Fitness facilities OK, crowded

Pitt students have mixed feelings about overall fitness throughout campus.

Some students… Pitt students have mixed feelings about overall fitness throughout campus.

Some students agree on the adequacy and accessibility of the number of facilities Pitt has.

“The Pete [Baierl Student Recreation Center] is amazing,” said Siobhan Huggins, a sophomore athletic training and physical therapy major.

“Some of the older facilities are nice too ’cause they’re not as crowded and they still have good equipment,” she said.

Menachem Brodie, an exercise science major, agreed.

“The facilities are good, especially the Pete. They [Pitt] do a good job of keeping them up to date,” she said. “They just need to publicize them more. People in dorms think Baierl is the only thing available.”

Pitt offers 11 recreation centers, each located in different areas of campus and each having different hours of operation. Some facilities, such as those in residence halls, are open 24 hours a day.

The amount of traffic in facilities such as Baierl, though, turn some students off from going to the gym.

“There are always people working out,” freshman Katie Corbally said.

Corbally lives in Sutherland Hall, but would rather work out in the Pete with her friend, Nikki Baer, because of space.

“The gyms are always crowded,” agreed Baer, also a freshman.

Students do indeed use Pitt’s facilities frequently, according to Kory Stauffer, Baierl’s fitness coordinator.

“37,000 students a month come through the facility,” said Stauffer.

He also noted that this is a yearly average, but that the number fluctuates, especially around January, when students come back from the holidays with New Year’s resolutions and Spring Break goals.

“In general, we’re a pretty fit campus. Our fitness center opportunities are great. It’d be a pretty interesting study to see how many students on average use the facilities and what they do in them,” Stauffer said.

In comparison to other campuses, Stauffer noted one thing Pitt does not have: a large number of outdoor playing fields.

“We lack the space. Our outside facilities are terrible,” he said. “But it’s the nature of the beast, being landlocked like this in a city,” he said.

Another Pete employee, Mark Schafer, emphasized the number of facilities on campus.

“I’d say there’s plenty of access, between the pool, the climbing walls and weight rooms, it’s a pretty fit campus,” Schafer said. “It’s a matter of breaking down the barriers. If we only had Trees, people wouldn’t want to get out of their dorms to go exercise,” he said.

Trees Hall, located on upper campus, offers facilities such as a pool, a weight room and a gymnasium with playing courts.

Schafer also noted the changes that campuses overall have made from the past.

“Campuses have definitely made a transition. Universities have transformed into these mega-fitness centers,” he said.

Although some students find the fitness facilities a great asset to campus, students like Brodie had different opinions about fitness among students.

“I think there needs to be improvement. People will take the buses instead of walking up the hill because they think it’s faster,” Brodie said.

Students, on the other hand, find it easier to exercise with the company of friends.

“There’s a lot of people in the gym. I don’t know if they’re all fit. Some people just socialize in the gym,” sophomore Megan Hatch said.

“I try to go with friends,” Corbally added.

In addition to facilities, Pitt also offers a variety of classes, such as yoga and aerobics, and programs like the “Buddy Workout” program – through the undergraduate physical fitness club – and the “Getting Fit at Pitt” program.

“I think that most students work out, but a lot of people don’t even realize the programs that Pitt offers,” Huggins said. “I don’t think people are aware that you can talk with a dietitian or get your own personalized workout schedule.”

Besides fitness programs and facilities, Pitt students find fitness through other avenues, such as intramural sports. For instance, 106 teams signed up this semester for touch football, and 54 teams signed up for volleyball. Altogether, 2,400 students are registered to play intramurals this semester in football and volleyball alone.

Liz Daly, an administrative assistant in the intramural office, said that a lot of students “are really into it.”

Whether students at Pitt are currently in shape or not, the number of programs, recreation centers and counselors available leaves little room for doubt that students, if they choose so, have the accessibility to be fit.