Description

The Fitness Center is the UCSC on-campus gym. All currently-enrolled undergraduates automatically have membership and access, while non-students may purchase membership on a quarterly or annual basis.

The center consists of two floors. Both floors house free weights, stretching areas, treadmills, eliptical trainers, strength training equipment. The lower floor has more equipment base on the Technogym system, which you can buy a special key for in order to record all your exercises automatically. The top floor has exquisite views of the Monterey Bay, as well as an outdoor balcony where you can do stretching or ab exercises.

Also, the top floor has 3 televisions. Usually, one shows cable news, the middle one shows ESPN or pro sports, and the last one shows SCTV, the closed-circuit campus television station, which tends to play exactly the same shows every day. The news and sports are usually closed-captioned, but if you have a radio, you can tune in to specific stations and hear the dialog.

Patronage

Perhaps due to the fact that UCSC isn't generally known for it's sports programs, the people who visit the gym tend to encompass a wide range of fitness levels, rather than being more exclusive to "jock types". Most of the patrons appear to be students, but plenty of faculty and staff use the gym as well. Community members can also buy day passes or memberships.

Theft

There is a continuous posting of the occurrence of people's belongings from the cubby area. It is advised that you do not leave any valuables in that area, and instead either don't bring valuables to the gym at all or to rent out a locker to keep your things in. All undergraduates are entitled to a free locker and lock (to borrow and return at the end of the school year), and can sign up for one at the desk at the north entrance to the East Field House (near the swimming pool). Another option is to bring your own lock and lock your things in one of the locker rooms while you work out. If you have valuables with you and don't want to do any of these options, consider exercising on the bottom floor, where you can keep your things in a cubby next to the water fountains, facing the interior of the gym. This way, you can at least keep an eye on your belongings while you work out.

Courtesy

If you decided to go to the gym, please follow these standard guidelines:

• Don't stay on a cardio machine longer than 20 minutes if most of the other cardio machines are in use. Give other people a chance to use them. (To avoid this, try going at times when the bottom floor is open. Click here to see when the bottom floor is closed to students.)
• Use the disinfectant spray and wipe down your equipment after use.
• Keep a towel with you to prevent dripping sweat everywhere. You can bring your own towel or get one at the front desk.
• If you want to talk on your phone, go outside.
• Put back your equipment when you're done.
• Don't linger on equipment when you're done using it.