Above photo: A rendering of how studio B will look after its $30,000 renovation in the fall. Courtesy of Escape Fitness
By Brianna Rodriguez
Functional training, a fitness exercise that is becoming popular among fitness centers across the nation, is coming to the fitness center at USF St. Petersburg.
Al Gentilini, associate director of Campus Recreation, and Natalie Szocs, fitness programming coordinator, have plans in the works to implement the “Move it” functional training program as part of the fitness center’s goal to create a fitter community.
Functional training focuses on workouts that make everyday tasks easier.
“Although many people may not know exactly what functional training means – they have definitely seen it,” said Szocs.“It has become one of the most efficient ways of working out for people to see results and see them fast.”
Orangetheory Fitness and CrossFit are types of functional training that students have to leave campus to participate in.
“In order to compete at that level with people around us, we wanted to find something that students could come in and try, really love, gravitate toward and feel motivated … to keep going with throughout the semester,” said Szocs.
Campus Recreation has a budget of about $30,000 to spend on the creation of the “Move it” program in studio B. Some of the funds will also be used to expand Campus Recreation management offices to the second floor.
The money for the program comes out of funding previously set aside for a cycling program. The cycling program was nixed due to the the fitness center being too small.
The functional training program will use studio B, but the studio will remain open for recreational use when classes aren’t in session.
Campus Recreation is working with Advantage Form Fitness to acquire equipment for the space from Escape Fitness.
This new program aspires to bring a fitter identity to the campus.
Gentilini said that only one other university in Florida has the Move It program.
This program does more than provide another fitness option, it also adds on-campus jobs.
“With this also comes certifications for students to teach,” said Gentilini. “We are able to offer 15 certifications to our students to teach where they can come in train, learn how to instruct and now they have jobs.”
According to data provided by Campus Recreation, there is a correlation between student GPAs and fitness center use. The study showed that students who use the fitness center often have a higher GPA. Campus Recreation also provided data connecting university retention rates and fitness center usage.
The data highlights the importance of the recreational facility to the student body. The improvements made aim to increase these statistics and encourage students to live a healthy lifestyle.
The goal is to save students money by giving them a program that they are interested in on campus.
“Our students are paying a student life fee, and we fall under that fee. We want the students to realize that we don’t want you to have to pay and seek out something else because we can’t offer it here,” said Szocs.
