By Doug Carroll
Communications Staff
Can anything good come of chaos?
Chuck Howard is certain that it can, and he offers Monday afternoon’s “Fitness Chaos” event as evidence.
Dozens of students descended on the Student Recreation Center at the end of the first day of fall classes to take part in an introduction to the facility, staged by Howard and members of his training staff.
Students were everywhere: in the Performance Athletic Center, the ground-level weight room; on two of the basketball courts; in the Sanctuary, the second-floor aerobics room; and in the Student Activity Center, the second-floor exercise area, which recently was expanded to accommodate free weights (this section has been dubbed the Body Shop).
The expanded SAC is the most noticeable change at the Rec Center, which isn’t even a year old yet.
“The exercise area was small, and students wanted more,” Howard says. “The executive staff said absolutely, let’s give the students, faculty and staff what they want. (The expansion) was a direct response.”
The most popular classes, Howard says, have been the 45-minute “boot camp” training sessions available in the PAC to students, faculty and staff. Those are being expanded this fall to include the SAC.
The Rec Center offers more than 20 classes, from Monday through Saturday, and a card-reading system is now in place to facilitate check-in.
“We’ve been trying to educate people on where things go,” Howard says. “We want a clean and professional facility. It’s new, and we want to keep it that way.
“Our goal this year is to have more faculty and staff use the facility and help them become healthy and fit.”
On Monday, students were able to participate in 15-minute samples of karate, yoga, Zumba and turbo kickboxing in the Sanctuary. The SAC’s treadmills and ellipticals were busy.
“Our goal is for (the Rec Center) to be one of the most used facilities on campus,” Howard says.
Howard’s training staff includes Steve Moorman, Ben Paneccasio, Kyle Speed, Josiah Igono, Marco Ramos, Udema Udofia, Tom Hurdle and Wilson Burnel.
Teaching fitness classes are Phreddie Minnifield (Karate), Sarah Ashley (Turbo Kickboxing), Julie Haedrich (Yoga), Gina Tricamo Velazquez (Holy Yoga), and Chanel Moody and Elyce Baumstark (Zumba).
Reach Doug Carroll at 639.8011 or [email protected].
