FAMU students do not need the Kanye West workout plan to get a body that makes others jealous.
Located in the Student Union Building, the Rattler Fitness Center patiently waits to get students in shape.
The center, although small, has a great influence among students. When students enter through the glass doors and present their rattler cards as identification, they become one step closer to a better body and a healthier lifestyle.
The amount of space available does not seem to bother students. The staff is a major factor in the immense activity of the fitness center.
“The staff members here know their stuff, they are educated in health and very professional,” said Adria Harty a third-year nursing major from Lithonia, Ga.
This professionalism is due to the fact that our fitness center is the only place to find internationally certified trainer Andrew Kwong.
With a master’s in exercise physiology, Kwong even trains students outside of the fitness center as well. He is the assistant director of the fitness center and his dedication is apparent during the interview as he keeps his eyes on his trainee and yells out an occasional “more weight” to get the trainee working out at a higher level. Kwong states that the workouts offered by the fitness center are “very intense” and that he would “love to see more students come and check out what the fitness center has to offer.”
This semester the fitness center will provide personal programs, group exercise classes, nutrition and fitness seminars, a 60-day body makeover program and the popular FAMU Bench Press Championship that will be held Nov. 6 at 6 p.m.
However, there will be improvements at the beginning of next semester.
Opening Jan. 2006, Phase I of the recreation center will become a student’s best friend. The 37,000 sq. ft. building will be seven times larger than the current center and provide extended hours like most other university centers.
The hours will be changed from the current 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., to 6 a.m. until 12 a.m.
Instead of the five trainers that the fitness center currently has, the new recreation center will have a training staff of 25-30 people.
Mass interviews and hiring for these positions will take place in November. More information on these positions is available at the fitness center.
The new facility will provide students with a lobby that will have a juice bar and a seating area for students to engage in conversation before and after workouts. Students will be able to use the 16,000 sq. ft workout area or ascend the rock-climbing wall. Students can also talk with friends and associates on the exterior patio.
Phase II of the new recreation center, which will open Jan. 2007, will provide students with three basketball courts, a sauna and whirlpool, a floating indoor track, four racquetball courts and offices that will provide fitness nutrition assessment.
So to get in shape and lose unwanted pounds gained in the Orange Room and the café, walk over to the fitness center and get better acquainted with the staff- a staff of certified trainers there to help every student get a body that they will be satisfied with.
Contact Shari Loftley at famuanlifestyles@hotmail.com