Olivia Colemen checks guests in before they enter WCC Fitness Center. Lily Merritt | Washtenaw Voice
By Brian Babcock
Staff Writer
Although each semester thousands of students enroll for classes at WCC, only a fraction frequent the college’s Health and Fitness Center.
“It’s about one-third students and then the rest would be community members … it’s one of the nicer places in the community for people to workout at so you get a lot of community members here versus the students,” said Stephanie Bachli, sales manager of the Health and Fitness Center.
To some, it might just be the building across the way, but it is more than that. It’s a great place for students to get in a workout between classes, take fitness courses and learn more about healthy habits, all on a student budget. Students should consider joining the gym if they are interested in working out more, while saving time and money.
WCC’s position as commuter school may partly explain why student participation at the Center is low, according to Bachli.
“The community college is a really big commuter school, so sometimes students don’t [have] time to come over and do their fitness … it might be something they do when they get home or before they left for school. A lot more online classes are occurring, so someone might be a student doing online classes and not have the chance to come over here.”
Bachli has been making efforts to gain student participation at the fitness center with visits to the Student Center.
“There are so many great amenities here and I think some of the students don’t even know what’s here for them sometimes,” Bachli said.
Currently, students can join the Health and Fitness Center for $35 per month—a reasonable price compared to other gyms of this caliber.
“If you compare [the prices] to what everyone else charges, it’s a big deal … I’m really into weight lifting and have a home set but there’s a whole lot of things you can’t really replicate without spending thousands of dollars and they have everything you would want here,” said Clay Patterson, a student who enjoys working out at the fitness center. “They have like three different machines for every muscle.”
Even local gyms with competitive prices can’t compete with the WCC fitness center’s convenience—at just a crosswalk away, the fitness center’s appeal is all about location, location, location.
At nearly 140,000 square feet, the two-story building sports a wide variety of amenities and services. According to Patterson, this is essential when trying to get a workout in during peak times.
“I did a trial at AnyTime Fitness . . . those gyms are a lot smaller so you have a lot less to work with and a lot more crowding,” Patterson said. “Here, there’s a couple things which might get a little crowded, but since you have so many options there’s always something you can do … and if you’re here for anything cardio related you never have to wait.”
“It is all encompassing,” said Bachli. “There is something for everybody here … pools, over 100 exercise classes per week to drop into, everything from low impact to high impact exercise training, stretching, strengthening, cycling, dance and free weights.”
Another perk of The Health and Fitness Center are the drop-in full-court basketball matches on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Plus there are drop-in volleyball matches on Mondays and Wednesdays.
For more information regarding the Health and Fitness Center at WCC, contact them at (734) 975-9950 or email them through their website.
