Bigger isn't always better, according to second-year College student Steve Crenshaw. Although the Aquatics & Fitness Center is the largest gym on Grounds, Crenshaw -- along with many other fellow University students -- feels there are plenty of reasons to use the University's three other facilities.
"The AFC does seem to have the most equipment, but it's usually too crowded for me, so I usually just end up going to the Memorial Gym," Crenshaw said.
Second-year Engineering student Brian Cunningham agreed with Crenshaw that sometimes the crowds can be a deterrent for attending the AFC.
"I normally go to the AFC, but I try to go at times when there aren't as many people there. I usually will go somewhere else when it's at a busier time of the day," Cunningham said. "It just takes too long to get a work out when you have to wait all of the time."
Some gym-goers, however, feel the better facilities at the AFC are worth the wait.
"I definitely go to the AFC the most," second-year College student Megan Fanale said. "It does get crowded and you will have to wait for a machine sometimes, but it has a lot more cardio than anywhere else, so it's usually not too big of a problem."
With the crowds scaring away many people from the AFC, many guys said Mem gym gives a comparable work out -- minus the lines for machines or free weights.
"I love Mem Gym," second-year college student Eric Mayton said. "I would go to the AFC a bunch as a first year, and it does seem to have more stuff, but Mem gym has about the same amount of free weights -- which is all I usually use anyway -- and it's never crowded."
Second-year College student Kate Cerwensky, however, has problems with the atmosphere of Mem Gym.
"Mem Gym kind of feels like a prison," Cerwensky said. "It's so enclosed in the basement, and everything just feels really old there."
Although most seem to claim they prefer Mem Gym, students offered a few reasons why AFC consistently is the most crowded on Grounds.
"Well, it is easiest for most first years to go to the AFC especially since they don't have cars," Crenshaw said. "But there also are a lot more girls at the AFC, and I think that's a reason why so many guys end up going there -- either to show off or have something better than a bunch of sweaty guys to look at. I guess it's not a bad reason to go, but sometimes it's almost distracting."
Second-year College student Lindsey Wells has her own theories on how to pick the best gym on Grounds.
"I hate going to the AFC around lunch time, or especially from about 5:00 to 8:00 [p.m.]," Wells said. "I'd prefer to work out there because I like the atmosphere better, but I just don't like the crowds. If I think it will be busy, I go to North Grounds. It's small, but at least there is never anybody there."
Besides having to deal with the crowds, second-year College student Lizzie Ferreri has other reasons for picking where she goes to work-out.
"The AFC sometimes seems like a fashion show," Ferreri said. "But I feel like if I'm going to work-out and get all sweaty and gross, I don't really want to see a bunch of people I know."Slaughter and North Grounds usually are pretty empty, so sometimes I will go with my roommates there."
For students like Cerwinsky, who is a member of the women's water-polo club team, the other features offered by the fitness facilities often help determine where they will end up working out. Cerwinsky said usually it's easiest to continue her work-out at the AFC after practice in the facility's pool.
Second-year transfer student Reid Sassman's love for basketball usually determines where he will get his work-out as well.
"I like going to Mem Gym the most to lift, but there are usually more pick-up [basketball] games at Slaughter or North Grounds," Sassman said. "I didn't live in dorms first year, and I don't really swim, so I never really got used to going to the AFC."
Loyalties arising from where people lived during their first year also play a part in picking favorite gyms for many people.
"I had friends who chose to live in new dorms partly because it's so close to the AFC, and I think most of them still go there because it's just what they are used too," Crenshaw said."I lived in the IRC my first year, which is right next to Mem gym, and I think that's a reason why I usually still go there."
At just under 100,000 square feet, the opening of the AFC in 1996 more than doubled the fitness area on Grounds. The new addition projected to finish in the 2004 spring semester will add new basketball courts and an indoor track. The new plans, however, do not include additional weight or cardio machines, even though this addition will inevitably increase the volume of gym-goers to the AFC.
Sassman, however, has conflicting ideas about the consequences of this addition.
"The basketball courts at the gyms are hard to get on right now, and I think this [addition] should make it a lot easier to find an open court," Sassman said. "And I'll probably start spending a lot more time there. I'm guessing that they will probably make the weight-room busier though, so that might get annoying."
Whether bigger really is better, as the AFC continues to grow, its size inevitably attracts many gym-goers while scaring away others who don't want to deal with its resulting crowds.
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