It happens twice a year — once in September and again in January. It seems as though every Laurier student is on the mission for fitness. At first I thought it was just me. I would make sarcastic comments about how people are taking advantage of the nice weather and trying to work off the ten pounds they gained from O-Week, but then I started to notice a few things. That occasional jogger soon turned into a stampede of sweaty runners mimicking a cross-country practice.
That line up for the Laurier gym equipment began looking like the Friday night line up at Dallas. All of a sudden, I would be walking home from campus at 6:50 p.m. and realized I was the only — literally the only — person along University Avenue who wasn’t wearing yoga pants, a baggy t-shirt or carrying a Lulu Lemon water bottle and heading either to (or from) the Athletic Complex. This massive hoard of health-conscious and highly-motivated students has made me very proud of those trying to fight the inevitable weight you can gain from eating like a broke student and, well, partying like a broke student.
However, in the midst of all the “athletic hype,” I can’t help but wonder the same question I’m quite sure many of you cynics and frequent gym-goers are also thinking: How long will it last? How long will it take for the crappy cold Canadian weather to kick in, causing these alleged “gym junkies” to prefer their Roots track pants to their gym shorts? How long will it take for that initiative of getting off your couch and on the treadmill once Hurricane Homework comes by? How long will it take for the Laurier gym to be visited only by varsity athletes, jacked “bros” and the truly motivated students?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy watching Mr. Muscle-man running around outside shirtless just as much as the next girl, but we all know it’s unrealistic to think that the 14,000 students here are actually going to keep this trend up. Last week, the WLU Recreation Twitter account announced that the AC was the busiest it has ever been. And, although it is nice to see the facilities being well-occupied and used, not everyone is thrilled.
In fact, all I have been hearing in the past week from friends, classmates and even co-workers is frustrated comments about how, “it’s just a trend,” and “it will stop once it starts getting cold outside.” Hell, I’ve even heard snide remarks regarding how “it bothers me because I actually go to the gym all the time and these people aren’t serious and are just hogging the machines.” Luckily with fall intramurals about to commence, I’m sure students will be able to get their “fix” through different outlets and vacate the gym for the rest of us.
But with the first day of fall approaching this Saturday Sept. 22, I’m fairly confident that the gym will be quieter, the streets will go back to having the occasional jogger and Starbucks will go back to being the most popular spot on campus. However, in light of this seemingly cynical column, I urge those who have actually read up to this point to disregard my grim predictions. Prove me wrong, Laurier. As for the rest of you, the ones who have hopped on this bandwagon of “getting fit,” I just have one last thing to say. I’ll see you in January.