With ever-increasing class admissions year after year, the Wellness and Recreation Center has increased equipment as part of their strategic planning to combat record-high attendance. However, they have marked a noticeable increase in gym attendees on the first day of school — a 700 person difference.
Carmichael Gym had a total of 71,127 users during the first week of fall semester, marking a 6.38% increase from the previous academic year. The first day of school, as mentioned previously, had 10,795 gym-goers attending compared to 10,172 in 2023.
Emmanuel Akogyeram, assistant director of facility operations at WellRec, explained the additional equipment was a decision based on the center’s platform, Occuspace. The software platform provides a live count of how busy each floor of the gym is by Occuspace sensors placed on the main levels. Student employees also physically count users through iPads to further verify, the data is then updated on the facility’s website or app.
“The data is telling us in terms of not just how many people are in each space, but the way our spaces are being utilized,” Akogyeram said. “One of the things we’ve continued to try and do is either add more equipment or change equipment out. That’s all part of our continuous effort to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of our users.”
The facility has added 16 functional fitness machines on the second floor, 14 are upper body-oriented and five are leg focused. An additional five machines were also added to the third floor. More equipment and improved machines will appear on the gym floor in the future, although it is a hard process as the facility itself will not increase in size.
To respond to the spaces getting busy, a fitness courtesy was added as part of the gym’s guidelines. Users should implement working in sets, even if they don’t know one another, as this will alleviate wait times at machines.
“I’ll definitely suggest to a new NC State student who is just getting familiarized with our space to definitely request that,” Akogyeram said. “Then maybe you all will get talking to somebody and maybe a workout in itself is just enhanced.”
Finding time to workout is hard and varies for each person. Monday is the busiest day according to the data collected from Occuspace, and attendance steadily drops throughout the week, especially during the weekend.
Nina Magee, a third-year studying business administration, described her navigation of the crowd.
“I usually get up at 5:30 a.m. and I get here at six,” Magee said. “You can also park before 7 a.m., so I’m able to get in a one hour lift and then leave at seven.”
For new users contemplating the gym, the experience is less daunting than expected.
“It’s true that you might be judged, you might be looked at, but honestly, no one’s going to remember you the next day,” Magee said. “So at the end of the day, everybody’s too worried about themselves and how they look and how much they’re lifting or what they’re doing, to really care about someone else and even if they do for a short moment, they’re never going to remember.”
Regularly attending contributes to finding a favorite exercise activity and supports building healthy habits as a college student. Setting a consistent sleep schedule, having a healthy balance with technology, staying ahead of deadlines and reviewing goals are also ways to strive for a healthy academic year.
“Mental health has been a huge awareness around the last couple semesters, and I have a first hand account and experience in how impactful any kind of engagement is,” Akogyeram said. “But there are several ways on NC State’s campus that you can be engaged and involved in, which will help with your overall well being.”
Other ways of completing a workout include attending a F45 fitness class, joining an intramural sports team, working out outside at the FitGround beside Miller Field and utilizing private studios on the third floor that follow a first come, first serve basis. There are many ways to get involved and are found on WellRec’s website, including the live visitor count, which is also found on their app.
