Enthusiasm rang out as students swarmed into the brand new weight room at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucampga. It was not like Bally’s or LA Fitness. For one thing, the equipment is all new and state of the art. The open entry lab structure has been replaced with a traditional class time.
The voi
ces ring out, “It’s better than Jenny Craig!” Some, like Dave Vanhelf, are retired. He found out about PEACT 26 in a marketing brochure that described the class as suitable for all ages, “It’s working. I’m losing weight, feeling better, getting in shape.”
A project six and a half years in the planning was finally achieved when the doors opened for Coach Phil Roberts’ PEACT 26 classes the week after Spring break. With the renovation of the old Sycosky Gym, the classes will now meet in one of the best collegiate weight rooms in California. It is a weight room designed for all of athletics at Chaffey College.
Many students come from full time jobs and seized the opportunity for an exercise program in the late afternoon. The class also includes a few 
students who participate in a Chaffey sport program, those officially classified as “athletes.”
Goals can include weight loss, weight gain, strength and muscle development or simply to benefit from greater fitness. Many find the workout classes not only challenging but enjoyable. Criminal Justice major Cynthia Green, who is also a snowboarder, sees working on fitness as part of her preparation for a career in law enforcement. Psychology major Erin Lucero and Science major Deanna Willis are both taking the class for a second time. A former high school tennis player, Lucero enjoys the mix of strength and aerobic activities. Willis has also been active physically, turning out for volleyball, basketball and track and field when in high school. “The class can be challenging, but it’s only as challenging as you make it,” she advises.
Roberts teaches “ready positions” and having an awareness of ”How do we remain stabilized?”
“Above and beyond weight loss and getting fit,” Roberts says, “we’re trying to make your body a better machine. We’re electric, we require energy, we require fuel, we require the ability to move and rotate and change direction. It’s a big machine that we have to make sure is working and functioning properly.”
Strength training has become a recommended part of fitness programs. It is widely recommended that exercise programs include two to three days of strength or resistance training a week, to complement cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise. Improving health is of major concern. The CDC reports that fully one third of American adults are obese and more than two thirds are overweight. But it goes beyond the problem of weight loss and becoming physically fit.
“We’re looking at educating people on the rest of their lives,” Roberts asserts. “It’s a complement to the academic world. It makes your mind clearer. It allows you to think on a higher level. If you have a healthy lifestyle, you should feel the difference. You have the energy to deal with things, you have the energy to focus. It’s a complement to a well rounded individual.”
A number of recent studies seem to confirm this observation. Research in the U.S., England, Australia, Iceland, and Hong Kong has found that physically active elementary school children do better than less active children in reading and math. Other studies find that older adults also seem to benefit from being physically fit.
Roberts works with football, baseball and softball players, three of the fourteen sports Chaffey students play. However, he would like to see the program open to more than just collegiate athletes, and to make fitness an important part of the cultural life on the Chaffey campus. There have been many water-cooler discussions among the faculty on how to make the new facilities available to the broader campus community. Roberts grew up in a small Kansas town, attended Highland Community College, Doane College south of Lincoln, Nebraska and finished up at Kansas State University in the area of strength and conditioning. He completed his masters’ degree in Kinesiology at Northwest Missouri State, taught briefly at a middle school and was hired by Chaffey College where he has worked with men and women in a variety of sports.
