The School of Health Professions is opening its wellness lab, located in the lower level of the Davis Field House, to the students of Bob Jones University for free personal training and body analyses.
A few weeks ago, an announcement was made in chapel and an email was sent introducing the new Student Wellness Program to the student body. The announcements encouraged students to submit applications to participate in the 10-week wellness program that caters to their specific wants and needs.
Approximately 15 students were selected for the Student Wellness Program, which began at the end of January. The program offers ten weekly meetings and three to five exercise prescriptions, or workouts, per week.
Applicants were chosen based on need. For instance, someone with little gym experience, fitness knowledge or motivation was more likely to make the cut.
Two student-interns, Kim Ranck and Jonathan Gallant, serve as personal trainers for the program. According to the director of the program and member of the exercise science faculty, Vickie Britton, both students are well equipped for the job.
“They know what they’re doing,” Britton said. Both interns are seniors, have had two practicums and taken necessary classes for the job.
The program consists of two “get-to-know-you” meetings and eight fitness meetings. During the first meeting, which occurred the last week of January, the trainers and applicants met to establish a friendly relationship and sign paperwork.
In the second meeting, they met in the wellness lab and the trainer ran the applicant through a series of body analysis tests.
The interns measured the applicant’s fat to muscle ratio on the Bod Pod and oxygen consumption on the VO2max. They also assessed muscle strength and flexibility, among other tests.
After the first two meetings, the trainers and trainees began to meet in the gym once a week for a full workout. These meetings have already begun. During these sessions, the trainer either encourages the student through an especially hard workout or explains how to do certain exercises.
Although only 15 of 40 people were selected for the program, the benefits of the wellness center are still available for free to the whole student body.
According to Britton, most other facilities charge a lot of money for the use of their fitness equipment.
In addition to the machines mentioned before, the Wellness Lab offers the use of machines such as the Ergonometer, the Biodex and the Electromagnetic BF scale. The Ergonometer measures cardiovascular health; the Biodex measures pain, fatigue and musculoskeletal leverage; and the Electromagnetic BF scale records body fat.
According to Ranck, one purpose of this program is to raise awareness of the exercise science program at BJU.
Much about the field of exercise science is unknown to the student body: the machines available for use and the multiple fields into which exercise science majors can go, to name a few.
Another purpose of the program is to allow exercise science students to gain hands-on experience by interning in a familiar environment.
For instance, Ranck wants to be an orthopedic physician’s assistant. Through this internship, Ranck gets the opportunity to learn many practical skills. She gets to learn how to work with different body types and see how best to prescribe exercises.
“It’s going to give me a lot of practical skills,” Ranck said.
The new program and opening of the Wellness Lab benefits everyone. With the high-end equipment and lab assistants, students are encouraged to pursue their fitness journeys to a new level.
