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| Among the regulars at the ZIPfit facility in Memorial Hall are, in front, Mary King and Kyle Rowse, and, in back, Josette Keane and Matt Wyszymsk. |
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ZIPfit is one of those ideas that’s so good, if it were a proposal you would assume there must be a catch somewhere.
Think about it: an exercise program for UA’s faculty and staff that uses students majoring in sports and exercise science as personal trainers; physical assessments every 90 days to fine-tune your progress; a centrally located facility on campus equipped with state-of-the-art cardio-vascular machines and a range of weight training equipment; and extended hours that allow you to work out before, during or after the standard business day.
And, oh yes, all this for only $30 per month or $72 for three months.
Fortunately, ZIPfit is not merely an idea or a proposal, but a reality that has quietly chugged away in Memorial Hall 64 for more than two years.
The program was first suggested in 1998 by Philip Buckenmeyer, a former UA assistant professor of physical and health education, and acting coordinator of education for the department. Buckenmeyer knew of similar programs in Maryland and Indiana that used undergraduate and graduate students to staff faculty and employee exercise programs. The programs proved so popular they became self-sustaining, and in some cases, supplemented their departments’ budgets.
Buckenmeyer teamed with Rachele Kappler, a clinical instructor in the Department of Sport Science and Wellness Education, to create such a program at UA. In the winter of 1999-00, they received $15,000 in funding from the College of Education to purchase and install equipment, but the program was on its own in terms of funding. The following April — just a few weeks before faculty scattered from campus for summer break — ZIPfit opened its doors for business three hours per week.
It attracted four customers.
One of those, however, was Karla Mugler, dean of University College. During a series of medical tests she says she grudgingly scheduled after a milestone birthday, her doctor suggested she drop a few pounds. That cheery advice, as well as a family history of osteoporosis, prompted “a little voice in my head that said, ‘Just do it,’” Mugler recalls, so she tried the University’s new exercise program.
Two years later, the dean is an avowed advocate of exercise and ZIPfit. She uses one of the gym’s rowers for 20 minutes, the EFX elliptical trainer for 15 minutes and then lifts weights.
“I have a treadmill at home. Our son has weights that I could use. Do I use either? No. But I will get up at 5:30 in the morning to go to ZIPfit.”
Mugler used to work out at ZIPfit during her lunch break because “I couldn’t leave the house earlier in the morning, and after work I had to go back to being a mom again.” The flexible hours of ZIPfit are one of the reasons her resolve to exercise is now measured in years.
Location is ZIPfit’s other big advantage, according to many participants.
“ZIPfit is no more than a 10-minute walk from just about any place on campus. I’m astonished more people don’t do it,” says Peter Turk, a professor of marketing and part of the program’s usual noon crowd.
Last November, Turk underwent heart bypass surgery and came through rehab with flying colors. However, his physicians told him he needed to maintain his workout regime, so he began looking at other programs in town.
“All the other places around here are awkward for me,” explains Turk. “None are on the way home, and all would require additional travel. ZIPfit is right here.”
The combination of ZIPfit and a low-sodium, low-fat diet has peeled 40 pounds from Turk’s lanky frame. “Bypass surgery takes a long time to get over,” he says, “but I think ZIPfit has really helped reduce that recovery time.”
Turk points out that in addition to being convenient, the program is a bargain.
“They have enough equipment that you can do just about anything. And you get a personal trainer. Where can you find that for $30 a month?”
Not only is ZIPfit a deal for UA employees, it has become one of the most popular means for students in the Department of Sport Science and Wellness Education to gain practicum hours, says Kappler.
Approximately 15 undergraduate and 12 graduate students work at ZIPfit each semester. Undergrads, who in some cases need to fulfill 210 hours of practicum in a semester, put in three to seven hours per week at the program. Graduate students work there as part of their assistantships.
To be trainers, students must be certified in CPR and first aid, and if they are undergraduates, they must major in sport and exercise science. Students not only keep clients’ charts, they record heart rates and cross-check them to ensure clients are getting the workouts they need.
Again, proximity and convenience are two of the biggest reasons ZIPfit is popular with the student trainers, but Kappler says many of them realize they are gaining experience that could be difficult to achieve elsewhere.
“The students really like the diverse population. You can be working with a 30-year-old person who would like to lose 10 pounds, and your next client may be a 78-year-old post-cardiac patient on a beta blocker. We have diabetic patients. We have clients with arthritis or osteoarthritis. We have very fit clients, and we have clients who need to, and who want to, lose a lot of weight.”
Kim Simpson, a senior who will graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise science, likes the practical applications of the program.
“ZIPfit is a great learning experience and it looks great on your resume. You get hands-on experience, applying what you learned in the classroom in real life,” says Simpson, who also is an aerobics instructor at the Natatorium in Cuyahoga Falls.
Following graduation, Simpson wants to pursue a master’s degree, with an ultimate goal of finding employment in cardiac rehabilitation or similar clinical settings.
Senior Kyle Rowse has different ambitions. The Westerville, Ohio native plans to someday own a gym.
“I want to train. I want to have a clientele I work with. I want to be in a gym all day long.”
Rowse began workouts when he was 12. Like his stepfather, he became a rugby player and logged many, many hours in gyms, learning exercises and techniques from serious bodybuilders and weightlifters. Known at ZIPfit as the man to see for weight training prescriptions or answers to problems, Rowse assembles workout routines by choosing from barbells, free weights and medicine balls like a Scrabble champion arranging letter tiles. The clientele at ZIPfit is vastly different from the usual weight room crowd, a fact that Rowse views as a bonus.
“These clients are more like people I’ll be working with someday — they’re middle-aged folks who have a time limit, who have specific goals, and who may need someone to help motivate them.”
ZIPfit also gives students experience they hadn’t counted on.
When Mary King, a senior lecturer in developmental programs, injured her ankle while hiking, she was resolute in getting back to ZIPfit as soon as possible. However, the muscles in her leg had atrophied, making a return much more challenging.
“When Mary came back to ZIPfit, she could barely walk,” Rowse recalls. The trainers worked with her to rehabilitate the joint and today King is back on the rower like before.
For all the talk of goals and motivation, Kappler and the students succeed in keeping the mood light in the gym. That’s especially true for those devoted souls who get up to workout from 7 to 8 a.m. The mutual sacrifice seems to create a unique camaraderie.
“There is a lot of banter and a lot of joking that goes back and forth,” says Kappler. “We’ve got individuals from the print shop, the paint shop and Buchtel Hall. At one point we had clients from at least 80 percent of all the buildings on campus. It’s a wonderful cross-section of the University.”
This third season appears to be a breakout year for ZIPfit. In the past, enrollment in the program was slow in the fall but increased during the winter months. This year, Kappler is seeing a big increase in the number of people signing up for assessments. She’s confident that her staff can handle the new clients.
Peak times are 7 to 8 a.m., noon to 1 p.m., and sometimes the 5 to 6 p.m. shift. However, with extended hours on Monday and Wednesday, clients find the likelihood of getting the gym — and trainers — all to themselves during nonpeak hours is pretty good.
Plans are in the works to expand ZIPfit, and Kappler is negotiating with other units on campus to see if the program also can offer nutrition/diet, and physical therapy services.
Whatever the future brings, Kappler is determined to maintain its all-purpose nature.
“ZIPfit is not a muscle-bound gym for only the fittest, it is not only for people who need supervised exercise and it certainly is not a profit-driven business.”
“ZIPfit is a wellness facility at an academic site. Whether your goal is to lose weight, to get more energy, or just to burn off stress from the day, we can help you accomplish that.”
For more information about ZIPfit, contact Kappler at ext. 6524 or kappler@uakron.edu .
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