Gym gets 4 Internet-ready Expresso bikes, LCD screens

For many students, working out at the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness is a task, but with the addition of 15 high-technology machines, completing a grueling workout could be enjoyable.

The Weinstein Center staff recently added 15 fitness machines, including four Expresso bikes. The Expresso bikes, which cost $4,000 each, give users an incentive to work out by offering 10 different trails for riders to steer through during their workout. The image of the trail appears on the small LCD screen connected to each bike. Because the bikes are connected to the Internet, users can compete against other people across the country, said Doug Goad, the manager of facilities and equipment at the Weinstein Center.

Becca Weaver, a senior who played on the field hockey team during the last four years, said she was excited about the variability the Expresso bikes brought to her workouts at the gym.

"They make a challenging workout fun and interactive," Weaver said. "You steer past virtual people ahead of you on the screen and so it makes you kick that much harder to pass them."

Carol Anderson, a relative of a Richmond faculty member, said she enjoyed the Expresso bike because it felt like she was riding a normal bike.

"My workout is more intense on this bike," Anderson said.

The other 11 machines added to the Weinstein Center were four Life Fitness Hammer Strength Equipment pieces, four Precor adaptive motion trainers, two Stairmaster Stepmill machines and one Woodway Treadmill.

Provided with a yearly maintenance and purchasing budget of $50,000, Goad created a flexible five-year plan, designating the money to areas he thought were in need of new equipment or maintenance each year.

He said he used this plan to accommodate community and student requests, maintain and repair the current machines and ensure that field and goal equipment, such as soccer goals and new baseball backstops, were maintained. Goad maintains more than 200 fitness machines, worth $184,582, as well as the outdoor camping, field and goal equipment.

In order to keep up with the newest equipment trends, Goad said he encouraged student and community feedback. Each year, Goad attends various athletic conferences to scout the newest and greatest machines on the market. This year, Goad attended the Athletic Business Conference and Expo in San Antonio, Texas, with his 23-year-old daughter. It was at the conference that he found the Expresso machines.

He said he knew he had found a good machine when his daughter, who doesn't like to work out, used the machine and said that she would work out if she had access to a bike like the Expresso.

A lot of thought and planning went into finding machines that would encourage people to work out, Goad said. Goad, who sold equipment for 10 years at Fitness Resource and co-owned a gym with his wife before working at the Weinstein Center, said that a lot of research went into making sure the machines appealed to their clientele.

Goad visits recreation centers across the country to keep up with the newest trends and is in contact with other recreational facilities, such as those at Virginia Tech and Christopher Newport University. This month, Goad will visit Longwood University to look at its recreational center's equipment.

Richmond's biggest competition in the area is the American Family Fitness gym -- one of which recently opened near Short Pump Town Center.

While open to acquiring the most popular machines on the market, Goad said the Weinstein staff was strict about the brands of equipment they purchased. Goad said that he did not acquire a hodgepodge of equipment, but that he tried to consistently purchase the same types of brands, such as Precor and Light and Fit.

Contact reporter Dani Pycroft at dani.pycroft@richmond.edu