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The weight room needs a little elbow room. The Anderson Sports and Health Center has been open since the spring of 1993 when there were fewer than 1,000 students enrolled. Now as the student body climbs to 1,550, students are clamoring for space.
“There [are] also never any bikes open and you have to leave and come back and a later time to work out because it all depends when the sports teams are there,” says student Becca Charnitski. “They really should make it bigger and get new machines. They need more leg machines too.”
The center has been updated in the past five years, but students still have trouble when it comes to scheduling. “The weight room is extremely too small. When sports teams are in the weight room there is no room to work out,” said student M.K. Baran. “My gym at home is 100 times bigger and better than the MU gym. When I am home the most I would ever have to wait to use a treadmill or elliptical is five minutes unlike here when I have to wait 20 to 25 minutes. Out of every college visit I went on, the MU gym is by far the smallest and oldest,” said Baran.
Many students say the weight room should be expanded and MU officials are discussing the possibility. Although most machines and equipment in the weight room have been updated there are still complaints about the quality of the equipment. “The equipment is out of date and old, especially the benches; they are loose and falling apart. Half of the equipment is bent or crooked so when using them it can make your muscles become uneven. Things get broken and no one comes to fix anything and if they do it takes forever to fix,” said [YEAR] Adam Hook.
“Sometimes the rust falls off into your eyes when you’re benching with the dumbbells.”
Some students say they stay away. “The gym is fairly small for a college gym. The gym in my High School was about the same size and I’m sure our budget was smaller,” said student Lane Dickie. “I feel more people would use [the gym if it were expanded] because [now] when you workout, it feels like you’re right on top of the person next to you. There is nearly enough space to do your workout, especially if there are a lot of people there.”
There are three elliptical machines, three treadmills, two stair steppers and five bikes in the Anderson Center. David Martin, Director of Athletics, said cardiac machines will be the first to be added as the expansion is planned. “Growth of athletic program has greatened a lot. With more teams on campus, student population is growing and our campus population is growing,” says Martin.
Varsity teams tend to train during the off-season, and they often use certain machines in the weight room. “Our hope is to expand the weight room, but there are no concrete plans at this time. However there is a lot of activity on campus and with the purchase of the Commonwealth building, when that’s ready to be moved into, we are hoping to acquire some additional space so we can make the fitness center bigger.”
Staff members said they are unsure how much the project will cost or where the new fitness center will be located.
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