Every year, The Sentinel asks hundreds of students from both campuses about their favorite places to eat, drink and hang out. The Sentinel’s “Best of KSU” issue encompasses students’ favorite aspects of KSU and the surrounding community. In 2017, the Siegel Rec Center was voted Best Place to Work Out by the Kennesaw campus students.
The Betty L. Siegel Student Recreation and Activities Center opens earlier to students and closes later than any other facility on campus, and with good reason. Whether you arrive at 6 a.m. or midnight, you will always find someone lifting, running, climbing, swimming or competing.
Completed in June 2015, the award-winning recreation center features more than 174,000 square feet of state-of-the-art exercise and fitness equipment, stocked to give students the most high-quality, varied experience possible. The message is clear: no matter what you like to do or how you like to do it, the Siegel Rec Center has exactly what you need.
As soon as you check in at the front desk, you’re immediately faced with a dizzying array of fitness options. Are you in a cardio mood? Try out the facility’s army of stationary bikes, ellipticals and rowers upstairs. Take a swim in one of the aquatic center’s eight-lane pools, or go jogging on the eighth-of-a-mile jogging track that overlooks the indoor basketball court.
Perhaps strength training is your game. If so, you can take a climb on the 47-foot climbing tower or make use of the weight and conditioning areas. For some added intensity, check out the power performance room, which contains equipment for Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting, as well as boxing and mixed martial arts.
Does your fitness have a competitive flare to it? Play a game of pickup basketball in the four-court gymnasium, or try the eight-court tennis complex. There’s also two volleyball courts, three racquetball courts and three multipurpose rooms for indoor soccer and rolling hockey.
If you don’t want to work out alone, the rec center offers several opportunities to find community, including club and intramural sports programs, personal training, and group exercise classes in yoga, pilates and Zumba.
Maybe you’re craving the great outdoors. The outdoor adventures suite, with its bike shop and Nature Bound recreation program, can satiate your whim for mountain biking, kayaking, backpacking, snowboarding and more.
The icing on the cake is, of course, the price: there isn’t one. The facility is completely free to students — paid for through student fees, of course. With no cost to use the facilities, it’s no wonder students take advantage of the center at all hours of the day.
Even the smallest detail is carefully considered, from the natural light filling the building to the empty floor space available to the brand of cardio equipment used. The Siegel Rec Center is the dream of every athlete, fitness aficionado and student with wellness goals.
