Disappointing is the best way the describe going to the fitness centers on campus at this university.
Last night, in hopes of being able to avoid the typical crowded atmosphere at Alumni Arena Fitness Center, I arrived at 9:30 p.m. anticipating not having to wait a round for flat benches and free weights to open up. But much like the rest of my ventures into this gym, as soon as I saw every treadmill and elliptical occupied I knew that it would be another packed trip.
For someone that has lifted weights for the last eight years, my time lifting here at the University at Buffalo hasn't been the best. As a freshman coming into UB, I was under the impression that a school with such a large student body must have a huge and spacious fitness center.
Soon enough, I realized that I was in the wrong. My first time in trying to go to the gym, I had no idea where the locker rooms were. Eventually, I noticed a number of people going into the basement were I then found the place to change. After I made my way back upstairs I entered what I thought was going to be my new "home away from home" (which was what my high school weight room was for me) and came across the same image that I saw earlier this week.
This over crowding is not the only issue I take to heart in regards to what I want out of a college's fitness center. Ever notice how that there is an upper side to the gym with a balcony full of seats or during the summer months its is hotter and stickier than an arm pit without deodorant? It's because the place that we go to pump iron for on a daily basis is really a former swimming pool.
These problems are by no means contained to North Campus, but also plague our often forgotten facilities at Clark Hall on South Campus. I visited Clark Hall a few weeks ago on the suggestion of a friend who tended to prefer going there than to Alumni. On my arrival, I found just as many difficulties there.
As I entered this new weight lifting realm, I couldn't help to chuckle to myself at the size of this place. I knew my alma mater always had one of the larger high school gyms in the area, but I never thought that I would see it dwarf one that belongs to a university with an enrollment of over 20,000 students.
On top of this, I felt like I was exercising in a prison yard with the close quarters and the bars covering the windows. This may seem cool in movies, but I found out rather quickly that it could be very depressing to the average muscle head wannabe.
I have harped about how much the atmosphere sucks at our school's fitness centers and that they are very undersized for there typical utilization, yet I cannot forget to mention about the equipment. Most of it, and in the case of Clark Hall all of it, needs upgrading. Out of the four places that I have lifted regularly at in my post-high school years, I have encountered more rusty equipment on-campus than at any of the three off-campus gyms combined.
New equipment may be the only area though that the administration at our university has done anything about in terms of improving our workouts. In my four years of attendance here, I have managed to see a few new machines on the floor and an increase in the amount of cardiovascular apparatuses up in the balcony of Alumni.
But the administration should not stop there and make more drastic changes. Adding a few new machines here or there is just a bandage over a big gash.
Exercise should be a high priority at this school. With the increased amounts of technology in our lives, people don't do as much physical activities in their daily lives as they did a generation ago. With more information and availability to various things at the click of a button, everyone that now grows up in our current culture will be have an increased threat of various ailments that afflict those that do not exercise.
This is why improving out current facilities is key for our student body. The current environment of our fitness centers, equipment and space is not sufficient for its needs. Students should not be turned off by these places, but rather feel attracted to them as the spot where they can build a better body and achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
