By William Proulx [1]
BELLEVILLE – It’s nearly a month into the new year and the Loyalist College Fitness Centre [2] is jumping.
The fitness centre is always a major attraction for Loyalist students and staff. The new year tends to bring more students to the gym, said Cory Mestre, the co-ordinator of fitness facilities and campus recreation at Loyalist.
“January sees a major uptick in terms of daily visits – not necessarily an increase in our membership, but an increased number of our members becoming more active,” he said.
As in past years, the fitness centre has between 1,800 and 1,900 members right now, Mestre said – over 60 per cent of the college’s population. And that doesn’t include the 100 staff members who attend frequently.
“Our staff members tend to be people who are fairly dedicated, and have used it continuously throughout the year,” Mestre said.
Kaylee McLean, a Graphic Design student at Loyalist who has worked at the fitness centre since September, said there has been a noticeable increase since the beginning of the month in the number of members coming to work out.
“By the time December came last year, there was maybe like five or 10 people a day, and now there (are) like 50 or 60 just in the few hours that I am here,” said McLean.
But the number of people working out is slowly starting to decrease as we approach February, she added.
All full-time students who have paid their tuition already have a membership that just needs to be activated for them to be able to working out at the facility.
Activities that take place at the fitness centre include yoga, women’s nights on Wednesdays and a team challenge.
The facility is open seven days a week. Click here [3] for more information about hours of opening.