By Rick Vacek
GCU News Bureau
Grand Canyon University employees and students will have several new options for fitness classes starting Monday, Aug. 25, and soon will have several new workout facilities as well.
The new fitness schedule at the Recreation Center features two high-intensity interval training (HIIT) classes, from noon-1 p.m. Mondays and 11-11:30 a.m. Fridays. The Monday class will be in the form of atabata, a series of intense four-minute workouts, and the Friday class will pack a complete workout into a half-hour. Studies have shown that shorter, more intense workouts are more effective in improving endurance and burning fat than prolonged, low intensity workouts.
There will be five boot camps available. The lunch-hour boot camp is moving to noon (from 12:30 p.m.) Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Tuesday, Aug. 26, and there will be evening classes as well.
The 27th Avenue fitness center will have seven new classes, including noontime boot camps on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a total-body strength class on Wednesdays.
For the complete Rec Center and 27th Avenue schedules, click here.
Employees and students also have full access to the fitness center at Chaparral residence hall, which features cardiovascular and strength equipment as well as free weights. It is open from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to midnight weekends and has men’s and women’s showers.
The new schedule is through Sept. 26 because the Rec Center is scheduled to become the Lopes Performance Center (LPC), devoted mainly to student-athletes. Boot camp, high-intensity workouts and pickup and intramural basketball will remain there, but other employee/student workouts will be moved to three new facilities scheduled to open in October:
● Papago I Fitness Center: Located on the first floor of the new Papago Apartments, it will have a 5,000-square-foot exercise room and will be the new home for spin classes. The classes will be limited to 17 participants (first come, first served) and will begin in October.
● Papago II Fitness Center: Located on the second floor of the new apartments, it will be the largest fitness center on campus for employees and students and will be the new site of aerobics, kickboxing and turbo classes beginning in October. It also will have a swimming pool.
● Roadrunner Fitness Center: This self-serve facility in the Student Union will have treadmills, stationary bikes, strength equipment and free weights.
The changes were necessary to allow the Rec Center to be converted into a facility that will be 90 percent for members of the athletic program, according to Chuck Howard, GCU’s director of performance athletics. There no longer is enough room in the Rec Center for the 450 athletes and employees and students, and the University’s move to NCAA Division I has made it imperative that athletes have enough space for training sessions.
“That’s the challenge I’ve always had — I want it to be equal between athletes and students,” Howard said. “Faculty, staff and students will have four facilities within walking distance.”
The workout schedule is available at both the Rec Center and Chaparral fitness center.
For questions about the Rec Center/Performance Center, contact Chuck Howard at [email protected].
For questions about the Chaparral, Papago I, II, Roadrunner and 27th Avenue locations, contact Noemi Howard, the manager for those facilities, at [email protected].
Contact Rick Vacek at 602-639-8203 or [email protected].
