When it comes to student activity, the Newtown Bucks Campus is packed full of opportunities for students to get involved or stay busy during downtime during the weekdays. One such opportunity provided by the college is the incredible Bucks Fitness Center. The fitness center is run by Tina Permar and it encompasses the ultimate package of health and wellness opportunities any students, faculty, or alumni can dream of.
The Fitness Center is a 2600 square foot facility with various fitness equipment and training machines along with a 1200 square foot aerobic room next door. The entire Fitness Center is right next door to the Linkz Pavilion. While somewhat hidden from plain view, with a little bit of searching it is quite easy to find!
The director of the Fitness Center, Tina Permar, has been running the facility for 10 years now and started her career at Bucks in November of 2012. She is the sole faculty member who runs the Fitness Center and she teaches all sorts of Wellness Programs as well as some program classes such as yoga in the aerobic studio.
The Centurion was able to sit down with Tina and learn more about the facility to better help the students, faculty, and alumni understand all the opportunity and good experiences that can be had at the Bucks Fitness Center.
When it comes to the fitness center and everything that goes on in the facility, most would like to know what they can expect to gain just by showing up and making use of the facility and socializing with fellow health and wellness members, “The atmosphere here is not one to encourage people to change the shape of their body, rather it’s to help people feel good, get stronger, to be empowered…that’s what I want people to be thinking about when they come in here not, oh I don’t feel good about myself so I need to be here to change” The Fitness Center is a hub of community and enjoyment with the great byproduct of working out.
Tina also had this to say about an extended idea for everyone when they walk through the Fitness Centers doors and what experiences they should leave with , “Believing in themselves, a building of confidence in yourself when talking to others, in going to another gym knowing you’re confident in your abilities to do your own thing, be able to explain their why to feel confident in their own skin.”
The Fitness Center has a handful of fun programs using the facility that help amplify the physical experience and add more variety to the facility as a whole but because Tina operates the center on her own it is a little difficult to make events happen extensively, “…individually I can help people build upon programs for themselves who want to achieve goals of their own Like if you want to run a 5k or even a marathon, one on one I can help you work on and achieve that goal. Or even if someone wanted me to help them with a strength training program but there has to be commitment. To me, commitment is if you show up at least 3 three times, that shows me commitment on your end.
These Wellness Programs are personal one on one lessons and workout planning between Tina and any fitness center members who are looking to take control of their health or strive to achieve goals they wish to reach.
Given that Bucks has multiple sports teams in its repertoire one could assume that our Centurion athletes must take advantage of these fantastic facilities as much as they can. “So first of all everyone that uses the facilities, I consider an athlete. All the students are student-athletes you’re all athletes in your own daily lives, now with our actual sports teams that are here, we have 6 of them. The baseball team just as an example took advantage of the facility extensively in the fall.”
It becomes hard to have the sports teams in the facility frequently because of the space constraints as well as the idea that the Fitness Center is not here just for the sports teams but for anyone eligible to enjoy. Often times she will strategically time out when sports teams can use the facilities at times that are least active so to not disturb her fitness center regulars.
The Bucks Fitness Center really is a hidden gem at the Newtown campus and should be a must-see for all students on campus just looking for a great atmosphere to make friends and learn new things. The community of the fitness center is welcoming to all who walk through the door. Tina finished off the interview with these final words, “Take the steps to come in, stop in even if it’s just to say hello, come in and see it all!”