Step it up

UREC’s group workout room gives student clubs new options

By ZACH MENDENHALL The Breeze

JMU’s University Recreation Center (UREC) broke ground in 1994 and opened in 1996, offering over 300 non-credit learning programs a year. But now with 278,515 square feet to explore, there are a few easy-to-miss places.

UREC’s group training room — located on the left after checking in beneath the main concourse — has only recently gained popularity. It replaced old and unused racquetball courts in 2020, Kelsey Silverman, a graduate assistant at UREC, said, and has increased in programs and equipment since.

“It’s a very popular fad kind of across all recreation centers right now that racquetball courts are just not as popular as they used to be,” Silverman said. Schools are developing their own “functional training spaces,” completing construction on old or unused areas.

The room is a multipurpose group training room, Charlie Gaylord, sophomore UREC employee said, meaning it “has the equipment in it to work out almost anything you want.”

The room includes turf, wall ball targets and rack sleds used for pushing — which are unique to just the training room, Gaylord said.

Gaylord said he enjoys using the room to improve the club ultimate frisbee team. They do speed and agility workouts in the training room, Gaylord said, but not as many weight-lifting exercises. He said the speed work complements the on-field cardio from frisbee well.

Using the room allows the ultimate frisbee team to build chemistry, Gaylord said. Having the entire team present in a room together develops “physical chemistry,” ensuring the whole team is on the same strength level, and equally important “social chemistry.”

Gaylord said he also appreciates that the training room offers “less disruptions of flow” in workouts. Waiting at a machine for an extended amount of time can be annoying, he said; but, the room offers “efficiency,” keeping workouts flowing at ease.

The room is also home to programs such as total resistance exercise classes, which relies on suspension training; wellness passports, which are required self-wellness classes for students taking the general education course, Health 100 — such as meditation and time management sessions — “Learn to…” classes that focus on improving a specific skill, and Quick Fit classes, offered five times a day with different set workouts that allow full body exercises in 45 minutes. Club sports teams also select weekly workout times as a team.

Senior health sciences major Julia Shreve, who teaches group training classes at UREC, said she’s noticed more people signing up for classes in the training room this semester compared to last. Her classes also usually receive new attendants each time, she said.

Shreve said she believes openness and variety of equipment in the training room makes it easier to complete workouts more efficiently. With her largest classes only up to eight people, this lets her interact with the participants and focus on their training.

“I can pretty much monitor everybody throughout the entire class,” Shreve said. “I can check over everybody’s form and make sure that they’re getting it and like give them modifications and help them personalize a move to do what’s best for them and their fitness level.”

While the room is reserved for specific programs and organizations, the classes are accessible to anybody, Silverman said. She said she takes the classes because she loves the small-group setting, which helps her stay motivated with “accountability buddies” while also allowing her to work at her own pace.

Gaylord said reserving the room for his ultimate frisbee team has encouraged people to show up to workouts. It gives people less of an excuse to say no, he said, because “you know you’re gonna be working out with your friends exclusively.”

Although the ultimate frisbee team has only used the room for about a month, Gaylord said they plan to carry on tradition for many years.

“It definitely enhances the experience and I hope … that we can keep taking this going into the future because it makes sense,” Gaylord said.

Recently, UREC has been promoting the room on Instagram through a segment that publicizes other lesser-known areas in the complex. Silverman said it explains how to sign up for the classes, too.

“It’s a really cool functional space that’s not offered in many places. It allows for different types of movements and different types of training,” Silverman said.

With students back on campus post-COVID-19 restrictions, the room offers a sense of “community,” Silverman said, as the members of the class continue to meet one another. It creates a setting that is hard to find, she added.

“If you don’t get along with your teammates, you’re not going to play well,” Gaylord said. “So team bonding plays a huge, huge part in all of this.”

Benefits ranging from increased chemistry, timeliness and overall efficiency, the group training room continues to have more and more people recognize it, Shreve said, as it continues to find its mold in the complex.

CONTACT Zach Mendenhall at mendenzl@dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.