Pumping Iron

Sure, girls are the most plentiful sex on Stephen's Fitness Center's main floor. But, just like beauty, the Fitness Center's offerings are more than skin deep. You just have to walk down a few steps to experience them.

That's the only way to get down to Dillon Gymnasium's weight room, which, true to form, is in the basement.

All the great ones have that special staple. Jordan and Bird had their jumpers, King and Kennedy had their speeches. Weight rooms have their steps. Down.

"Maybe it has something to do with the heat transfer. Like, heat rises so you want to be in lower areas," sophomore Chris Kelsch conjectured while lifting with his roommate, sophomore Sean Dryden.

Thermodynamically-motivated or otherwise, a weight room just wouldn't be a weight room without the lack of windows and cool, damp air. That, and putting it in the darker basement, is a great excuse for those enormous mirrors.

Fitness subculture

Cooler air and physics aside, the depths do induce a certain fitness subculture. In stark contrast to the fast moving legs on the machines upstairs, the lifting population moves at a laborious pace, taking lots of rest between sets. These inhabitants are proud of their own space.

"[The better place to be] has got to be down here where I am," senior Josh Polster said.

But Dryden decided that truth may not be absolute.

"Because I'm down here, [the weight room] is probably cooler. But if I was up there [in cardio], those people would be cooler," Dryden said.

Even if Dryden's sentiments do not speak for everyone else, his attitude is the norm. Not cocky, but comfortable and easy going. Weight lifters, underneath their often intimidating appearance, are on the whole a very friendly group. Most of the guys — the female population in the weight room is not nearly as large as say, the population on the ellipticals upstairs — are down there to relax and have a good time.

"It's a good break from work. Once you've worked out you kind of clear your head. It makes the day go faster," Polster said.

Angela Sauers GS, the token female lifter at the time, agreed.

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"It's be here or be in the lab," Sauers said.

Some find it helpful to combine the two.

"I bring some work to do so that, in between sets, I try to kill two birds with one stone," seminary student Keith Long said, pointing to a foot-high stack of books hidden underneath one of the benches.

Though they come, in part, to get schoolwork and other externalities off of their minds, there is one thing the lifters at Dillon certainly consider above all.

"Gotta stay huge," joked Micah Ledbetter GS, flexing his runner's biceps.

Dryden's and Kelsch's "pursuit of mass" is much more specific, though.

"Pretty much we come down here, and we only do chest and bi[ceps]s — everyday," Kelsch said.

It's part of what he and Dryden call the "Beach Workout," one that targets all those areas exposed when wearing a bathing suit — basically the chest and the arms. It will grow even more important as the weather gets warmer.

"The beach workout is definitely what you're aiming for," Dryden said.

It's simple. Do a lot of dumbbell curls and work the chest.

"Maximize the curl workout . . . and a lot of bench," Kelsch said.

"And I'd kind of do some butt exercises," Dryden added, though his roommate disagreed.

"You're gonna have to buy a really tight bathing suit to make that worthwhile," Kelsch said.

Female admirers

Their hard work doesn't go unappreciated. Sauers, the token female, agrees that it is nice to see guys who have done a little bit of the beach workout.

"I like guys who are in shape, but, you know, like if you can't put your arms down that's kind of unattractive," she said.

As for herself, Sauers is very careful not to get bigger. She tries to keep toned by doing greater repetitions with lighter weights. It's what most of the females do who lift in Stephens, she said.

Dillon's weight facilities are ample, but they are by no means ideal. Most of the discontent, if any, is due from the facilities lack of size.

"I think it's too small. We used to work out here all the time last year, and especially between 4 o'clock and 7 o'clock it's impossible to lift," senior Matt Little said.

Little works out with his roommate, junior Bryan Sunday '06, whose large stature does the talking.

"Brian here has a very cost effective solution to Dillon gymnasium's [size] problem. They should take all the weights stuff and put them upstairs and get rid of all the cardio," Little said. Then, "they do all the cardio stuff in individual rooms in dorms."

Little and Sunday have yet to approach the Housing Department with their idea. For now, they're content to work out in their underground home. It may not have windows, but the ventilation is superb.