Open all year and free to all students, every campus has a workout facility with similar setups.

Each campus offers multi-purpose gyms, weight rooms, cardiovascular machines, basketball courts, tennis courts, swimming pools and jogging trails. No personal trainers are provided.

However, students can complete an exercise assessment for a customized wellness program or take one of the many fitness classes offered, said NE health and physical education instructional assistant Laura Bradford.

“The best part of our workout facility are the numerous options we have for students,” she said.

The fitness centers offer weight rooms for strength training: a machine weight room with Nautilus equipment and a free weight room with dumbbells.

For cardiovascular exercises, students can choose treadmills, ellipticals, spinning bikes, recumbent bikes, rowing machines and stair steppers. Plus, the centers provide a swimming pool and an outdoor track.

For recreational purposes, tennis courts and volleyball courts are available.

Although the workout facilities are state-of-the-art, some of the most fun comes from intramural sports played inside them, said NW student Brynna Ellzey.

“I really enjoy working out in the gym,” she said. “It gets me prepared for the intramural flag football season, which is my favorite part of the whole year.”

The district offers several options for students and faculty interested in getting involved in sports. One-time events and tournaments such as tennis, bowling, sand volleyball, dodgeball, racquetball, table tennis, free-throw contests, the Springtime Sprint 5K and One Mile Fun Run, the NE Turkey Trot 5K and One Mile Fun Run and the South Gobble Wobble 5K and One Mile Fun Run in the fall await student participants.

TCC officially offers only four intramural sport leagues: flag football, soccer and volleyball in the fall and basketball in the spring.

Bradford is insistent on getting more students to utilize the facilities and sign up for more physical education classes.

“It’s a great place to relieve the stress of being a student as well as develop lifetime wellness skills,” she said.

“We offer classes in golf, racquetball, tennis, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, body sculpting, yoga, Pilates, many forms of dance and cardio kickboxing.”

Kevin Harper, NE health and physical education department chair, said NE and South campuses are the only two with racquetball courts.

He said a physical education instructor would be the best person for students to go to when they need help with their workout routines.

“If the student comes during an instructor’s office hours, the instructor should have time to help,” he said.

“Hopefully, a student can enroll in a class, in which case they will see their instructor regularly.”

Harper said students do not need personal trainers in any campus gym or workout facility because all of the instructors have at least a master’s degree in kinesiology, which is more education than most personal trainers.

The only requirement to access any facility is a picture ID and proof of enrollment such as a driver’s license and class schedule or a student ID.

During the fall and spring semesters, all workout facilities are open to students, faculty and staff.