Combat the “freshman 15” with Pitt’s workout joints

Waging war with the inevitable weight gain accompanying a college lifestyle can be tortuous…. Waging war with the inevitable weight gain accompanying a college lifestyle can be tortuous. Everyone hears about the dreaded “freshman 15” and vows to have enough awareness so as to not succumb to packing on the pounds.

But unless you know where you can exercise at Pitt, you’ll find yourself grumbling in your room, comforting your blissful ignorance with a pint of Ben ‘ Jerry’s.

There are numerous places to work out at Pitt, and knowing where they are and when to go can be more difficult than actually going.

So here’s a list of where you can get fit at Pitt. But don’t go anywhere without your student ID card. Without it, you’ll be denied admission to any one of these places faster than you can dial Jenny Craig.

Baierl Fitness Center Mondays through Thursdays: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Located inside the epicenter of upper campus, the Petersen Events Center, the Baierl Center is the most popular student workout spot.

Inside, you can lift weights, play racquetball, use any of the many rowing, Stairmaster or elliptical machines or just run on a treadmill while looking out at Panther and Pennsylvania Halls through the expansive windows.

The Baierl Center gets packed later in the afternoon when most students are done with classes for the day. The best time to go on weekdays is in the early afternoon from about noon to 3. Weekend crowds are sparse.

Bellefield Fitness Center Mondays through Thursdays: 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Fridays: 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays: noon to 5 p.m.

Bellefield is less populated because the Pete is newer and has newer, thus nicer, equipment. But if you don’t want to make the hike up the hill to the Pete, go over to Bellefield Hall, located on S. Bellefield Avenue past Heinz Chapel.

At Bellefield you can lift or run in its smaller gym. You can play hoops on its lone basketball court. It also has a pool, so you can do your laps if you like.

Trees Weight Room Mondays through Thursdays: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday through Sunday: noon to 5 p.m.

If you’re an old-school muscle-head, this is the weight room for you.

Trees Weight Room is a hard-nosed dungeon of a workout joint that hits you with a musk of sweat as soon as you walk through the door. Located in the bottom of Trees Hall, it offers an expansive dumbbell area with more hand-me-down weight machines and treadmills spread throughout the room. If you’re a serious lifter who doesn’t want to bother with the numerous distractions at the lavish Baierl Center, go to Trees – it’s never really crowded.

Trees Hall also offers Trees Pool, where the Pitt men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams compete, several racquetball courts and the most basketball courts in one gym at Pitt. So if you’re looking to hoop, Trees is the ideal spot, though it does get crowded on Fridays.

24-hour fitness centers:

Towers Fitness Center: Located at the bottom of Tower A – only available for use by students living in Towers.

Schenley Quad Fitness Center: Located at the bottom of Amos Hall in the Schenley Quad – available to students living in Amos, Brackenridge, Holland, McCormick or Bruce.

Sutherland Fitness Center: In Sutherland Hall – available only to students living in Sutherland Hall.

Lothrop Fitness Center: In Lothrop Hall – only available to students living in Lothrop or Forbes Halls.

Panther Hall Fitness Center: In Panther Hall – only available to students living in Panther Hall. Pennsylvania Hall also has a small fitness center for its residents.