Finding the time to exercise is never easy, or even fun. Between work and school, many students rely on the gym’s early morning and late evening hours to fit exercising into their schedule. With Thanksgiving and winter break just around the corner, these hours will be reduced, leaving some students left looking for alternatives ways to obtain their gym fix.

The William F. Eisiminger Fitness Center will be closed for the major holidays in the next few months—Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s—and during breaks, its hours are cut. While usually open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the week, the gym’s holiday hours will be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. While these cuts may seem incremental to some, they make working out all the more difficult for the avid gym fanatics out there.

According to Melissa Schade, a student who works at the gym’s front desk, most students probably won’t be affected by the change in hours because they won’t be around during the break. She did say, however, that those who have strict work schedules will have a harder time adjusting.

“Some people like to come in 10 to 11 [p.m.],” said Schade. “And those people will probably have the worst time adjusting.”

Julia Ossowski, a senior international studies and Spanish double major, works out two or three times a week, usually during the early mornings. For her, the decreased hours will affect her ability to exercise. Because she won’t have access to the gym in the early mornings, Ossowski will have to run outside in places like Volunteer Park or areas around Cal Anderson—notorious for violent crime as of late.

The closure, therefore, is more than just an inconvenience. For Ossowski, running outside that early in the morning or night—which begins at 4 p.m. this time of year—poses a threat to her well-being.

“It’s a safety issue for girls if you can’t go to the gym because it’s closed. It’s pitch black out. Darkness is questionable no matter what,” said Ossowski. “I would say that’s probably the biggest problem. I would prefer, in dark early mornings, to be in a gym rather than running in the dark.”

The closure might serve as a welcome break for students who spend too much time pumping iron, however. For those who are worried that they won’t find the time to break a good sweat, they might consider taking some advice from Schade:
“It’s not really good to come to the gym all the time anyway, especially if you’re working the same muscle group. So it might give a needed break or variety and it might be positive.”

Eat a lot of food, take a break and gain a couple pounds for the frigid winter months. It’s the holidays.