Fitness Plus provides alternative to Depot

The smell of sweat lingers in the air. Off in the distance a grunt is expelled. The clang of metal sounds through the building as a weight is placed upon a rack. Undoubtedly this is a gym.
GCSU students can choose between two gyms in Milledgeville, based on their exercise needs.
Students can opt to workout at the Wellness Depot, on campus next to the residence halls or Fitness Plus Health Club, located at 571 Hammock Road in the Columbia Professional Center off of North Columbia Street.
The Depot, paid for by the student health fees portion of tuition, is open to all students, but they must sign up to use it. About 3,500 students are registered and about 50 to 60 percent use it regularly, according to Joe Bellflower, director of the Wellness Depot.
Bellflower said some students still do not realize that the facility is there for them to use.
“The big thing is, find us, use us. It’s free; take advantage of it,” he said.
The Depot is separated into two main rooms. The cardio room includes eight elliptical machines, eight tread mills, three exercise bikes and three stair climbers along with three flat screen TVs. 
The weight room boasts dumbbells ranging from three to 100 pounds, strength machines for the entire body, and free weights and benches.
Students can also use a personal trainer in the form of junior and senior exercise science majors satisfying their practicum.
Many students said the Depot provides everything they need and see no reason to pay for a membership at a larger gym.
“I like going here; there’s a good variety of stuff,” said Sara Dunn, a sophomore chemistry major.
The Depot’s regular operating hours during fall and spring semester are Monday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on holidays.
Students such as Brad Cook, a senior business marketing major, have their own reason for choosing the Depot.
“It’s unique,” he said. “Not many places are in a train depot.”
Students who prefer to work out at a more traditional gym can pay for a membership at Fitness Plus Health Club.
The cost is $30 a month with a year membership for students, which includes 24-hour access to the entire gym.
Bo Sibilsky, co-owner of Fitness Plus, said that the 24-hour flexibility is their main draw for students.
“Why should you have to make your workout around your schedule?” asked Sibilsky.
Ryan Erwin, a junior exercise science major agrees.
“The hours are more convenient,” he said. “They have a lot more equipment and a bigger area. The Depot just gets real crowded.”
Fitness Plus includes a 1,600 square foot cardio theatre with 27 machines and eight TVs, a 3,200 square foot aerobics room that has classes Monday through Saturday that are included with membership, a ladies fitness area, three personal trainers, and a main floor containing 9,000 pounds of free weights and over 150 strength training machines.
It also has equipment that the Depot lacks, for instance, stations to do Olympic style, over-head lifts. Body building expert John Douglas Fair, a GCSU history professor, said that is why he trains there.
“The problem (with the Depot) is it is quite small. (Fitness Plus) is clean, it’s large and it’s well run,” he said. “I like to workout with students, some of the more dedicated students workout (at Fitness Plus).”
Students that are familiar with both gyms said that each facility has its advantages.
“I’m kind of in the middle,” said Erwin. “The Depot does have better equipment, but I pay for the convenience.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 1 2006. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry