A Public College with Personal Trainers

By Roberto HartMany colleges in the CUNY system offer certificate courses to become a personal trainer. But how often is it that you hear of a college that also has a few on the premises for their students to use?The City College of New York’s Wingate Fitness Center has just that for their students and faculty. It offers five different fitness classes, and you can book an appointment with personal trainers as well. The service is free with tuition.Scott Losche started working at CCNY in 2002 as a baseball coach. He eventually became the university’s first on campus personal trainer. Scott makes it his mission to get to know gym-goers and helps them get comfortable with the equipment, often coaching others on proper usage of machines and how often they should use them. He also helps students and staff members organize plans and angles of approach to achieve their personal fitness goals.Entering Director of Recreation at CCNY James Versailles and Scott both credit the increase in the gym’s attendance over the years to funding the gym receives from the Student Activity Fund. According to James, “Daily attendance is now about 600 on a busy day and 300 when its slow. It’s definitely helped the facility become what it is today.”Scott said “You’d be surprised, there are a lot of kids coming here that have never been to a gym or worked out before and don’t necessarily know where to start, not to mention those who might not be able to afford a gym membership, let alone a personal trainer and that’s where me and my team come in.” When asked if there are other CUNY schools that offer personal trainers, he said “I’m not sure, I don’t think so, but I know we’re the first!”