QJ Health: Local fitness resources

Whether you worked out all summer to stay in beach bod shape or took some time off to deal with the summer job grind, back to school time means back to your Kingston fitness routine. Some of you may already be mentally grumbling about the huge line-ups for the machines at the ARC.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not down on the ARC. We’re lucky here at Queen’s to have such an awesome fitness facility. Having seen the gyms at some other universities, having to wait in line-ups is way better than having crappy quality equipment.

Right now, before the work load gets too heavy, is the perfect time for students to explore all the incredible fitness resources that Queen’s and Kingston have to offer.

Intramurals

Intramurals are an awesome way to stay active for those of us who aren’t huge fans of the gym. Last year Queen’s had approximately 15,000 registrations for intramural sports, which helps them also meet new people with common interests. During the fall season, the sports offered include: basketball, outdoor soccer, volleyball, touch football, dodgeball, ultimate frisbee and innertube waterpolo.

In the winter, options include: basketball, curling, volleyball, indoor soccer, broomball, dodgeball, ice hockey, innertube waterpolo and touch football. If you don’t have a team to sign up with, fear not — you can register as a free agent and get picked up by a team looking to fill out their roster. If you’re in first year, Queen’s intramurals pays you special attention; they have a “Res League” for several sports to encourage frosh to get involved and meet new people.

Queen’s Intramurals also employs roughly 140 students as officials, so if you love sports you may want to look into becoming a ref. No experience is required and hiring for the next academic year occurs in January and February.

For more information about Queen’s intramurals, check out this link.

Free fitness classes

Let’s face it: having someone tell you what to do usually leads to a more intense workout than showing up to the gym by yourself. Personal trainers and expensive classes can be hard to rationalize on a student budget, though. Many students aren’t aware that in addition to paid classes, the ARC also offers a variety of free classes for students.

The free classes offered include: all terrain cycle, aqua pump, group cycle, kardio kick, crazy step, body sculpt, abs blast, sculpt and tone, tabata, cardio mix and zumba. Click here to check out the free fitness class schedule. To attend, all you have to do is show up to the equipment desk 10 minutes prior to the class to pick up an admission bracelet.

Lululemon’s programs

Who doesn’t like free workout classes? Lululemon organizes free community events frequently throughout the year, such as Sunday morning yoga in Battery Park or bringing spin bikes into the store for community testing. Keep an eye on Lululemon Athletica Kingston’s Facebook page for fun events to try with a group of friends.

Fort Henry fields

It’s well known that Kingston is an academic town, as the home of Queen’s, St Lawrence College and the Royal Military College. But how many of us have actually ventured to these other campuses? Next time you’re out for a run, try heading across the bridge to the RMC campus.

Their old stone buildings are gorgeous and there’s a waterfront path all the way around the campus. If you head past their playing fields, you’ll end up at Fort Henry, the home course for the Queen’s cross-country team. It’s a beautiful place to run and only about 3-4 km from campus.

Tags

exercise, Fit, Health, Running, Yoga

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content