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In this year’s survey for the Prospector’s Pick Awards, students chose the Student Recreation Center as the No. 1 best gym in El Paso, but this new and improved facility isn’t something that all students take advantage of.
Each semester, students are automatically charged with a recreation fee of $70. This fee covers the cost of the recreation facility, which includes an indoor running track, indoor soccer court, three levels of workout machines and weights, a juice bar, locker rooms, a swimming facility and a 39-foot climbing wall.
Although this gym can beat any other in cost—given that the average gym membership is about $28 per month—some students opt out of taking advantage of its offerings.
Students such as freshman criminal justice major Albert Reaux said that the hours of the recreation center played a big role in his decision to pay for a membership at EP Fitness on the Westside of El Paso.
“I prefer to go to EP Fitness because they are open for 24 hours and they have a bigger selection of weights,” Reaux said.
The Student Recreation Center is open Monday through Thursday from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
The atmosphere is something that Reaux says makes other gyms more comfortable than the Student Recreation Center.
“Everyone is really quiet (at the recreation center) and it feels more like a family center rather than a gym,” Reaux said. “So when I would work out I felt like I had to yell, slam some weights, or just make it feel like more of a gym.”
Nico Stender, a sophomore in the German Abitur Program, chooses the recreation center over any other gym.
“The gym is in perfect condition. It is brand new and you meet a lot of nice people,” he said. “If you compare this gym to EP Fitness or any other gym like that, it is not on the same level.”
Sophomore pre-education major Consuelo Martinez is a sales representative at Roca Fitness on El Paso’s Eastside and said that she often sees UTEP students attending the gym where she works.
“I know a lot of the reasons why they do is because they say UTEP is too far of a drive just to go to the gym, so they come down this way,” Martinez said.
Amanda Guillen may be reached at [email protected].
