by Sharon Lannaman
Located on the University of Central Florida’s main campus is the Recreation and Wellness Center, where the main building is open from 6:00am to 12:00am. Currently enrolled UCF students go there to workout, partake in various types of activities, and take advantage of the center’s services. Ok, good for them, but why am I telling you this? Because there are many other UCF students that don’t go there to workout, do activities, and take advantage of the services. Frankly, some don’t even know the services are available to them. Well, hopefully I am here to change that.
About RWC
The main goal of the Rec center is to encourage college students to make healthy decisions. This is done by providing a safe and dependable health facility, where students can go to benefit from the center’s high quality programs, equipment, and training. Their productive team of employees aim to produce a clean workout environment that allows students to not only work towards sustaining a healthy life, but allows them to have fun while doing it.
Free of Charge
When first starting at UCF, I knew the campus had to have some type of gym; the school is too big not to have at least one. But I didn’t care to find out where it was, because I felt I would not be able to afford going there every day. Basically, I gave up before I even tried. It took about three months into my first semester at UCF to learn that going to the gym would not cost me another dime. Why is that, you ask? Because as students there is a fee that covers your basic membership at the Rec Center. You see, we already pay for the ability to show our face, so the least we can do for ourselves is try to improve our health. Free of charge. Now of course eating right is the beginning of a healthy life, but most of the time that’s only half the battle, the other half is exercise. There are so many types of exercise methods that it can get really confusing, but the best thing you can do for yourself is find the one that you would enjoy and will be motivated to keep doing. This is where the employees and programs at the Rec center come in.
Indoor and Outdoor Programs
I won’t lie to you, other than the basic membership and a good amount of free programs, some of the other services will cost money, but at least you know what options exist. The one program that caught my eye was personal training, but unfortunately this is one of those options that would cost money. Fortunately the Rec Center offers a free consultation session where they will listen to understand your exercise and eating habits and introduce you to the calorie burning world. Some other really cool programs found at the Rec center are group exercise activities like Yoga and Pilates, fitness assessments for evaluating physical body components, a gigantic climbing tower that is 41 feet tall, amazing lap and leisure pool areas where swimming lessons can be offered, CPR classes, and a student assisted workout program aimed at providing support for disabled students. There are many more options, but one important service is the fitness orientations that are in place to expose new comers to the center and the state-of-the-art equipment used for cardio and weight training. To sign up for a fitness orientation go to the administrative office on the lower level of the Rec center. Those who prefer outdoor activities are never forgotten. In addition to the pool areas, UCF also has a nine-hole disc golf course, boating opportunities at Lake Claire, and basketball, tennis, and sand volleyball courts. The ability to make event reservations for these outdoor locations exists as well. Program sign up, reservation forms, and registration forms are found on the RWC website: http://rwc.sdes.ucf.edu/
UCF Support and Workout Facilities
Take advantage of the employees at the Rec center while you have them. They are your support. If you feel they are not enough and you want to look elsewhere for support, let’s say your friends and family who are not enrolled at UCF, then that option is available to you as well. Each student is allowed up to five guest passes and can extend a membership to one person per semester. And what if you are enrolled at a UCF Regional campus? Well no worries, UCF has partnerships with other workout facilities that are located at or close to other UCF Regional campuses: Cocoa YMCA Family Center at Brevard Community College for UCF Cocoa students, Daytona State College L. Gale Lemerand Fitness Center for UCF Daytona students, Elite Fitness Center in Palm Bay for UCF Palm Bay students, J. Douglas Williams YMCA Family Center in Lake Mary for Lake Mary/Sanford students, National Training Center in Clermont for UCF South Lake students, and Planet Fitness Metro West for UCF Valencia West students. Each of these facilities provide Student Outreach Services that offer recreation programs and activities as a part of being affiliated with UCF.
Just Do It
It is time that we all took control of our lives, before it’s too late. We owe it to ourselves to get this done. The Recreation and Wellness Center provides us with the options and resources to do this. And this mission doesn’t have to be the hardest thing in the world to do, not if you have the right kind of support and a safe environment. Who knows? You might even have fun in the process.
