For the past two years I have gone to the weight room in Lee Lohman Arena and have come away disgusted. It has nothing to do with the condition of the room, but everything to do with the weights themselves. I have T-shirts, cut-offs, and shorts stained from the rusting and dirty dumbbells and weight bars. After a practice or a work out, I always run to the sink and wash the brown dirtiness from my hands, commenting to whoever I am with about how nasty and rusty-smelling the weights are.
Finally, St. Ambrose University has gotten new weights, and even stepped it up and bought new machines that we haven’t had in the past few years. My first visit to the gym this year I didn’t even notice the machines! The new platforms displaying the Fighting Bee logo completely shocked me. It wasn’t until I returned the next day that I saw all of the new machines, and they amazed me!
The greatest find for me was the abduction and adduction weight machine. Running has toned certain areas of my legs, but it seems to have ignored my inner and outer thighs—just a few problem places I’ve been hoping to work on for a while, and now I can! The SAU weight room is easy to move around in and is equipped with many new machines, brand new dumbbells, and new platforms to get you excited to start a new work out, or continue your old work outs with new energy!
Michelle Charvat, senior basketball star says that, “The expansion of the weight room and the new equipment will really be an aide to our team.” Some of her favorite items to use are the dumbbells, especially now that they’re new and clean, and that there is more than just a single set of each weight amount. In the past, there were time issues because there was only one set and it was hard if a few basketball players needed the same weights at the same time. Plus, many of the dumbbells were missing their match, and players would either have to go up in weight or go down, both of which could be challenging—and potentially hazardous—for an athlete. “I use dumbbells often when I work out,” Michelle explained. “So [missing dumbbells] got pretty frustrating.” Now, Michelle can have peace of mind when her team heads upstairs from the court to the weight room.
Not an SAU athlete, but just as determined to stay in shape, Samantha Thorpe also gave me her input on the weight room. Recently engaged, Samantha is looking forward to being able to maneuver her way around the now more-assessable weight room and hopes to tone her arms and shoulders in time for her wedding day! She told me that she likes, “that they have the circuit training and the weight training in their own locations so that you can move from machine to machine without walking all over the place. It cuts down on running into other people, trying to get somewhere or interfering with another person’s workout.”
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Now that the gym has new machines and is better organized, more girls are excited about using it, so therefore, Rachel Luehrs has created a special weeklong work out that you can do to get in shape and feel great! A junior at SAU, Rachel is a National Track and Field qualifier and personal trainer. With tips from girls on campus, like Michelle and Samantha, Rachel has developed a work out that SAU girls really want. This weeklong work out, entitled “Your Weekly Workout with Sarah and Rachel,” will be available under our Her Campus St. Ambrose blog each week. So go put on your running shoes and workout gear, and check out their advise for fellow collegiates™ right now!