Students using the WSC Recreation Center are finding new features and upgrades this year.

“We always get new machines, or typically get some new machines, so we got another stair stepper and a new treadmill,” said Chad Pitkin, manager of the Rec Center.

Along with new machinery there is a new program called “Fitness on Demand” in
room 203, said Pitkin. The program is on a special iPad that is programmed and able to be used only for “Fitness on Demand.” The program allows those using it to choose between 200 to 300 videos on demand, providing a video
guide while working out.

“The biggest thing that people probably noticed is our new scanning, software
system,” said Pitkin. “It’s called Fusion. You have to scan your ID to get into the Rec Center now.”

There are two reasons behind the system, Pitkin said. One is to make sure
that people who go to school at WSC are the ones using it and not people who have graduated; and the second is that it gives hard data on how many people use it a day, what time they came in, or how many times they came in.

“We have the new ID card system downstairs,” said Mike Barry, directory of the Rec Center. “That’s something that we have really been trying to do for a long, long time. The reason we have been doing it is for safety and efficiency.”

“Our functional training room is a third new thing,” said Barry. “We did a mini-research project on how our racket ball courts were being used.”

He said records were collected for a year with students keeping track of how
the courts were being used, and found that workouts were just as common as actual use for racquetball. As a result, the former racquetball court has been converted into a functional training room, and an area that more people are now able to use, said Barry.

Both Pitkin and Barry said that they have heard many positives about the “Fitness on Demand” and the functional training room, but they have heard some annoyances with the card system when people have to come and go.

More additions are coming to the training room such as reinforced walls, a T-RX suspension, a punching bag, battle ropes and a little bit of graphic design to decorate the room, said Barry. Rec Center staff members hope that in the future, a consultant will study a larger renovation of the Rec Center to make it more convenient when going to lockers or the restroom, he said.