Spring break is only weeks away and stu­dents con­cerned about being bathing suit ready need look no fur­ther than the FSU Recreation Center for a solution.

Many stu­dents become increas­ingly wor­ried about ton­ing up and los­ing weight dur­ing this time of year because they want to be ready to hit the beach in March. The prob­lem is com­pounded by the fact that the hol­i­day months have just passed and most peo­ple have put on weight dur­ing this time.

A prob­lem that stu­dents often encounter is they don’t know how to go about get­ting rid of that extra weight. The UREC here at FSU has a way to rem­edy this prob­lem for not only stu­dents, but staff, fac­ulty, and com­mu­nity mem­bers as well.

The UREC offers stu­dents not only an oppor­tu­nity to work out on their own, but also a chance to get a more cus­tomized fit­ness expe­ri­ence by offer­ing a vari­ety of exer­cise classes.

Brandon Archambault, senior in the cor­po­rate fit­ness and well­ness man­age­ment pro­gram, is a stu­dent fit­ness instruc­tor at the UREC. He teaches three classes that include Water Aerobics, Complete Core, and Beach Bodies by Brando.

“I did the field study for my pro­gram at the UREC last sum­mer and I worked with the ‘Working on Wellness,’ or WOW, pro­gram that Ferris has devel­oped,” said Archambault.

WOW focuses on mak­ing it each individual’s respon­si­bil­ity to main­tain their health both inside and out­side. WOW states that well­ness has six dimen­sions that include intel­lec­tual, phys­i­cal, emo­tional, social, spir­i­tual, and envi­ron­men­tal health. Archambault is glad to be involved in this program.

“My super­vi­sor asked me to stay on with the pro­gram and work teach­ing classes here,” said Archambault. “I’ve always been inter­ested in fit­ness and nutri­tion and these classes are fun to teach. I enjoy inter­act­ing with other peo­ple and improv­ing the lives of my indi­vid­ual participants.”

Archambault sees a vari­ety of peo­ple come and go in his classes. Some are inter­ested in ton­ing their mus­cles while oth­ers sim­ply want to lose weight. There are peo­ple of all fit­ness levels.

“I see both fac­ulty and stu­dents in my classes. Beach Bodies is almost com­pletely com­posed of stu­dents and Water Aerobics has mostly fac­ulty and staff,” said Archambault.

Isabel Harris, a non­tra­di­tional stu­dent who is work­ing toward her MBA, takes a class with Archambault on a reg­u­lar basis. She said, “I take the class to uti­lize what Ferris has to offer and to work on my health in gen­eral for myself.”

Harris really enjoys her class with Archambault and said she feels really good after the work­out and not too sore.

“Besides tak­ing the class I like the tread­mills, ellip­ti­cal, and track that the UREC offers and I’m using them to help me train for the Warrior Dash,” said Harris. “The Warrior Dash is com­ing to Michigan for the first time this year and is a 3.3 mile run with 12 obsta­cle courses. I hope to see results with los­ing weight, ton­ing, and get­ting in shape for the dash from the classes and training.”

Shane Turcott, fresh­man in the cor­po­rate fit­ness and well­ness man­age­ment pro­gram, is train­ing with Archambault as well and hopes to even­tu­ally become a trainer at the UREC. He takes both the Complete Core and Beach Body by Brando classes with Archambault.

“I enjoy doing this because I like to feel healthy all around and it has been help­ing me train for an MMA fight,” said Turcott. “Taking classes with Brandon gives me good expe­ri­ence and will help me become cer­ti­fied to teach as well.”

Both Archambault and Turcott hope that when the peo­ple who come to the classes leave they have a sense of accom­plish­ment and belong­ing. They also hope to help raise self-esteem within individuals.

“I want fit­ness to become a pos­i­tive thing in their lives and not a neg­a­tive thing,” said Archambault. “I want peo­ple to expe­ri­ence all the ben­e­fits of liv­ing a healthy lifestyle and I want them to be excited about com­ing to work out.”

There are many classes besides the ones that Archambault teaches to main­tain stu­dents’ inter­est and give them a chance to build vari­ety into their work­out rou­tines. Programs such as Step, Total Tone, Anusara Yoga, and Zumba are all being offered. You can sign up for these classes at the UREC recep­tion desk.

The pro­grams do cost some money. For FSU stu­dents if you go twice a week for 12 weeks it is $30 and if you go three times a week for 12 weeks it’s $44. To drop in on a class is $2. If your bud­get is too tight to pay then you can always uti­lize the UREC and the many dif­fer­ent vari­eties of work­outs you can cre­ate there.

Spring break is right around the cor­ner and this is a great way to get some pro­fes­sional help fast. You can take these classes with your friends and have a great time mix­ing it up. Get your body ready to hit the beach and take advan­tage of the resources FSU has to offer. n