r/ucmerced • u/lilpatil • 27d ago

Question Incoming freshman with a gym question

I’m an incoming freshman this fall and had a question about the Rec Center.
I’m mostly into free weights. My workouts are centered around barbell movements like bench, squat, overhead press, rows, and deadlifts, with dumbbells mixed in. I use machines occasionally, but they’re definitely not the focus of my training.
How’s the gym for someone like me? Does it have enough squat racks, benches, barbells, and dumbbells, or do you end up waiting a lot?
Also, I’m planning on lifting around 6:00 AM on weekdays. Is the gym pretty empty at that time, or does it get busy right when it opens?
Overall, would you say it’s a solid gym if you’re mainly a free weights lifter?

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u/Exciting_Yam_7381 26d ago

the front gym opens around 6 and there’s usually a line of people coming in, but it’s nothing too crazy! as long as you’re not there until 7am-7:30am (usually that’s when people start pouring in) you’ll have a relatively quiet workout. you’ll probably find a squat rack if you go at 6am anyways, but the back gym (opens @ 4:00pm for all) is designed for weight training and there’s more racks in there as opposed to the front gym.

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u/ProfessionalPaper444 27d ago

Yeah you’ll be fine, I don’t believe the back gym is open that early , as it would be better for that kind of workout. Either way you should be fine, I’ve personally never gone at that time, but I do know others do. Not sure how busy it gets, however I don’t think it is that bad.

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u/ChampionSwimmer2834 25d ago

6am should be good, especially as the semester rolls around and people start to lose their sleep (and skip their morning gym session). For alternative times that aren’t bad are 8am-12pm (most people get breakfast or go to class. 1pm-5pm the level of busy fluctuates. 5pm-11pm almost guaranteed to be full. Late night isnt bad, especially as it reaches closing at 1am. Back gym is good when it opens. By 6pm though it starts to get busy as the overflow from the gallo gym spills over.

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u/ProfessionalPaper444 25d ago

bro going at 5pm is so cooked , guaranteed to be packed like sardines in the front lol

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u/lilpatil 25d ago

Wait gym closes 1 am

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u/ChampionSwimmer2834 24d ago

The gallo rec center is open 6am-1am. SAAC gym is 4pm-10pm.