IVYLEE ROSARIO — Staff Writer
The 12 Days of Fitness event is a great way to get into the holiday spirit and discover new ways of working out, according to Gabrielle Stella.
“I think it will make a lot of students even more excited about the holidays coming up,” said Stella, a liberal studies major and a desk attendant at Southern’s Fitness Center. “Having a theme like this helps to make students want to join and more enthusiastic about coming to the gym and working out.”
The program 12 Days of Fitness was created by Jessica Scibek, the assistant director of the Fitness Center at Southern. It’s the second year the center has held the program.
“It was actually an idea for an intern project to make sort of an audition for new class instructors,” said Scibek. “It gave us a chance to find new instructors and get feedback from the students about the instructors and the specific class they participated in.”
The 12 Days of Fitness consists of holiday-themed fitness classes in which students can enter to win prizes each day after completing a survey about the class. Jingle Bell Zumba, North Pole Pilates and Kandykane Kickboxing are just some of the classes offered during the 12 Days of Fitness.
“These types of classes will help students come out of their comfort zone and join a class that they can have a lot of fun at,” said Stella. “Since the classes are free it can also help people decide if they want to join the gym so they can continue coming to the classes we offer.”
The Fitness Center, located in the Adanti Student Center, provides use of gym equipment as well as personal training sessions, free blood-pressure screenings and group exercise classes, according to Southern’s Fitness Center web page.
“It gives students a chance to take a fun, new class instead of dreading coming to the gym. There’s also usually a lack of people coming to the gym around the holiday season,” said Scibek, “so this gives them a chance to take an active class that they will enjoy instead of something boring like going on the treadmill or elliptical.”
To join the 12 Days of Fitness there are three steps a person has to complete. The person comes dressed for the gym, notifies a desk attendant that they want to participate and fills out a quick survey upon completion of the class. That person is then entered to win a daily prize.
In addition to the 12 Days of Fitness, the employees at the Fitness Center have also planned the All-Star Fitness Challenge. During the spring semester, the gym hosts a 6-week challenge in which people can earn 800, 1000 or 1500 points, according to Southern’s Fitness Center web page.
“The challenge consists of a person choosing a goal of a certain amount of points they want to achieve and each minute of working out counts as one point,” said Amanda Meador, 20-year-old exercise science major who is also a desk attendant at the Fitness Center. “A person can also gain points by participating in events and exercise programs that we offer, as well as exercise outside of this gym. At the end of the 6 weeks they can hand in their workout log and the first 100 people to reach their goal get a free T-shirt.”
The 12 Days of Fitness can be a good start, said Stella, for anyone who may be thinking about joining the Fitness Center. The cost of joining the fitness center is $60 for one semester or $120 for the full academic year.
“I think the 12 Days of Fitness will continue to be successful because it’s something that isn’t offered that often,” said Meador. “People can come try out the new classes and see for themselves if they will enjoy them or not. And then that will help us figure out which classes we can change and add to the list of the ones we already offer here.”
Some classes offered on a daily basis are sculpt and abs, yoga, Zumba, kickboxing and cycling. There is a new exercise class schedule made every semester in addition to a survey sent out to Southern’s students for feedback on the classes.
The 12 Days of Fitness started on Nov. 28 and will last until the Friday before finals week, Dec. 9. The program also offers the classes at different times, said Stella, to fit the schedule of any student who wants to make time to work out.
“Both students and faculty should take advantage of the 12 Days of Fitness. We are offering really fun classes that will feel like you’re not even working out,” said Meador. “You can pick whichever appeals to you and try the class out for free. What’s better than that? I know if I could have a free class every day I would show up to all of them.”