ERC’s functional training studio
Gone are the chips, sports bras and water bottles — Eppley Recreation Center’s former Pro Shop is now a space to spend energy working out instead of spending money.
The ERC’s repurposed functional training studio that once housed a shop stocked with snacks, sports drinks and workout apparel now offers a new style of workout experience for interested gym-goers.
Now, students have equipment and open floor space perfect for “freedom of movement” exercises, which plenty of students have been utilizing.
The Pro Shop had occupied the space since the ERC opened its doors in 1998. Now, students can find the food or snacks the Pro Shop would have previously offered at Sneaker’s Energy Zone on the same level, and people looking for workout clothing can visit the lower level’s “Rec Shop,” said Kate Maloney, Campus Recreation Services wellness communications coordinator.
The new studio offers a number of individual tools, including four TRX trainers, Bosu balls, kettle bells, foam rollers, stability and medicine balls, Plio rebounders and Ab Coasters — equipment officials said students had requested or had been absent in existing workout rooms.
In September alone, more than 900 students used the studio space and equipment, numbers officials hope will continue to rise as students expand their workout horizons.
“People can be hesitant to try out a new studio or new equipment. We all have a tendency to get stuck in our gym routine — work out here, do this machine, then leave,” said Brianne Rowh, CRS fitness programs director. “But this studio is a great open space for people to check out, to vary their workout experience.”
The new functional studio space is designed for exercises that allow people to work out in the “way their body actually moves,” Maloney said, perfect for sports conditioning or strengthening muscles used in day-to-day activities.
“A lot of what freedom of movement exercises do is help people to get better at the things they already like to do,” she said. “Students could use the space to improve their intramural skills or even just to make lifting their heavy grocery bags easier.”
Before the studio’s arrival, students used existing mats in the weight rooms for stretching or free body exercises, Maloney said, which are not ideal for working out.
“We were seeing students trying to take advantage of these exercises in tiny spaces and really saw the need for a new studio and equipment,” Maloney said, adding that the studio’s establishment coincides with changes in fitness trends.
The change in studio space is not entirely uncommon for CRS. The current cycling studio in Cole Field House was the former men’s basketball locker room, and this year saw the expansion of the Sport Club Suite in Eppley, replacing the Center for Health and Wellbeing, which relocated to the University Health Center.
“We always strive to be mindful of what people are looking for and ask ourselves what we could do to better serve them,” Rowh said.
Al Asikin, who works as an information technology coordinator and network administrator for the university, said he frequently comes to the functional training studio to do physical therapy exercises for his Achilles tendinitis.
“They have lots of equipment that’s not available at the main gym. Stuff like the foam rollers and the medicine balls have been great for helping with my rehab,” Asikin said. “The name ‘functional training studio’ really says it all; you can exercise multiple body parts, not just isolated areas. It’s definitely worth it.”
Beginning Nov. 1, the functional training studio will be open until 10 p.m. to students, closing two hours before Eppley itself closes. Rowh expects the current personal-training-exclusive hours to be phased out somewhat, given difficulties in arranging proper times for sessions with clients. A formal evaluation is going to take place, and officials may adjust the schedule for the spring 2014 semester.
Before using the space, students must take FT101, a free, 45-minute informal training session with a personal trainer — something Rowh said is more akin to a free personal training session with the trainers on staff than a lecture. The program is designed to help students feel more comfortable with the equipment, much of which they may not have seen or used before.
“Not all of what is found in the studio is the most intuitive equipment,” Rowh said. “FT101 helps explain what each piece does and why it’s useful, so that when students return, they know what to do to get the best workout possible.”
Joe Powers, a senior kinesiology major and one of about 20 personal trainers at Eppley, helps to run FT101 orientations for students and says it’s fun seeing people exposed to the new environment.
“A lot of people are used to just lifting in a weight room, but here you have to use all of your muscles; it’s a whole body movement,” he said. “It’s fun to push people in new ways and be able to expose everyone to a new workout style.”
