Spring Break
Healthy choices help students
Paula Cronic
Issue date: 11/2/05 Section: Features
The holidays are sneaking up on us all fairly quickly. With Thanksgiving right around the corner and Christmas soon to follow, many students may be looking forward to family togetherness, vacations and home cooked meals.
As families gather around the tables this Thanksgiving and Christmas, healthy foods may not cross some people's minds. They may consider a vacation a chance to take a break from their exercise routines as well.
"I know people who don't exercise or anything during breaks," Amanda Dawson, a freshman kinesiology major, said. "I try to stay at least a little active."
Dawson said people might stray from their usual work out routines because they are used to attending local gyms or may not have time to work out.
Some hotels have started offering a wide range of fitness facilities so travelers have the option of working out even though they are not home to attend their regular gym.
Sue May, program director at Gold's Gym in Bloomington, said hotel fitness centers are a good idea, but that travelers should be careful when choosing their hotels.
"All of them are different. Sometimes places will advertise a hotel fitness center and it will have a bike and some broken down machines, and other times it will be a real good one," May explained.
May said hotel fitness centers usually do not have any supervision so the guest has to know what they are doing on their own when they get there.
The Hawthorn Suites hotel chain provides a fitness center in each hotel where facilities are open to guests from morning until night.
Leslie Sickles, Hawthorn Suites general manger in Bloomington, said the facility has weight machines, ellipticals and treadmills available for use.
"We have a TV in there and guests will use their head phones, watch TV, do a couple miles on the treadmill and then go and swim" Sickles said.
Some hotels may charge a little more if a fitness center is provided, but may be better for the traveler in the long run.
As families gather around the tables this Thanksgiving and Christmas, healthy foods may not cross some people's minds. They may consider a vacation a chance to take a break from their exercise routines as well.
"I know people who don't exercise or anything during breaks," Amanda Dawson, a freshman kinesiology major, said. "I try to stay at least a little active."
Dawson said people might stray from their usual work out routines because they are used to attending local gyms or may not have time to work out.
Some hotels have started offering a wide range of fitness facilities so travelers have the option of working out even though they are not home to attend their regular gym.
Sue May, program director at Gold's Gym in Bloomington, said hotel fitness centers are a good idea, but that travelers should be careful when choosing their hotels.
"All of them are different. Sometimes places will advertise a hotel fitness center and it will have a bike and some broken down machines, and other times it will be a real good one," May explained.
May said hotel fitness centers usually do not have any supervision so the guest has to know what they are doing on their own when they get there.
The Hawthorn Suites hotel chain provides a fitness center in each hotel where facilities are open to guests from morning until night.
Leslie Sickles, Hawthorn Suites general manger in Bloomington, said the facility has weight machines, ellipticals and treadmills available for use.
"We have a TV in there and guests will use their head phones, watch TV, do a couple miles on the treadmill and then go and swim" Sickles said.
Some hotels may charge a little more if a fitness center is provided, but may be better for the traveler in the long run.