Gym-timidated? We're here to help you!
Feeling anxious about working out? Unsure of where to start or worried about feeling out of place? We understand that gym-timidation is real, and we're here to support you every step of the way. At UVM Campus Recreation, our mission is to ensure the PFG Athletic/Rec Complex is welcoming and inclusive for every Catamount, regardless of body type, fitness level, or previous experience.Check out our machine demos, and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. We’ve all been beginners at some point, and we promise you’ll be glad you took the first step.
Gucciardi Fitness Center
The Gucciardi Fitness Center has a wide variety of equipment and space to meet your workout needs. Spanning close to 8,000 sq ft across three rooms, the fitness center has one of the best views on campus. Free access to current UVM students, faculty, and staff.
Group Fitness
UVM Campus Recreation offers more than 50 group fitness classes each semester. Purchase a group fitness pass for unlimited access to all group fitness classes. Our programming gives endless opportunities for our community to learn, grow, and develop within a supportive, inclusive, safe, and reliable community. The first week of every semester is FREE WEEK! All group fitness classes, all week, are free for you to try.
Personal Training
UVM Campus Recreation has a staff of personal trainers ready to meet your needs. We offer a few different types of personal training, both individual, with partners, and in groups. Find which one meets your needs. The goal of UVM Campus Recreation Personal Training is to educate and inspire clients to move well, achieve their goals and overall improve overall wellbeing.
Know Before You Go
Fitness Center
- Main Room
- Spear Street Side: Here you will find functional training towers (cable machines), squat racks, plate loaded equipment, kettlebells, plyometric boxes, panoramic views of the Green Mountains, and more.
- Middle: Here you will find a variety of selectorized machines targeting various muscle groups, rowing machines, ellipticals, treadmills, one of the best seats in the house for activity on Virtue Field, and more.
- Redstone Side: Here you will find room for stretching, an “8-Stack” multi station of various cable exercises, a bench press, a smith machine, and dumbbells up to 30lbs.
- Cardio Room: Here you will find rowing machines, treadmills, ClimbMills (stairs), exercise bikes, ARC trainers, and three 65” TVs to keep you entertained while working out.
- Free Weight Room: Here you will find dumbbells, lifting platforms, squat racks, benches, and more.
- Selectorized Machine Video Demos
Fitness Center Etiquette
- Green towels: These are provided to wipe down the equipment (free weights, selectorized, cardio etc.). A good way to remember this is Greens for Machines.
- Yellow Towels: These are provided to wipe sweat off your body if needed.
- Wipe Down Equipment: Always wipe down equipment after use to keep it clean and hygienic for the next person.
- Share Equipment: Be willing to share equipment during busy times; allow others to work in between your sets if asked.
- Re-rack Weights: After using free weights or plates, always return them to their designated racks or storage areas.
- Limit Cell Phone Use: Keep phone calls and texting brief and avoid talking loudly on the phone in workout areas to minimize disruption.
- Respect Personal Space: Give others enough space to exercise comfortably and safely; avoid crowding or lingering near someone else's workout area.
- Mind Your Noise Level: Avoid loud grunting, dropping weights excessively, or making unnecessary noise that may distract or bother others.
- Ask Before Offering Advice: If you notice someone performing an exercise incorrectly or struggling, ask politely if they would like assistance before offering advice.
- No Photography or Videography: Please refrain from taking pictures or videos in the gym to respect everyone's privacy and maintain a comfortable workout environment for all.
- Follow Dress Code: Wear appropriate gym attire and clean, non-marking gym shoes to ensure safety and hygiene.
- Respect the Staff: Follow instructions from gym staff and trainers; they are there to ensure safety and assist with any questions or concerns.
- Refrain from Staring: Avoid staring at others in the gym to respect their privacy and focus on your own workout.
Other Facilities
- Indoor Track
- Lower Track
- Courts: The indoor track courts can be used for basketball, volleyball, pickleball, and most other indoor activities you can think of. Stop by the front desk in the lobby to rent equipment for free.
- Upper Track
- 8.75 laps = 1 mile (a little funky, we know) on the upper track
- Here you will also find punching bags (speed and heavy), a rowing machine, a ski ergometer, two cycling bikes, various core machines, and plenty of room for stretching and other floor work.
- Pool: Here you will find a 25 yard long swimming pool with six lap lanes. The depth of the water ranges from 4 feet in the shallow end to just over 12 feet in the deep end. This space is great for both lap swimming and recreational swimming!
- MAC
- MAC Court: The MAC is a great place for a variety of indoor activities. It is outfitted for volleyball, pickleball, basketball, indoor soccer, and floor hockey. We have a variety of equipment available for FREE checkout!
- Bouldering Wall: Here you will find routes of varying difficulty throughout the wall. New routes are set frequently throughout the semester with a full wall reset happening twice per year.
- Check out climbing shoes for free at the check in desk!
- Field 6: Here you will find a grass field that is perfect for a variety of outdoor recreational activities when not scheduled. This is the perfect place to throw a frisbee, a football, run sprints, cloud watching and/or stargazing and so much more.
- 5K Loop: Did you know that there is a 5K loop that starts just beyond the fitness center? Soak in the beautiful scenery of Vermont as you run along the bike path, around the golf course, and back to Athletic Campus.
- Group Fitness Hub: The Campus Rec Group Fitness Hub includes close to 7,500 sq ft of space among three air-conditioned studios and is the heart of fitness activities. Skylights, LED and blacklights, wood floors, and two single-occupancy restrooms with showers are just some of the amenities in this new space. These studios are used for a variety of purposes including group fitness classes, PEAC classes, and club sports. Watch our welcome video.
Lockers & Locker Rooms
- All Gender
- Group Fitness Hub Hallway
- Patrick 041: past the Squash Courts
- Patrick 130: near Athletic Medicine between Upper Squash Courts and Indoor Turf
- Patrick 114: near Athletic Administration and classroom 117
- Women
- General Locker Room located in the middle of the facility down the hall, past the squash courts
- Pool Locker Room located in the middle of the facility near the vending machines outside of the varsity equipment room on the ground floor of Patrick Gym
- Men
- General Locker Room located in middle of the facility in the hallway outside of the varsity equipment room
- Pool Locker Room located in the middle of the facility, adjacent to the entrance to the varsity equipment room
- FREE Day Use Lockers
- Outside of the entrance to the MAC/Bouldering Wall
- Group Fitness Hub Hallway
- Fitness Center Upper Lobby
Programs
Sport Programs
Intramural Sports are a great way to get active, meet new people, and compete in a variety of sports right here on campus! Register on www.imleagues.com/uvm using your UVM NetID to participate in weekly games with your fellow Catamounts. Teams split the costs amongst teammates, making it affordable and fun.
- Who can I make a team with? – Your residence hall, academic classes, or club meetings are great places to start.
- Don’t know anyone yet, but still want to play and meet new people? Join as a “Free Agent” on IMLeagues. This enables you to share your information with other groups of students who need an extra player or connect with others who are searching for people to play with.
- Looking for less commitment or just how to play a certain sport? Check out Open Rec or our Learn to Play pages.
- For higher level competition, travel play against other universities, and more commitment – check out Club Sports here.
More information on intramural sports, click here.
Fitness Programs
UVM Campus Recreation Fitness Programs offers fitness classes, both in-person and remote. We also offer private training/classes as well as a 200-hour yoga teacher training. Our programming gives endless opportunities for our community to learn, grow, and develop within a supportive, inclusive, safe, and reliable community.
- BOOST: our exciting four-week movement series designed just for you! This series is absolutely FREE with a group fitness pass.
- Try our BOOST Classes!
- Are you looking to kickstart your movement journey? Join BOOST, our exciting four-week movement series designed just for you! This series is absolutely FREE with a group fitness pass. No pass, no problem the cost is $15-20 for four weeks. Unlike our drop-in classes, BOOST lets you train with the same group for four weeks, helping you build a strong community and stay motivated. Whether you’re new to movement at the Hub or just looking to mix things up, BOOST is the perfect way to get started. These classes include Women on Weights, Gym-Timidation both in the fitness center and classes focused on finding the joy in movement.
- Try our BOOST Classes!
Rec Lingo
Common Phrases
- “Can I get a spot?” Means you would like somebody to spot you during your set of a particular exercise.
- “How many sets do you have left?” Means you want to know how much longer someone is going to be using a particular piece of equipment.
- “Do you mind if I work in with you?” Means you’d like to do a set on a piece of equipment while someone is resting between their sets.
- “What are you lifting today?” Means you want to know what major muscle groups someone is working out that day (e.g. arm day)
Fitness Definitions
- 1RM: One rep max - the maximum weight that you can lift for one repetition of an exercise.
- AMRAP: As many reps or rounds as possible
- Bodyweight Exercises: Exercises that use your body weight as resistance, such as push-ups, squats, and planks.
- Bulking: Adding weight to your physique, in the form of lean muscle mass.
- Cardio: Refers to cardiovascular exercises that increase heart rate and improve endurance, such as running, cycling, or using elliptical machines.
- Compound Exercise: A movement that engages multiple muscle groups and joints simultaneously, such as squats or deadlifts.
- Compound Set: Doing two different exercises for the same muscle group with minimal rest between.
- Cooldown: Gentle exercises and stretching performed at the end of a workout to aid in recovery.
- Core: Refers to the muscles in the abdomen, lower back, and pelvis; core exercises strengthen these muscles.
- Cycling: A group cardio workout led by a certified instructor using stationary exercise bikes.
- DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness): Muscle soreness that develops 24 to 48 hours after strenuous exercise, typically as muscles repair and strengthen.
- Drop Set: Performing an exercise until failure, then reducing the weight and continuing with minimal rest.
- Eccentric and Concentric: Refers to the different phases of muscle movement during exercise; eccentric (negative) is the lengthening phase, while concentric (positive) is the shortening phase.
- EMOM: Every minute on the minute, which is when you begin a specified number of repetitions of some movements or exercises at the start of one minute and then rest for whatever time you have left until the top of the next minute.
- Flexibility: Refers to the range of motion in a joint or group of joints; stretching exercises improve flexibility.
- Free Weights: Refers to dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells used for resistance training that are not attached to a machine.
- Gym Etiquette: Unspoken rules and courtesies observed in a gym, such as wiping down equipment after use, not monopolizing equipment, and respecting others' personal space.
- HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training): A workout technique alternating between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity or rest.
- Interval Training: Alternating periods of high-intensity exercise with periods of rest or low-intensity exercise to improve cardiovascular fitness.
- Isolation Exercise: A movement that targets a specific muscle or muscle group, often involving machines or free weights. For example, a bicep curl.
- Low Impact Activities: Exercises that reduce stress on joints, like swimming, walking, or using an elliptical.
- Plyometrics: Exercises that involve explosive movements, such as jump squats or box jumps, to develop strength and speed.
- PR (Personal Record): Your best performance in a particular exercise or workout, often used to track progress.
- Pyramid: Increase load or the reps as you move through the sets and then reverse the order.
- Recovery: The period between workouts when muscles repair and strengthen.
- Rep (Repetition): One complete motion of an exercise, such as lifting a weight or doing a push-up.
- Set: A group of consecutive repetitions of an exercise, followed by a rest period.
- For example, 3 sets of 10 squats means you do 30 squats total with rest between each 10.
- Selectorized Machines: Weightlifting equipment with adjustable settings for resistance training, often targeting specific muscle groups.
- Spotter: Someone who assists you during exercises to ensure safety, especially when using free weights.
- Superset: Performing two exercises back-to-back with little to no rest in between, usually targeting different muscle groups.
- Tabata: A form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) consisting of 20 seconds of ultra-intense exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated for 4 minutes (8 rounds).
- Warm-up: Gentle exercises performed at the beginning of a workout to prepare muscles for more intense activity and reduce the risk of injury.
RecFest
RecRespect
Welcome to the Group Fitness Hub
