By Dalton Bobes, Contributing Writer
At West Liberty University, one of the biggest selling points to prospective students is how great our facilities are. While I do agree that the university is very up to date and provides many opportunities to students, one facility that is lacking is our wellness center. More specifically, the wellness center is not large enough.
Students come to the wellness center to work out, socialize and have a good time. However, if we don’t have enough room for any of these goals to be accomplished, then is the Wellness Center really providing any opportunities to students?
As a personal trainer, I’m in the wellness center a lot. Sometimes there are so many people in the gym that lines begin to form around equipment. This can be agitating for students because they might only have so much time to workout. This can also be annoying for the person on the piece of equipment because they can feel rushed or crowded.
For many people, this semester could be their first time in a gym. Sure, people can tell you that no one is watching you while you workout, but being surrounded by 20 or more students doesn’t really help. It can make them feel discouraged, and they might stop going.
It’s not a bad thing that there are so many people because it’s really great seeing people wanting to live healthy lifestyles. They just don’t have any room to go to. This is especially true for anyone using free weights. There is limited lifting space, and it’s mostly used for the benches.
Fellow personal trainer Miranda Snell said, “I think the thing we are majorly missing in there is a space for body weight activities. Like we have lots of machines, but no big space for doing free weight activities, like weighted lunges. Same goes for doing stretches. We aren’t allowed to take the yoga mats outside of the center, but there is also not much room to use them inside the center.” This is true, most people use the mats in open areas near the treadmills.
If there was more space, then people might feel like it is a more welcoming environment rather than the small cramped space that they have now.
I am very appreciative of the wellness center that we we are provided with now, but I feel that if it was to be upgraded just a little bit, people would be more inclined to start a healthier lifestyle. If you also have any suggestions for the wellness center, feel free to send an email to [email protected].
Photo credit: Morgan Goddard
