Drexel's Rec Center: Built for Student Success

The Drexel Recreation Center, located along Market Street between 33rd and 34th streets, is a wellness center that focuses around promoting positive physical health for the students of Drexel, providing a free all-inclusive gym with many different sets of equipment to help students fulfill all their exercising needs. From weightlifting to aerobics and even an indoor track, it's hard to not find the right equipment for you to use, but how busy the gym gets can often be a limiting factor. Believe it or not, mid-afternoon is one of the slower times compared to the early morning or evening, so if you have some spare time in your schedule, definitely try to hit the gym before or after lunch.

Besides the gym facility, there are many other amenities offered free for students and the rec center's members to use. From the Recreation Center's website, there's a three-lane indoor track, two aerobic studios used for group exercise classes (that are free for students to sign up for!), a massive indoor climbing wall with instructors available at all times, a six-lane swimming pool, and to top it all off, two indoor squash courts with viewing areas for both. It truly is a massive facility!

The Recreation Center is a wellness center that focuses around promoting positive physical health for the students of Drexel, providing a free all-inclusive gym with many different sets of equipment to help students fulfill all their exercising needs.

I was fortunate enough to take advantage of it while I was a student at Drexel. When I was participating in counseling services at the Counseling Center for some stress-related issues I was dealing with, my counselor mentioned trying out some of the group exercise classes. Ultimately, I did not end up participating in the classes, but I heard from a friend who did their cycling class that it was intense and exciting getting to work with an experienced instructor and hit their workout goals alongside their peers on the bikes next to them. Instead, I chose to utilize the gym's equipment to work on losing weight and toning my body, which I was able to successfully do. At no point did I feel like I was in a room full of strangers; I felt at ease because I knew I was instead surrounded by my peers that I had seen in my classes. Almost every time I went to work out, I said hello to someone I knew. The Recreation Center really was a gem hidden in plain sight; all it took was mustering the courage to walk in and take advantage of what it had to offer.