Campus Recreation is arguably the most well-known organization on Elon’s Campus, and has received the award for “Best Run Organization” on several occasions.

A vast majority of Elon students and staff members enjoy using the facilities and do so often.

However, toward the end of the spring semester last year there was a considerable amount of complaining about the organization, including broken machines and a lack of sufficient Group Exercise (Group X) classes offered.

Campus Recreation certainly took these complaints into consideration during the summer and stepped it up a notch by making vast improvements that students are enjoying today.

And they should receive recognition for all of their achievements. New equipment is present in the gym and Group X has made considerable strides to improve their program.

Group X, the part of Campus Recreation that leads exercise classes, has a great deal of new classes to offer students and staff members this semester; the most exciting of these is the addition of spinning classes, which is cycling on stationary bikes.

The classes are known for intense cardio and are a very popular form of exercise.

Group X has also added seven new cycling classes that began after fall break. Each class is a little different with varying levels, from beginner to advanced.

More classes for faculty and staff members were also offered this year including Low Impact Cardio, Ball Strength, Pilates (in two time slots) and Traditional Strength. Although faculty and staff members are welcome to attend the student-oriented classes, these ones are specifically designed for students.

Additional student classes include meditation, which provides a half-hour of non-spiritual relaxation and rejuvenation.

Happy Hour Cardio consists of an hour long “Power Hour” including a little bit of all the most popular cardio classes.

Strength, Advanced Yoga and Yoga Dance Fusion are also new. One of the most exciting additions this year was the “So You Think You Can Dance?” class, inspired by the TV show.

To participate in Group X classes students can pay $10 a year at the Campus Recreation front desk; allowing students access to an unlimited amount of classes for the school year.

Also, coming up in late October is the “Spooky Sample,” which includes a number of free mini-classes so people can get a feel of the classes before they pay to participate in them.

To get more information or to see the class schedule go to the Campus Recreation homepage online at

www.elon.edu/campusrec.

Columnist: Angela Sparrow - 10/31/07