Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Eastern New Mexico University officially unveils its new outdoor Fitness Court at a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. today near the campus tennis courts.
Open 24/7, and made for anyone 14 and up, the court features apparatuses aimed to target each body part -- pull up bars for back, boxes for step-ups to strengthen legs and a ladder for agility drills among others.
It was made possible in partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico and National Fitness Campaign, officials said.
The National Fitness Campaign designed an app, which takes users through trainer-led workouts as well.
“We understand that good health is integral to success in the classrooms and life,” said James Johnston, ENMU chancellor in a news release announcing the Fitness Court.
According to the American Psychology Association in 2022, college students’ mental health has become a “crisis.”
Exercise could be pivotal in solving this.
New Jersey’s Kean University recently found that “exercising does have a positive impact on mental health,” after conducting a report centered around how exercise impacts college students. The report also found that “a majority of participants feel that their mental health impacts them academically.”
What’s more, researchers in Canada in 2023, using only college students, found working out outdoors can improve memory and mood and reduce anxiety in ways that working out indoors can’t.
Considering this, the National Fitness Campaign found its stride during the pandemic. With COVID-19 shuttering gyms, NFC began installing courts in parks and universities mainly through a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package across the nation. That’s according to Lindsay Valenti, communications manager from National Fitness Campaign, who spoke to The News last week.
The National Fitness Campaign website stated it will be funding 5,000 outdoor Fitness Courts across America by 2030.
The courts are intended for use by those at any fitness level.
“A woman who’s in her 60s in Michigan lost 15 pounds just by walking to the fitness courts close to her house,” Valenti said. “She’ll do like a 20-minute workout every day and then walk back.”
Then there’s Adrian Vidro of San Diego who was already in solid shape when he only worked out at his local Fitness Court for six weeks straight during COVID-19.
“I got way more cut up,” Vidro said, noticing big improvements in his thighs through lunges and squats.
“This will be a really good thing for the younger folks,” he added.
