By JEAN DUBIEL
Guardian Staff Writer
FORT POLK, La. — The 24-hour gym phenomenon has become a hit with swing shift workers, night owls and early-morning fitness buffs that like to get a good sweat in by 4 a.m. The drawback for Soldiers is that these all-hour fitness centers are members-only, and membership costs money. Plus, you have to drive off post to reach them.
As of March 6, Soldiers at Fort Polk have a 24-hour gym they can use that is not only free but also right here on the installation. Cantrell Fitness Center now operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Located in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division barracks footprint (1262 Mississippi Ave., next to Glory Chapel and across from the dining facility), the gym offers the latest in exercise equipment and machines, including:
- • Free weights, benches and racks
- • Plate-loaded equipment
- • Kettle bells
- • Tire flip
- • TRX suspension system
- • Rowers, treadmills and elliptical machines
- • Upright, recumbent and spin bikes
- • Stairmaster
- • Jacob's ladder
- • Speed bag
- • Abdominal workout room
- • Showers, restroom and locker facilities
Rebecca Jackson, fitness facility manager for Cantrell, said it was Brig. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, commanding general of the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, who wanted to give Soldiers a healthy alternative for after-hours activity.
“It’s also for Soldiers who may be on a late shift, staff duty or CQ (charge of quarters — manning front desk of barracks buildings) to get their work outs in as well.”
Jackson said Cantrell’s new hours are especially beneficial for Soldiers without transportation. “There are a lot of single Soldiers living in these barracks without vehicles, and since we are the closest fitness facility for them, it just gives them an easy way to get in their physical training.”
The after-hours crowd at Cantrell is fairly steady up to 11 p.m., said Jackson. “From 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., it has been a little hit-and-miss, getting one or two people per hour or so, some nights five or six,” she said. “The turnout is improving as the word gets out that we are now open.”
The only amenities that are unavailable after hours and on weekends are the sauna and the equipment sign out, said Jackson.
Amber Pirtle was working out at Cantrell on a Sunday afternoon. She said the new hours benefit her and her husband.
“I like it because I work different shifts and I can start coming here anytime,” she said. “My husband likes it because he gets up at 3:30 a.m. and can’t go to the other gyms during that time (because they are closed.) So this really works for us.”