A lack of access to equipment makes it more difficult for students to exercise regularly. While access to physical fitness equipment and space is limited, helping teens find creative ways to exercise is a way to overcome the barrier.
The weight room has been a place where students can workout during their time at John Dewey High School. However, nowadays most students just sit and do nothing during this class.
The room has everything that someone needs to workout, but there are machines that break often and don’t get fixed.
The school administration is aware of this, but is reluctant to invest because students don’t workout at the same rates they did before the COVID-19 Pandemic, according to Weight Room teacher Mr. Horvath.
However, does the weight room really affect a student’s motivation?
“The biggest problem I deal with in the weight room is how humid it is when you enter, broken machines and tighten spaces through the room,” said senior Vanessa Pina.
This really captures what it’s like walking in there. The humidity hits you right away, then you realize machines are out of service and there’s barely room to move. It can be hard to feel motivated when the room feels old and machines don’t work, as if nobody cares about it.
According to students like Pina, little things such as adding mirrors would help because you actually want to see your progress or only see yourself, not having to wait all day until you get home. Right now, the room just doesn’t feel like a real place to exercise.
“The weight room definitely has its strengths and weaknesses. Most machines work, however there are a couple that do not. I think this can affect motivation if a student is looking to use a machine that is not available. The more machines we have up and working the better. I try to motivate students by having different exercises available, workouts on the Promethean board, like yoga, as well as jumping rope outside in the hallway,” said Mr. Horvath, Weight Room teacher.
Damaged machines can affect students’ motivation, but if a student is really motivated to workout then they can take advantage of the different options that Mr. Horvath provides.
“The weight room is fine but it could improve as some of the equipment is broken,” said Gabriel Valencia Lino, 12th grader.
That pretty much sums up how a lot of students may feel. According to students, it’s not that the room is terrible, for them it’s frustrating when you come ready to work out and the machine that you need is out of order.
It limits what students can actually do because you can’t get comfortable with equipment if you can’t use it. Fixing what’s already there would make a big difference.
According to Mr. Horvath, despite offering alternatives to gain credit in the weight room, there will always be students who lack motivation to participate.
“Something that would make me workout better here is having a better environment, no broken machines, good lighting, a mirror to look at your progress and more spaces to workout in,” said Pina.