Hopefully you have all had a chance to visit our new Recreation
— or Rec — Center by now, and have found the time in your busy
schedules for the five minutes it takes to register with the new
HandKey system. If so, then you have already witnessed the
abundance of cardiovascular exercise opportunities now available
to you on campus. The amount of treadmills, stationary bikes and
elliptical machines in the Rec Center is staggering, not to
mention that you now have the chance to participate in spin
classes, utilize the lap pool or play racquetball. And while we
live in an area already ripe with outdoor, aerobic
opportunities, only at the Rec Center can you get your cardio on
an elliptical machine while watching iCarly. In its 2008
publication Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, the U.S.
federal government defines aerobic (i.e., cardio) activity as
physical activity where the body’s large muscles move in a
rhythmic manner for a sustained period of time, causing a
person’s heart to beat faster than usual.