Fitness coordinators at the Florida A&M University Recreation Center said attendance was good this academic year, but say that there is room to receive more student participation.
Chip Heimbach, FAMU Rec Center fitness and wellness coordinator, said the facility had an exceptional participation this year but more is always better.
“We had a decent participation, but we’re always looking for room to improve, ” Heimbach said. “We want to create a problem. We want to pack the house”
Gei-Nam Lim, associate director of the campus recreation department, is also in charge of customer service and facilities and keeps accountability of every person that enters the gym.
“There was an average of 440 people each weekday and 2,300 per week. That’s good,” Lim said.
Rec Center fitness trainers also agree that there was a good turnout this year, but not from women.
Naashon Ducille, FAMU alum from Hollywood, Fla., is a fitness trainer at FAMU’s Rec Center said it was mostly males that attended.
“Between 6pm to close it was usually filled to capacity with usually a predominantly male clientele,” Ducille said.
Other trainers agree that women weren’t taking advantage of the gym this year.
Sterlin Mesadieu, 22, a fourth-year philosophy and political science double major from Fort Lauderdale said that women came to the gym but they could’ve gotten more from their workout experience.
“Running the treadmill is not enough,” Mesadieu said. “They [women] need resistance training such as lifting weights.”
Some female students say they aren’t as comfortable in the gym as men and that affects their results.
“Girls are the least likely to progress than men because they get discouraged,” Ducille said. “They don’t have a partner or get distracted by what’s going on around them.”
Jasmine Anderson, 19, a freshman pre-nursing student from Miami, said that she prefers being at the gym with a partner.
“It gives me motivation,” Anderson said.
Other students said that their motivation comes from within.
Eric Kirkwood, 19, a 1st year mechanical engineering student from Chicago, attended the gym three times a week.
“I was getting out of shape,” Kirkwood said. “I was in better shape in high school than in college.”
Lim said that there was a fluctuation of attendance throughout the year.
“The first few weeks of the semester are always the busiest because there are no tests and students bring their friends,” Lim said. “The lowest is the midterm week and the last two weeks before final exams.”
Big events and holidays also brought on the fitness trend.
“In the spring semester, New Year’s resolutions and spring break people came in to start looking good,” Heimbach said. “After the break, they stopped and started preparing for finals.”
Administartors say attending the gym is all about dedication.
“The people who stuck to their fitness program, I’ve seen their improvement,” Mesadieu said. “But those who haven’t been committed and showed up twice a month haven’t seen improvement. Being healthy is a lifestyle.”