REC Center gets busy with New Year Resolutions

New Year’s fitness resolutions swarm the Recreation Center at Cal Poly with the start of winter quarter. 

Business marketing senior, Ella Lindstrom, frequently goes to the REC Center and has noticed a significant increase in attendance this quarter. 

“Probably because, like me, everyone created New Year’s resolutions to workout more,” Lindstrom said. “I mean students here are pretty fit anyways. I feel like a lot of people go to the REC.” 

Lindstrom complains that all the weights and machines are being used with so many students working out at the same time. 

She also says there is no space left to do other workouts. 

“I’ve gone at many different times of the day, and it’s very hard to find a space to workout in,” Lindstrom said. “And if I find a space there’s not many weights to use.” Cal Poly Associated Students Incorporated or ASI, Director of Recreational Sports Programs and Services, Robyn Wallman, noticed the increase in occupancy every year after New Years. 

“We do see an uptick in usage for about the first three weeks of January,” Wallman said. “Usually all fitness centers, that’s their highest volume of use. As you can imagine that’s typically associated with New Year’s resolutions, with a new commitment to fitness and wellness goals.”

ASI has added a new feature to the ASI access app, allowing students and members to see how crowded the gym is ahead of time. 

Using WIFI connected to students’ devices, anyone with the ASI access app can see how busy three different areas in the rec center are. 

“We’re around five or six thousand users during a weekday, so Monday through Friday,” Wallman said. “But we’ll see during those first three weeks an increase of about three hundred to four hundred users.” 

Students can also reserve a spot in certain fitness classes such as the breakaway cycling class and body pump, instead of having to arrive early to get a spot in the class.