Spin It

Students, faculty and staff are turning out for the fitness center's new spinning classesBy Denai Brown.Yves Nozil, a City College senior, was bored this semester and decided to try something new at the gym. “Spin classes are good for beginners and if you need a little motivation,” says Nozil, 25, a political science major.The new spin classes, which began late last month at the CCNY fitness center, are giving students more variety when it comes to working out.Kevin H. Abdur-Rahman, associate director of intercollegiate athletics at CCNY, knows that working out benefits student, faculty and staff. Our recreation program offers weight training, swimming, basketball, soccer, cardio training and instructional fitness classes, such as hip-hop dance, yoga and now spin. “The spin classes are well attended,” says Abdur-Rahman.Nozil says that when he found out about spin classes he signed up right away. He’s taken classes four or five times to relieve stress and to lose weight. “I have always been in shape, up until I started college,” he says. “Now that I’m graduating, it’s only fair to leave the way I came.”Each class varies, as instructors change up the routines and increase difficulty with weights. The classes can be challenging. “It was my first time, but I tried to keep up,” says psychology major Yarisell Hernandez. “The instructor kept looking at me and the guy next to me was going fast so I tried to keep the same pace.”One thing that everyone likes about the fitness classes: they’re free. Natia Oller, a CCNY staff member, takes the classes every Tuesday and Thursday in the afternoon. She prefers working out at school, rather than paying for classes at a gym or health club. Oller sums up her experience: “It’s a cardio workout, you sweat; it’s cool.”For more information and a schedule of classes, visit the Wingate Fitness Center.