LITTLE ROCK — “How many more do we have?” trainer Angel Mann shouted to a dozen students at Howard University in Washington. The correct answer was “eight,” which the group panted back in unison while pumping their knees in the air.
Twice a week, Mann takes over the common room of a freshman dormitory to lead an hour of aerobics, strength training, core work and dance.
It’s probably not the class most high school seniors envision when planning their collegiate careers. But it’s a resource for Howard students, including 18-year-old freshman Neena Speer. “If I’m on my own, I don’t work out as hard,” says Speer, who credits regular attendance with helping her drop from a size 18 to 14 over the past few months.
Around the nation, colleges are working to make physical activity part of campus routine. Offering facilities and services costs money, but for the most part, students use them for free (not counting tuition and fees, of course). The exceptions are special group exercise classes and personal training. “If you pay for something, you’ll do it,” says Kelly Oddy, assistant director for recreational sports and fitness at American University in Washington, which charges $65 per semester for a group exercise class pass.
The goal isn’t to force the entire student body to become jocks, but to get the benefits of healthier living.
Student satisfaction numbers have soared at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore since the O’Connor Recreation Center opened in 2002, increasing activity outlets for students.
“This is a recruiting tool,” says William Harrington, senior associate director of the department of athletics and recreation. Right then, a tour group marches in to marvel at the workout room with floorto-ceiling windows, the indoor track and a climbing wall. (“I’d totally do that,” one teen says.)
Abdul Alimi, an 18-year-old University of Maryland freshman, never once thought about exercise options when he was applying to schools. But he’s hooked on pickup basketball and lifting between classes at the recreation center. “I’m here almost every day. It’s a relaxing environment,” he says. “It’s helping me stay here.”
No matter what schools offer, they’re competing against students’ hectic schedules. Haley Crock, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Maryland, said the natatorium was one of the reasons she came to College Park. But laps are rarely in the cards. “I’m a mechanical engineer, so I don’t have time,” says Crock, even though her dorm is “right there.”
That’s why schools have also begun to take fitness to students. In addition to those free classes at Tubman Quad, Howard puts some exercise equipment in dorms.
ActiveStyle, Pages 32 on 05/02/2011