We all know the importance of staying in shape and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, the gym at Colorado Mesa University’s (CMU) Maverick Center is not meeting this need for many of us.
The gym on our campus is consistently overcrowded. During peak workout times, it’s almost impossible to find a free weight machine or even a treadmill.
This not only makes it difficult to get a good workout, but it can also be a safety issue. With so many people in the gym, it’s easy to bump into someone or even drop a weight on someone’s foot.
The overcrowding problem is amplified during the winter months when the weather is too cold to go outside and exercise.
During this time, the gym is packed all day and people are constantly waiting in line for a machine. The overcrowding has caused the gym to become a less-than-pleasant place to be. It’s often too loud, too crowded and too hot. This makes it difficult to focus on your workout.
The university needs to take steps to address this problem. Adding new machines or even limiting the amount of people allowed in at the same time may be a start.
The ellipticals were recently replaced, but there was nothing wrong with the old ones. Instead, money should have been spent on equipment we do not have enough of. Another leg press or more benches could have been a good investment.
Along with that, equipment that is broken often stays that way for at least several weeks. If your workout routine depends on a broken machine, you’ll be out of luck for a while.
Another way to combat overcrowding could be more fitness classes. This would take some of the strain off the gym and provide more variety for students. The workout classes now are scattered and sometimes occur during peak class time.
In my personal experience, classes also have advanced instructors who do not slow down for newcomers, which makes the classes seem inaccessible and anxiety-inducing.
This anxiety often applies to the rest of the gym as well. When a student is just learning, it can be overwhelming to go to a crowded place. The dress code is also loosely enforced, which has resulted in some of us seeing entirely too much of our peers in what is supposed to be a safe place to improve health.
There have been improvements made in my time here, which have elevated the gym experience. However, it is still important for students to actively give feedback so that updates can continue in the direction the student body wants.
With a new recreation center being built in Grand Junction, there will hopefully be some strain taken off CMU’s gym, but the student population will still be in need of changes.
