Sticking to New Year’s resolutions of personal fitness goals is motivating students to spend more time in the Lied Recreation Center, especially as spring break approaches.

“Everyone wants to get fit quick for spring break,” said Laura Woodrow, building coordinator at the Lied Recreation Center and senior in apparel merchandising, design and production. “It picks up the first couple weeks of the new semester, dies, then picks up again.”

Andy Laughlin, lead office assistant at the rec, said the increase is typical.

“The rush before spring break is always unbelievable – especially on the third floor,” said Laughlin, senior in exercise and sports science. “From 5 to 10 o’clock, it’s packed. It is frustrating to the regular users who come in all 12 months of the year. But students are learning which times are not busy, such as early in the morning and during weekends.”

Brooke Dobbins, freshman in dietetics, said she has recently started exercising for personal reasons.

“I’m not going on spring break. I’m just trying to get back into shape,” she said.

Dobbins said she has noticed the rec is pretty crowded at night, so she exercises during the day.

Bob Richards, senior in management information systems, also said he is motivated not by spring break, but for personal fulfillment. He said sometimes it is hard to get a bench to lift weights, but thinks the crowd will die out in a couple of weeks.

Matt Rowles, senior in finance, said he runs outdoors because he enjoys it and also partially to avoid the crowd at the rec.

He said he is preparing for Veishea Voyage, a 300-mile run across Iowa, and is also motivated by what he called “Operation Lose Gut.”

His running partner, Chris Lursen, senior in agricultural systems technology, said he runs with Rowles three times a week, and that they avoid the athletes’ times at the rec.

Woodrow said the newly instituted sign-up sheets for exercise machines have cut down on problems on the third floor.

“People used to stand behind the machines, waiting to use them,” she said. “[The sign-up sheets] have solved quite a few of the problems.”

Students are also quickly learning that exercising indoors doesn’t have to be a nuisance.

“If you’re crunched for time and it’s full, you could get frustrated,” said Kevin Donnelly, freshman in mechanical engineering. “But if you come during the non-busy times, that helps out.”

Katie Schroeder, sophomore in dietetics and a fitness center supervisor at Lied, said she has seen a few students get frustrated by the crowds.

“They don’t say anything to [the staff] because they realize we can’t do anything about it,” she said. “I think they learn that if you want to work out, you just have to deal with it.”

Laughlin said while staff members don’t encourage people to exercise elsewhere during these busy months, alternatives are available.

“For instance, if the basketball courts get full, we encourage the students to go to Beyer or State,” he said.

Nice weather also provides the opportunity for students to exercise outdoors.

“I think a lot of people opt to workout outdoors when it’s nice because they don’t want to fight the crowds,” Woodrow said.