Every January, countless declare: “To focus on my health and body, I’m going to the gym in the new year.” The retention rate for New Year’s resolutioners, however, is low, with ABC News reporting that around 80 percent of people lose motivation by mid-February.
Now, in good faith, let’s hope that everyone at the Claremont Colleges is having a successful start to their 2025 resolutions. To help, I’m starting a review series to determine which gym at the 5Cs can give you the best experience for achieving your New Year aspirations — if you can make it past the front desk.
For each gym, I’ll split my review into four categories: the quality of the facility, the offered amenities, the size and the non-exercise-related value. My first review is of Pomona College’s newly renovated Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness, commonly referred to as the CARW (Car-Dub).
The newly renovated center not only features facilities typical of a traditional gym, but also encompasses athletic offices, dance studios, a varsity gym for DIII athletes, and the Voelkel Gymnasium, home to the Sagehen volleyball and basketball teams.
Upon entering the CARW, students are greeted by a wall of NCAA and regional accolades the Pomona-Pitzer athletics program has collected throughout the years. Directly adjacent to it is a mural of athletes representing every sport in the program.
Students can take a left turn to enter the main gym facility, where the free weights, machines and mats for floor exercises are located. Pomona’s gym is strong and mighty — its equipment is shiny and new (for the most part), the space is reasonably ample and it’s rarely busy to the point of not having open machines.
In addition to having conventional weightlifting machines — the bicep curl, abdominal crunch and leg press to name a few — the gym boasts nine treadmills, four stair masters, four benches for free weights and six weight tracks for exercises with a barbell. Joggers and climbers can also walk up the stairs for ten additional cardio machines, including bikes and ellipticals.
My own visit to the CARW occurred during non-peak hours on a Sunday, meaning that I had unrestricted access to every machine and piece of equipment. However, many students advise against visiting during the late afternoon (4-5 p.m.) and evening (7-8 p.m.), as those hours happen to be many Sagehens’ favorite time to work out.
The CARW offers students more than just a place for a solo workout, though. Upstairs is a basketball court used primarily for recreational purposes — club basketball and volleyball, pick-up games and intramural sports — all while boasting a beautiful view of Mt. Baldy.
Not a fan of playing sports or working out on your own? The CARW still has you covered. It offers a host of weekly classes, including yoga and pilates, that are led by certified instructors and free of cost. You can also sign up for physical education classes that meet for things like dance, tai chi and kickboxing in the center’s studios.
The CARW is also a semi-decent spot to get some work done, if necessary. Of course, no one says, “We should go to the gym to study for the midterm!” Still, I’ve found that this last-resort study spot is quite underrated. If you don’t want to make the trip up to the Honnold-Mudd Library in North Campus and you don’t want to sit outside in the cold darkness at the Coop, the gym can be a perfect alternative.
Additionally, the CARW provides a space for a fair amount of student events. The latest NCAA football championship was streamed in the lobby to showcase Ohio State’s victory. The CARW also streamed Pomona-Pitzer football’s trip up north to play Whitworth University for the NCAA tournament.
Translated into numerical scores, my review is as follows:
Quality of the facility: 9/10, largely thanks to its newly renovated building and equipment. I deducted a singular point, as some machines can be broken (but are fixed quickly).
Amenities: 9/10. Yoga and pilates classes are free of cost, and being a host for many club and intramural sports makes the CARW a hub for Claremont’s best athletes.
Size: 9/10. The building has two floors, two basketball gyms and several large office spaces and studios. But there’s always room for expansion.
Non-exercise-related value: 7/10. There are some watch parties and couches for last-minute studying, but its facilities aren’t necessarily anything special for non-athletic occasions.
The CARW starts the review series off strong with an average score of 8.75. In the following weeks, I will be going around to the other 5C campuses to create a comprehensive gym ranking. Stay tuned for the next gym review in the coming weeks.
Jun Kwon PO ‘28 joined the sports desk hoping that he could write an article for when his favorite soccer team, Tottenham Hotspur, wins a trophy. He understands that he may not get to write about Tottenham’s trophy-winning season before he graduates, but is still desperately hoping for the day that will likely never come.
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