Psychology junior Makayla Salinas uses the tricep extension last Tuesday at the UTRGV Recreation Center on the Edinburg campus. AURORA ACEVEDO/THE RIDER PHOTOS
The University Recreation Center will host the Fall Back into Fitness Challenge from Aug. 29 through Nov. 18 to help students and other UREC members get back in shape.
Participants can use all UREC resources: group exercise classes, personal trainer, indoor track, strength equipment, cardio equipment, pool, intramural sports, etc., to fall back into shape.
The participant who loses the most body fat percentage wins a prize.
The UREC on the Edinburg campus is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Fitness and Wellness Coordinator Fay Kennan said the purpose of the challenge is to engage all students and other UREC members into the center.
“We want the participants to feel confident to come back on campus and use all these resources to get in shape,” Kennan said. “It might just be for fun for some people, some people might want to lose a few pounds and some people might want to lose some body fat percentage.”
At the end of the competition, participants will do an assessment called an InBody to see the percentage of fat they lost during the challenge.
Kennan said that an InBody is “a full body assessment where it measures different things like your skeletal muscle mass, your body fat percentage [and] your water weight.”
“We are going to reach out to them, letting them know it’s time to come back for their InBody post and we are going to analyze the numbers and whoever lost the most body fat percentage will be the winner,” she said.
Kennan said depending on the number of participants, they will select a number of winners.
Asked about the prize, she replied, “Right now, we don’t have a set prize but it’s usually something really nice. It’s usually [a] fitness goodie bag with some good stuff.”
Students and other UREC members can register for free through the UREC website and get a complimentary InBody at the UREC.
Registration is underway and continues through Sept. 15. Participants must be over 18 to register.
The challenge is open to UTRGV students and other UREC members.
Participants can purchase a personal training session.
“We have fitness assessments that start as low as $20,” Kennan said. “We have personal training packages, for example, our intro to personal training, which includes three sessions for $75. We have the twice-a-week program, which is 12 sessions for $280 and then we have a three-times-a-week program, which is 20 sessions at $420.”
To request a personal trainer, email recfitness@utrgv.edu.
Kennan said the challenge will be held on the Edinburg campus but anyone can sign up.
“It’s open to everyone, but I know that the Brownsville campus has a different challenge,” she said. “Anybody that wants to participate is free to participate … but I do know that the Brownsville campus has a challenge very similar to what we are offering in Edinburg called ‘Commit to be Fit.’ That’s their fall incentive program. [It’s] pretty similar.”
Texas Southmost College will host Commit to be Fit from Aug. 29 through Dec. 3. TSC and UTRGV students can register at the Upper Fitness Desk in the TSC Recreation Center.
“The only thing you have to do is sign in before your workout in the Upper Fitness Desk and accumulate 20, 30, or 50 workouts by … December 3 to receive incentive prizes! We will keep track of your progress!” the TSC website states.
The TSC Recreation Center is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in Brownsville.
UREC Director Kimberly Rottet encourages students and other UREC members to participate in the challenge.
“I think we are excited to have students back,” Rottet said. “We have been doing some deep cleaning, getting things ready for the students to come back. So we are excited and we are looking forward to more people coming back in the building.”
Jorge Eduardo Rodriguez, a kinesiology sophomore, said it is a perfect back-to-school challenge.
“I think it’s a very good challenge to encourage exercise,” Rodriguez said. “It’s never bad [to] try new things.”
He said it is good to encourage students to have a healthier life.
“It is very important to encourage exercise because, that way, we can be part of a healthier and stronger community, not only to help [ourselves] but also others, because that makes more people join the cause of exercising,” Rodriguez said.
