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Spring Break Boot Camp from TCU Student Media on Vimeo.
The class cost $50 to join and meets Mondays and Wednesdays until March 8. The Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Ryan Keller said the class will build up in difficulty over the five weeks.
“That one is kind of gearing up toward don’t wait too long to get ready for spring break,” Keller said. “It’s kind of a circuit style so weights and conditioning all that sort of stuff combined in a high intensity interval kind of class.”
Keller said he’s seen “really good” reception to the Spring Break Boot Camp.
The other specialty class being offered this semester at the rec center is Six Weeks to Sirsasana and teaches students how to perform a Sirsasana (or headstand) along with other yoga poses. This class starts Feb. 1.
The start of these two classes lines up with one of the most popular time for people to visit the rec center. In 2016, 57,055 people visited the rec center, second only to September when 57,291 people visited. Keller said he and his staff know that they are going to “get slammed” about four weeks before spring break starts.
This month long window many students give themselves means they can expect to lose between four to eight pounds, said Nutritional Sciences Assistant Professor Jada Stevenson.
“One to two pounds per week is the recommended weight loss rate,” Stevenson said. “So that leads to about 500 to 750 to up to 1,000 calories that you’re eating less per day. That’s calorie restriction.”
Wellness Program Manager David Upton said losing weight isn’t just about restricting calories though, you have to do exercise too.
“If you just restrict calories and no exercise, about one third of what you lose will come from muscle tissue,” Upton said. “In all my years of practice I’ve never had anyone come in and say, ‘I need to lose about 25 pounds of muscle.’”
Senior Cami Fannin said she tries to follow this idea in her life.
“Fitness is a lifestyle,” Fannis said. “You’re not just dieting. You’re not just working out.”
Fannin said she she likes to attend at least one class a day at the rec center.
“It’s such a great experience,” Fannin said. “You’re with your friends, you’re doing it together. I take bar with a lot of my friends and it hurts so much but we just look at each other and we just start laughing because it’s like, ‘Oh my god! We can get through the pain you’re almost there.’”
Upton said those “accountability partners” are one of the big benefits of these group workout classes.
“People that are going to be there on the morning you know you don’t want to get up and go, then those are the times it’s good to be part of something,” Upton said. “That’s where the benefit comes from.”
