By Karina Martinez-CarterThe Daily Northwestern
The alarm sounds at 5:55 a.m., and Weinberg freshman Kelsey Schuette is out of bed. Her first class begins in 20 minutes.
Tuesday and Thursday mornings, when the moon is still bright, Schuette trudges from Slivka Residence Hall to the Sports Pavilion and Aquatics Center for an hour-long Cycle Challenge spin class.
“My suitemates are really nice about it, but I do get some good-natured riling,” she said.
A short distance away in Patten Gym, the lights are still off in the basketball courts. Upstairs, five people are in a studio room, stretching on mats for the 6:45 a.m. Open Yoga class.
While many Northwestern students squeeze in a workout later in the day, others like Schuette refuse to press the snooze button, getting to the gym before the sun rises.
“To me, being tired isn’t an excuse,” Schuette said with a smile.
Schuette’s spin class and the Open Yoga class are two of the group fitness programs offered through NUFitRec for an additional fee with a Northwestern gym membership. Other courses include Pilates, Aqua Fitness and Cardio Blast.
Exercise classes are offered throughout the day, seven days a week, but the early morning exercisers are dedicated to their pre-dawn workouts. Schuette said that her spin class is a consistent group of about eight people, primarily adults, with one or two students.
“I’m a morning person,” Schuette said. “The rest of my day doesn’t feel right if I haven’t exercised.”
Weinberg junior Jeff Chen also considers himself a morning person. He began his early-bird workouts a few weeks ago and plans to stick to them. But he forgoes group classes to swim or run laps and has noticed the benefits of early fitness.
“I’m more alert the rest of the day, ” he said. “It’s also so much less crowded (at SPAC). I see a few students in the early morning, but it’s nothing compared to the gym around four in the afternoon.”
Gearlean Taylor, a SPAC employee, said she sees only a few students like Chen and Schuette during her shifts. Instead, Taylor scans in many faculty members and retirees coming to play racquetball or use the machines and pool.
“Unless the varsity swim team has practice or the ROTC is drilling, there aren’t many students,” Taylor said. “Some do like to come and get back before their classes start, to get it out of the way.”
Theater professor Tracy Davis takes Open Yoga classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and usually swims in SPAC’s indoor pool on alternating weekdays. Davis said if she leaves her workout until the end of the day, she will “come up with a million excuses not to do it.”
Davis said students come to the 6:45 a.m. yoga classes, but not consistently throughout the quarter. Students either attend toward the beginning and end of the quarter, or during exam time when they are feeling stressed, she said.
Maria Meijer is a registered yoga teacher who teaches morning classes and a noon class on Fridays. She said exercise is a wonderful way to start the day, but she doesn’t recommend it for everyone.
“It’s not a good idea to force yourself to do it right after you wake up,” said Meijer, who has taught yoga for seven years at NU. “If your body resents it, it won’t cooperate. There’s also lots to say about doing yoga in the evening to unwind,” she said.
Reach Karina Martinez-Carter at [email protected].
