As the days get longer and the temperatures get colder, the harder it becomes to trade in your couch and Snuggie for a treadmill and sports bra. It may be toocold to run and be active outdoors, but there are still a variety of ways to get a full winter workout whether at the Skidmore Sports Center, the yoga studio in town, or in your dorm room! Read on for more ideas on how to fight the urge to hibernate and get moving.
Skidmore Gym
Skidmore’s athletic facilities are convenient and give you full access to all of the equipment you need to get a full-body workout. The Williamson Sports Center provides students with an aerobics and fitness area containing a wide range of cardio machines and a well-stocked weight room with free weights and weight machines. Not in the mood to workout on the machines? Grab some friends and borrow equipment from the front desk to use in one of the intramural gyms. Kicking around a soccer ball or shooting hoops is a fun way to let off some steam while still being active. Utilizing the Sports Center 6-lane pool is also a great way to stay fit all winter long.
Sports Center Hours
Monday-Thursday: 7 AM-12 AM
Friday: 7 AM-8 PM
Saturday: 9 AM-8 PM
Sunday: 12 PM-10 PM
Weight Room Hours
Monday-Thursday: 2:30 PM-10 PM
Friday: 1 PM-7 PM
Saturday: 12 PM-6 PM
Sunday: 12 PM-8 PM
Open Swim Hours
Monday-Thursday: 7 AM-9 AM, 12:10 PM-1:20 PM, 8:30 PM-10 PM
Friday: 12:10 PM-1:20 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 1 PM-5 PM
Free Fitness Classes at Skidmore
If you really can’t bear the thought of running on the treadmill again, the Sports Center now offers free fitness classes for students. A great alternative to your regular work out routine, classes include Pilates, Kickboxing, Cardio Core, Zumba, and more. For the rest of the semester you can sign up for classes a week in advance by going to the Sports Center front desk or by calling the front desk at 518-580-5350.
[pagebreak]
Yoga Club
Skidmore’s Yoga Club brings an Ashtanga yoga instructor to campus three times a week to teach classes to students of all levels of yoga experience. Classes are held in the dance studios on Thursday nights from 7:30-8:30, on Saturdays from 12-1 PM, and Sunday afternoons from 12:15-1:15 PM. You can buy a semester-long membership for $35 or pay $3 per class. These classes are great for beginners or advanced yogis and are offered at an unbeatableprice.
Off-Campus Resources
Although students are fortunate to have Skidmore’s state-of-the art athletic facilities right here on campus, sometimes it is refreshing to get off campus for an afternoon and try something new in downtown Saratoga. The Saratoga Regional YMCA has several amenities to offer to a college student, including a very affordable monthly membership fee. For $23 a month, you have access to community events, a swimming pool, gymnasium, indoor track, group exercise room, and more. A membership at the Y also offers a variety of Health & Wellness Classes that you can take with no extra fee. These classes range from Yogalates, Cycle, and Zumba, to Step, Body Sculpt, and Tai Chi. The Saratoga YMCA is a friendly and unintimidating environment for experimenting with new activities and exercises.
If you want to unwind with a yoga session and none of Yoga Club’s class times work for you, there are several yoga studios located conveniently in town. Yoga Mandali and Joy of Yoga are both on Broadway while Saratoga Springs Yoga can be found on Phila Street. If you really want to sweat it out you can head to Hot Yoga Saratoga on Woodlawn. Whether you are aiming to relax or to have an intense work out, great resources for doing so are just a bus ride away!
When All Else Fails….
If the temperature is below zero, you can’t find your snow boots, there’s a blizzard outside, andthere is no way to leave your dorm room, you can always utilize a pair of free weights, a mat, and a workout video. You can find a variety of different workout videos for free online, via women’s health and fitness magazine websites or on YouTube. Through the Internet, magazines, or friends, it is so easy to find an at-home work out that fits your needs exactly.
The joys of exercising in warm weather may be months away, but there are still plenty of ways to stick to a regular workout routine in the winter!