Upon entering the Simon Recreation Center weight room, exercise enthusiasts are immediately greeted by an expanse of weight machines and racks of free weights.
The different types of people that use the facility are immediately apparent: There are the bodybuilder types, or as some like to call them “meatheads,” the runners, the “average joe” and the girls on the ellipticals. All have their different ways of working out, and, more interestingly, they also have their own opinions of the others that use the weight room.
Generally, the most noticeable group in the weight room, due to the size of their muscles, is the bodybuilders. Vince DiRenzo, a fifth-year going for his masters in athletic training, is a competitive body builder who works out five days a week to try to improve his physique so he places well at every competition.
“The last thing I want to know is that someone worked harder than me,” DiRenzo said.
As a body builder, Vince takes a daily multivitamin, fish oil and creatine monohydrate pre-workout and whey protein isolate post-workout.
As for the term meathead being used to describe people like himself, DiRenzo isn’t too concerned with people using it. “The people who use it are generally the same people that will ask for advice in the gym,” he said.
“A lot of people don’t understand all of the sacrifices it takes to become a competitive body builder, so people use the term to define anyone who lifts hard and takes supplements.”
Some people may think that there is some sort of unspoken competition between the body builders as to who can lift more, but according to DiRenzo, that may not be the case. “I can’t speak for everyone, but for myself, I would say no. The only thing I can control is what I do in the gym so why should I care what anyone else is doing,” he said.
Of all the different people in the weight room, the majority are like junior Francisco Hohn–in pretty good shape. but not a bodybuilder by any stretch of the imagination. They go three to four times per week and generally don’t take any supplements.
However, Hohn did say that he tries to eat the right foods before and after his workouts.
Before his workouts, Hohn said he eats “carbs, like bread and pasta,” and after his workouts, he eats “protein, like chicken and pork.” Hohn uses free weights because, unlike the machines, they utilize your stabilizer muscles as well.”
Senior Nick Robertson, a summer weight coach for his former high school football team, agrees that free weights are better than machines.
“When you’re working on a machine, you’re confined to that simple movement on that machine, and it stabilizes the weight for you instead of you doing it yourself,” he said.
Not all bodybuilders work out the same way. “I’ve always heard that the gym is a place to be seen, but do you really have to check yourself out in the mirror every 10 seconds?” Francisco said. Hopefully he doesn’t run into any of those “meatheads” anytime soon.
The weight room is not just a place to workout and get huge; it can be used for any number of things.
Junior Fallon Lott says that about two to three times per week when she needs some stress relief or to clear her mind, she uses the ellipticals or dumbbells to blow off some steam and clear her mind from a stressful day. “When I workout I get ‘pumped up,’” she said. “It gives me energy while helping me get relaxed as well.”
Clearly, the weight room at the Simon Rec is a very diverse place with many different people doing many different exercises. Next time you go, take a minute to look around at all the different people, and then proceed to your workout.
