Attending gyms and working out is becoming more and more popular for the younger generation. Many students use the gym to stay in shape for sports, while others do it to build muscle and stay healthy. 

“During the offseason it’s a good way to stay in shape. It makes me feel good and gives me something to do,” said senior Ava Muharem. 

Like many other students, Muharem goes to The Club, a gym in Naugatuck.

The Club features a good mix of equipment, and the gym has plenty of space to do a numerous amount of free movement exercises.  

“It has more variety of machines and free weights. It’s not full of a lot of people,” said junior Abigail Raffone.

The Club is not the only gym students flock to. Many students belong to Planet Fitness in Naugatuck as well. Planet Fitness has a lot of machines that are often used for either weightlifting or cardio. It features some spots for free weights at the front of the gym, but most of the time you will see several machines scattered throughout the gym. The gym also has rows of treadmills and separate rooms people can use for timed thirty-minute workouts. 

“I go on the treadmill to start and then I do the thirty-minute workout,” said freshmen Natalie Strachan.

The Planet Fitness thirty-minute workout rooms allows a person to go through an instructed workout by using machines. Nearby gyms make it easy for beginners to start working out, some students decide at the gym what they are going to do, while others formulate a plan. 

 “I do back day and arm day. I change it based on what I haven’t done recently,” said  Muharem. 

Working certain muscle groups on different days can be very beneficial to efficiently building muscle. There are also machines that target certain muscle groups which makes it easier to find the exercises a person needs to do in order to target the muscles they want to grow. 

On the contrary, other students like to go freestyle in the gym.

“I just go and do whatever,” said sophomore Emily Moore.

She’s not alone; if you ever see a person looking around aimlessly in a gym, they are probably doing the exact same thing, just looking for something to do. And gyms make it very easy to find something quickly. Between the numerous machines scattered through the establishment and a wide variety of free weights, working out has become easier and easier for the younger generation.