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'Body By Yahweh'

Gym membership goes with whole-person education

By Eva-Marie Gooden

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The AC is also the home of the women's volleyball team.

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Rich Dancer, a senior mass media com major, practices his moves on the seated row.

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Junior Robbi Cowan strengthens her muscles on the leg extension machine.

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Work it! Junior Mark Cleveland gives it all he's got on the hack squat.

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Sophomore Elizabeth Zimmerman uses the pull down.

Sure, a whole-person education, experience in the mission fields, and a professional degree in your area of interest from a renowned private Christian university likely were important benefits of your time at ORU. But years after your mortar board has been tossed, none of that will deflate the spare tire that's targeting your middle-aged midsection.

For grads who reside in the Tulsa area, though, being an ORU alumnus can help stop this tire in its tracks. That's because local alumni have ready access to membership at one of the area's nicest health clubs. (Note: All alumni must purchase a $20 alumni I.D. card to gain access.)

"I think we compete with any gym in town as far as that goes," says Janice Hensley, director of ORU's Kenneth H. Cooper Aerobics Center - or "AC" - which is newly renovated with advanced equipment, improved physical layout, a gaggle of new fitness classes, and much more.

In fact, major improvements to the Aerobics Center completed prior to the fall '02 semester have elevated the complex to a workout mega-facility, with updated Universal weight-training machines; stair climbers, elliptical riders and treadmills; spinner and recumbent bicycles, and much more.

A NEW LAYOUT

Hensley conferred with AC staffers Audrey Reeve and Jaime Gonzalez to redesign workout areas for ease of use and enhanced safety.

"We ...restructured this whole area, took out walls, added walls," Hensley explains, gesturing around the AC's impressive upstairs workout area.

"We also organized the [cardio] equipment. Before, there were pieces of cardio just kind of spread out all over the place and then, people were walking over electrical lines, like this," Hensley says, pointing out a now discreetly placed cable supplying power to a stair climber, "because they trailed throughout [the facility].

To solve the problem, Hensley's staff grouped all the cardio equipment, eliminating the need for stray cords and creating a definitive walkway through the area. The various stair climbers, elliptical riders, and other pieces now face in one direction for easy TV viewing.

A new area, adjacent to the facility's cardiovascular machines, was created expressly for "floor activities" like stretching, sit-ups, and push-ups.

A small corner of the center formerly reserved as a "for women only" area was combined with surrounding space and enclosed to create a soundproof aerobics studio, now home to all of the university's HPE cardiovascular classes. This new cardio theatre boasts an expanded instructor "stage" and some very "bouncy" flooring designed expressly to make cardio classes easier on joints and ligaments.

FREE PERSONAL TRAINING

Hensley notes that, in addition to the health club membership, alumni patronizing the AC are eligible for three FREE 45-minute sessions with a personal trainer.

These trainers "are students that have personal training certificates... and we offer free consultations through them, so that's something that the alumni can use as well. We just want to be able to offer everyone that comes up here the knowledge to be able to work out in a way that will benefit them," Hensley says.

"Once a month, you can do a follow-up session with that person to keep you on track. Whatever you want, [the trainers] are here. If you just want to learn how to use the program on a bicycle, they'll do that--or they'll actually create a program for you based on your need, a full workout program.

FAMILY EMPHASIS

"Now, the alumni have always had a spouse membership, but faculty and staff did not," Hensley says, noting that spouse memberships ($35 per semester/summer session or $90 for the year) for the spouses of alumni, faculty, and staff are available now.

Family time has also been expanded this year. "If you are an alumnus or faculty/staff, you can bring your family with you on Fridays from 7 to 10 p.m. and on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m.," Hensley says. "A lot of kids really enjoy getting to come up to see where Mom or Dad went to school, and I think it helps promote the school for the kids, as well."

WHOLE-PERSON COMMITMENT

How does Hensley see the AC fitting into the overall mission of the university? "I think it's very important. The body is our temple, and we need to take care of it. ...I think students grasp that here, partly because it's required, but our mind works better if our body is, you know, being taken care of--I think you have more energy, you have more time, it seems like, in your day to focus on things, so that gets into your spiritual time as well," she shares.

"We are trying to encourage faculty and staff to come in and use our facility. We're actually starting a new program: it's a non-credit recreation program with classes such as water exercise, self-defense, and aerobics."

For more information about the new classes, spouse membership, and how alumni can take best advantage of ORU's outstanding fitness facilities, contact program coordinator Audrey Reeve at 495-6918.

Kenneth H. Cooper Aerobics Center Amenities At-a-Glance