The court designed by the National Fitness Campaign includes more than 30 pieces of workout equipment and seven different stations.
Students, faculty and staff arrived at the ribbon-cutting for Elon’s new outdoor fitness court on Tuesday night were dressed for a celebration, as well as for a workout.
With the ribbon cut, student trainers from Elon Campus Recreation and Wellness walked attendees through the court’s seven different stations, with each station offering both low-intensity and high-intensity workouts, with guidance for each exercise provided by an accompanying app. The court is designed by the National Fitness Campaign, which has a growing network of similar courts around the country.
With its grand opening, the court now offers a unique workout option for members of the campus community and underscores the importance of health and wellbeing on campus, President Connie Ledoux Book said to those gathered.
“This new facility, made possible by the vision and support of the Student Government Association and the professionals in Campus Recreation and Wellness and in the Student Life Office, is one of the first steps in our efforts to expand wellness opportunities on campus,” Book said. “This new fitness court is one way we are supporting our university mission to transform the mind, body and spirit, and to promote resilience, belonging and all aspects of lifelong personal wellness.”
Located along East Haggard Avenue on a portion of the former Elon Elementary School site, the fitness court is approximately half the size of a basketball court, has seven stations – core, squat, push, lunge, pull, agility and bend – for a seven-minute workout that can be done for multiple circuits and over 30 pieces of bodyweight equipment. The court has the capacity to accommodate anywhere from 18 to 24 people at one time.
It also has a QR code that leads the person working out to the Fitness Court app. On the app are various workouts accompanied by a prerecorded virtual trainer that will walk through the different exercises. In addition to the fitness court, which is completed and currently open for use, there is a half-mile track on the same lot of land.
Campus Recreation and Wellness Director Larry Mellinger said that the fitness court represents the future of campus recreation, with an innovative design that is accessible to a broader population. Facilities like the court are “making the healthy choice the easy choice,” he said.
“It’s in a really great part of campus where we haven’t been able to meet those fitness and wellness needs,” Mellinger said. “We’re excited for the growth of this neighborhood.”
The fitness court was made possible with the support of the Elon Student Government Association, with SGA Executive President Jack Corby saying that the new facility provides students a fitness resource on campus, as well as connects them to other fitness courts around the country.
The court can be used individually, or with a personal trainer as well as group exercise classes available through Campus Recreation and Wellness.
“Students, faculty, staff and community members will all have the opportunity to take advantage of this new resource — independently and together, in community, to advance their personal health,” Book said.