gained any weight during the school year. That $15/month was completely worth it.