Come to the Sport and Fitness Center

September 29, 2014 Mike Alongi, Sports Editor and Observer Staff

There are plenty of activities at the Sport and Fitness Center on Haverhill for students to participate in and to help get their blood flowing while dealing with classes and heavy workloads this semester. The school year can be stressful, and the Sport and Fitness Center can be a great place to unwind.

The Sport and Fitness Center offers programs for all kinds of students, no matter their physical or schedule limitations.

There are group programs available during the week throughout the semester, including functional movement, cardio-boxing, and bootcamp.

The functional movement class uses stretching and bodyweight exercises to help create strength and mobility throughout the whole body, helping to prevent injury and improve general wellbeing.

Cardio-boxing is an intense 30-minute interval workout, implementing boxing techniques with three-minute rounds of workouts with one-minute rest periods in between. Utilizing a circuit training program, bootcamp offers a quick, high intensity, full body workout that tones muscle and burns calories.

Each of these group programs have already begun their classes for the semester on Sept. 15, but there is no registration necessary, and new students are welcome anytime.

Classes are offered at different points during the week in order to try to accommodate student schedules, with functional movement being held on Thursdays at 11 a.m. in room D133, cardio-boxing on Tuesdays at 12 p.m. in room D133, and bootcamp on Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. in room D133.

The Sport and Fitness Center also offers a student personal training program where students can meet one on one with a student personal trainer. The trainers are usually movement science majors, although sometimes they include recent graduates as well.

The program consists of meeting with a student personal trainer for one hour a week for 10 weeks. With their trainers, students will create and work to meet specific personal fitness goals. These programs are generally for beginners, but all skill levels are accepted. All programs are supervised by Rob Parker, MS CSCS NSCA PT.

Parker says that they are always looking for new participants at the Fitness Center, and welcome anyone to come in and use the equipment with a valid school ID.

In order to draw some of these new members in, the program offers small incentives for achieving various workout goals through the 10 weeks. Students can win prizes such as headphones, a backpack or a Northern Essex sweatshirt. Parker hopes that these small incentives at the beginning will entice exercisers to stick with the program, and the fitness improvements will then speak for themselves.

Students who are interested in the student personal training program are encouraged to contact Rob Parker at (978) 556-3823 or stop by the Sport and Fitness Center in room D133 on the Haverhill campus.

One professor at the college has found an interesting way to get students involved with the Sports and Fitness Center. Professor Liliana Brand is a math professor who offers bonus points to students in her classes if they go and utilize the Sport and Fitness Center. This includes group programs, the student personal training programs, or just using the gym and the facilities at leisure. Twenty five visits to the gym in the semester will earn a student the bonus points from Brand.

One student in one of Professor Brand’s calculus II classes, Chienell Coleman, is certainly enthused by the prospect of getting bonus points simply for getting exercise.

Coleman said, “Not only is she strengthening our minds in class, she is encouraging us to strengthen our bodies as well.”

Rob Parker is also a fan of Brand’s plan to get students to use the Sport and Fitness Center.

When asked about the bonus points opportunity, Parker said, “S=she really values the health benefits, and also getting students involved on campus, which is great for us.”

Regular open gym hours for the fall semester are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mon. through Thurs., and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday.

Students who may be interested in being active on campus but don’t want to use the actual gym can participate in intramural sports. Sports such as soccer, flag football, volleyball and others are played throughout the week on the field in the courtyard outside of the Sport and Fitness Center and Spurk Building. Just last Friday, a group of 16 students of all backgrounds and genders organized themselves, picked teams, and had an hour-long soccer match on the field.

Students interested in playing or signing up for intramural sports should visit the recreation/intramurals bulletin board in the main lobby of the Sport and Fitness Center on Haverhill campus. All students are encouraged to participate.

Features

President’s Running Club

September 29, 2014 Observer Staff

The President’s Running Club held its first meeting on Monday, Sept. 22 at noon in the Sport and Fitness Center. The club is run by NECC President Lane Glenn and Coach Jeff Bickford, who does the Couch to 5k portion of the club. The great thing about the running club is the diversity of exercise options it offers to its members, students or staff who are not runners already. They can acquire the necessary conditioning and experience by participating in the Couch to 5k with Bickford, and seasoned runners can keep training for a 5k race with Glenn.

The Campus Classic is run in the spring at NECC, scheduled for May 2 2015. It is a 5k and Fun Run certified by USATF, and has been made a part of the Super Iron Series by the Merrimack Valley Striders. The Campus Classic is great because proceeds benefit the NECC Annual Fund which provides support for student scholarships and academic programs. The President’s Running Club is a wonderful way of preparing its members for the annual race in the spring, especially after they complete the Feaster Five on Nov. 27.

The President’s Running Club has been in operation for 3 years, since the beginning of 2011. “We not only want people academically fit but physically fit as well,” said Glenn. “We seem to have a group of 30 or so people each semester and we get a lot of new people. People accomplish their first mile or other goals,” said Bickford. The Couch to 5k participants have an opportunity to achieve a goal they might not have thought themselves capable of through the club. “I get to enjoy that because I get people that don’t think they can run, but they become runners.” said Bickford.

Bickford said of a student last semester, “She was going out and thinking she wouldn’t be able to do it. By then end she moved right up next to the runners. Everyone always surprises themselves if they’ve never run before.”

Lane Glenn and Jeff Bickford speaking at the first meeting of the President's Running Club. — Lane Glenn and Jeff Bickford speaking at the first meeting of the President’s Running Club, Photo Credit Rebecca Westerman | NECC Observer

The club schedule was distributed on the first meeting. Intermediate and advanced runners received a separate handout schedule and the Couch to 5k runners got a schedule from Cool Running detailing a workout description, a personal goals sheet and a weekly routine. Both routines include running tips, for more advanced runners, available here, and for beginners, here. The “Campus Loop” is a 1.05 mile lap around campus, mostly on sidewalks. In the duration of the club participants will have the opportunity to run through Kenoza Lake, which is 4.64 miles.

This semester there is a brand new branch of the club being introduced, which is a walking club run by Diana Mele, Professor of Deaf Student and Human Services. This is a brand new endeavor for the President’s Running Club for people who want to eventually run but need to take a slower inital pace. “We’re gonna walk until we can run,” said Mele. Each semester the club tries to incorporate something new to give a broader range of students and faculty members a chance to be a part of the club.

Any student or faculty member can join the running club, as long as they show up on time and wear appropriate clothing to be active in. Locker rooms are available in the Sport and Fitness Center for changing before and after runs, lockers are also available for personal belongings and members are encouraged to bring their own locks or get assigned a locker by contacting Maria Hom at mhom@necc.mass.edu. Members of the club get a free entry to the Feaster Five Race if they run 5 out of the 10 scheduled weeks and get a club -shirt. The group meets every Monday at noon at the Health and Fitness Center from Sept. 22 to Nov. 27.

For any questions about the President’s Running Club, contact Maureen Saliba at msaliba@necc.mass.edu, for information on the Couch to 5k portion contact Jeff Bickford at jbickford@necc.mass.edu and for information about the Walking Club contact Diana Mele at dmele@necc.mass.edu.

Photo gallery here.