I am a man of routine. I enjoy having activities and cool things to do and I always try to make efficient use of my time. One of my favorite activities is going to the gym. I believe in physical fitness, and there is even more science of the benefits of consistently being active.

This year, I typically go to the gym in the morning in the range of 7:00a.m to 9:30 a.m. In years prior my gym time was typically 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. I feel like I have been able to figure out the best times to go. After talking to fitness attendants, fitness enthusiasts, and sporadic gym goers, they all have seemed to come to the same consensus.

After benching 225 pounds at my last gym session, Fitness Attendant Lizzy Zuzarte ‘24 shared with me the best gym times from her employee perspective.

“I typically work the 12:00 to 3 p.m [shift]. which is usually not too crowded. 3 p.m. is prime time because most kids get out of class so it’s kinda crazy and 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. is mostly gym bro time so it’s still pretty hectic in the weight room.”

It surprised me that the 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. time was not very busy, but it does make sense, since many classes occur at this time. 

For me, any good gym session ends with a trip to the sauna. Last time I used it, Brennan Ames ‘25, was in the sauna wearing shoes. I critiqued him and alerted him that it was disrespectful to the wood and can make the pool deck dirty. I also do not want outside shoes in a place where my barefeet go. However, he is not the only one that makes this mistake, please learn proper sauna etiquette if you plan on going to the FAC at a busy time.

Despite his poor sauna etiquette, I asked Ames his opinion about the busiest FAC times.

“So the roughly 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm window is a no go. Way too crowded!” said Ames, “The best time is the 9:00 am to 12:00 pm window. Always dead, no issues getting machines at all for like 9 a.m. to noon. The next best is 6:00 a.m – 9:00 a.m. Nobody gets up that early to grind!”

I wanted to see if there was a difference in the times you went. Could you still get a good pump in during a busy time? In order to do this, I sent in Andrew Schmutter ’24 to go during what I consider the busiest time.

“On Monday I went at like 5:00 p.m. and it was a zoo. Everyone was standing around waiting for machines or a bench and it was really difficult to get a good workout in without waiting around. I only expect this to get worse as new year resolutions come into effect during January.”

Now I was also interested in the pool and sauna hours, which are open 6:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and then 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and have an impact on foot traffic. It seems like the pool and sauna were consistently busy during these hours.

These hours are not to my liking. I do not understand why the pool and sauna cannot be open during the day or at least 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. I know there are plenty of lifeguards, and I have heard complaints about water quality. When I spoke to the Director of Aquatics, Jay Venit, he opened up the books to me, and it seems that the swimmers should just do a quick shower before entering the pool. 

So, if you would like to come to the gym, just make sure you follow good etiquette from wiping down machines, not hogging equipment, wearing shoes inside the weight room, and letting those dawgs breathe in the sauna. 

The gym hours are 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and during the weekend any of the operation hours are typically not as busy as they would be during the weekday.

Worst to best times:

3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

6:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (if you go at this time, try the sauna)