Barnard looks to draw Dodge crowd to gym

Barnard’s weight room is getting a face lift.

Maggie Martini, the interim director of Intramurals and Recreation, has been seeking ideas from students to get more people to Barnard’s gym, which is located in the basement of Hewitt and has long been a low-key alternative to the fitness-center">Dodge Fitness Center.

“We’re trying to make the weight room a little more uplifting and welcoming for people. Right now it’s in a basement of a building, so it’s kind of blah,” said Martini.

So far, Martini has been told that hanging motivational posters, replacing old equipment, and redesigning the room might get more students pumping iron at Hewitt. She recently began a flier campaign asking students to write down what they find motivational—a word, quote, or phrase that inspires students to work out.

But Sophie Marcopoulis, BC ’15, who comes to the Barnard weight room every other day, said she’s happy with the way the gym is now.

“I think it’s comforting. I really like coming to this gym because it’s small and pretty chill,” Marcopoulis said. “Dodge is big, and all the athletes train there, and it’s just not the environment I want to be in when I work out.”

In late October, Barnard began enhancing the facilities in the space. Two older machines, a treadmill and an elliptical, were replaced by new, upgraded versions. Students can now connect their iPods to the new treadmill, adjust their incline, and select pre-planned workouts.

“I like the new elliptical—it’s better,” Delaney Simon, BC ’12, said. “I haven’t really used the new treadmill. A treadmill’s a treadmill—you’re going to run anyway.”

The funding for the new equipment comes from the physical education department that manages the budget for Barnard’s intramural sports, PE classes, and weight room.

At Dodge, there are “too many people, too much traffic. When you want to workout, you just want to be in your zone, you know?” Geovanna Carrasco, BC ’12, said.

The women-only hours are another component that is unique to Barnard’s weight room.

“I feel like it’s [the Barnard weight room] better for women,” Simon said.

Martini said she does not think the Barnard weight room is under-utilized­—it averages 40-50 patrons a day—but she would like more people to know about it.

“Our biggest thing is that we want people to know that we’re offering these things­—intramurals, the FitBear program, the weight room down there. We want people to know that we do have them and choose not to come to them, rather than not go because they didn’t know,” Martini said.

Ryann Shane, BC ’15, who comes to the weight room five to six times a week, said she likes the weight room’s atmosphere the way it is. “There’s better lighting here than at Dodge, and it’s more motivating because it’s brighter and a better atmosphere. Also they play music, which is also motivating,” Shane said.

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