ARC upgrades with new weight room
A new weight room at the University of Indianapolis is now open in the Athletics and Recreation Center. The weight room, along with the dome’s newly surfaced track, opened for general use on Nov. 12.
The new weight room contains more than 6,000 square feet of space, according to Strength and Conditioning Coach Steve Barrick. Barrick estimated that the facility accommodates 50-70 athletes, which he said is approximately double the capacity of the former weight room in the lower level of the Ruth Lilly Center. Barrick’s said the new facility is “second to none” in its rank among other Division II weight rooms.
Whereas the old facility had six platforms, or “stations,” the new one boasts 24, which allows many more athletes to train at a time. Barrick described this as the best aspect of the new facility, because it allows training sessions to be more efficient.
According to Barrick, the weight room was purposefully designed to facilitate efficiency and better “flow” during training sessions.
“The setup [of the weight room] is designed around the philosophy of our strength program,” Barrick said.
Barrick, who headed the planning of the design, even visited other collegiate facilities for ideas.
UIndy Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics, Sue Willey, complimented Barrick’s planning, adding that a lot of conversation with coaches informed his decisions.
“[Barrick] did a tremendous job,” Willey said.
Willey explained that UIndy had long outgrown the previous facility, but that the new weight room was worth the wait that was necessary for planning and appropriating funds.
“We fought pretty hard to get what we wanted… For me, I’ve always [thought], ‘Do it right or don’t do it,’” Willey said.
Willey is thoroughly satisfied with the facility, explaining that she wanted the new facility to reflect UIndy’s high standards for athletics and its ranking in the Top 5 of the Directors’ Cup.
“We did it right,” Willey said.
All of the equipment in the facility is new and custom-made, according to Barrick, which makes it a much safer weight room compared to the former facility. In addition to the platforms and racks, the new space also contains 12 sets of kettle bells, a full set of dumbbells, various strength machines and two flat-screen televisions for displaying team workouts.
Both Barrick and Willey expressed their excitement with the new facility and its potential to take UIndy athletics to a higher level of performance.
Photo by Victoria Jenkins
“This is a very, very exciting time for the athletic department. Facilities like this are what take us to another level,” Barrick said.
Barrick said that having access to the dome’s turf and track, located right next to the weight room, will allow him to integrate some conditioning into strength workouts. He said including conditioning will make workouts multidimensional, which will increase efficiency and place more of a demand on the athletes. Barrick explained that UIndy athletes will be pushed harder and forced to exert more energy, which ultimately will improve their athletic performance.
Barrick also noted the appeal of the new weight room, explaining that athletes are now more excited to be training in this new facility.
“[The new weight room] is a place you want to come workout in. This is a place our athletes can take pride in,” Barrick said. “[Taking pride] will cause our athletes to work harder, be more committed to the program and obtain better results.”
Although individual athletes have secured national titles, no UIndy athletic team has claimed a national championship in school history. Both Barrick and Willey agreed that the new weight room is another step toward the athletic department’s goal of obtaining a team national championship title.
Like the old weight room, the new weight room will have posted hours for when general students can use the new facility. General students will not be permitted to use the weight room while athletic teams are using it for training. However, the university is currently exploring options for the old weight room, which may become a facility open for general use.
