Sweat dripping, mind focused and amid dozens of other bodybuilders, Joshua Lora is seen assisting weightlifters.
Lora is one of the many personal trainers available at the Recreation and Wellness Center of the University of Central Florida. Specializing in back workouts, using dumbbells and such, he finds strength training to be quite important to one’s health. Physically, exercising allows for an easier lifestyle, for one is able to do more life tasks before becoming too tired; mentally, exercising allows for clearer, positive thinking.
“Exercising is important to stay healthy and feel good,” Lora said.
The UCF Recreation and Wellness Center is occupied by hundreds of people every week, a wonderful trend on campus emphasizing the importance to many of staying fit. They offer everything from a wide array of fitness machines to dance classes. It’s good to find specific equipment and create a routine of exercising—many UCF students have offered their preferred methods of working out.
While Lora typically works out four times a week, and has been for a year at UCF, Michael Barrera, a RWC job shift coordinator, has exercised there five days a week for 10 years now.
“Exercising is a good fitness, and starts becoming a way of life,” Barrera said. “It’s good school-wise too, a good stress reliever.”
While Barrera prefers free weights and cardio-related equipment, UCF student Katie Williams prefers to build muscle without cardio, but rather with resistance equipment. She has been working out once a week at the RWC since coming to UCF at the beginning of this Fall semester.
“Exercising is important because our heart is what keeps us alive,” Williams said. “It’s good to keep it strong.”
Now, Nate McCoole, who competed in powerlifting and benching, set 17 state and national powerlifting records in the 15-17 age group, and continues to do exercises like benching, squatting and deadlifting at UCF’s RWC five days a week.
“I exercise to be really strong, to be the strongest,” McCoole said. “Not for the health benefits.”
Nakeda Johnson, another UCF student offered her reasons for exercising two times a week on treadmills and ab machines at the RWC.
“It makes me feel better after I eat something bad,” Johnson said. “It’s important for staying fit—gets you more toned and helps the metabolism I think.”
These different people in the RWC all found their favorite method of working out in UCF’s RWC and seem quite thankful to have the opportunity to exercise often in the convenient on-campus center. Regardless of the specific equipment used, everyone has their own interests and needs and must experiment with different exercises to find what’s best for them. It really does make an important, positive health difference.
“If you have good physical health, it leads to good mental health as well,” Joshua Lora, said.
