Waking up early in the morning is a huge deal for many people on the planet Earth. Everyone loves to stay in their bed, even after the alarm goes off. I like that, too but when I'm so so tired. I'm a morning person, so I wake up somewhere around 5:30ish. Inhaling and exhaling fresh air into my body gives me all the happiness in the world. Well, you may have heard about all the benefits of waking up early in the morning and all that but either you believe or not, they seem legit to me.
If you like to wake up early in the morning and go to the gym, I've got a list of places for you to explore and find the best that you like. Rutgers (New Brunswick) has a lot more to offer than what you would expect. As you know by now, Rutgers has five campuses, and each campus has its own recreation center (rec). Each recreation center has a fitness room, indoor-outdoor activity areas, and some have pools as well. I've been to pretty much all of them, and I like all of them.
You can download a RuREC app for detailed information about all the recreational facilities: For Android click here, and for iOS click here.
Recreation centers:
Fitness assistants are accessible for center orientations and assistance with the equipment. Rec centers also offer fitness training classes so feel free to check that out. The Werblin Rec Center is my favorite so far because it is one of the biggest gyms at Rutgers and it's full of all sorts of equipment. Werblin Rec also has a pool, a racketball area, and a soccer field where I love to run.
1. Werblin Recreation Center (Busch Campus)
Amenities include a badminton court, two basketball courts, a multi-use sports area, a fitness center, racquet sports, an Olympic-sized pool, a patio pool, six beach volleyball courts, a university park, and sports club fields.
2. Livingston Recreation Center
Amenities include a multi-sport area, a fitness center, spa treatments, a sand volleyball court, four outdoor tennis courts, and an outdoor basketball court.
3. Cook/Douglass Recreation Center
Amenities include a fitness center, a gym annex, a 25-meter pool (eight lanes), two racquetball courts, three tennis courts, a roller hockey rink, a "go outdoors" base camp, two sand volleyball courts, two indoor and outdoor basketball courts, sauna and steam rooms, locker rooms, a multi-purpose room, a conference room, spa services, basketballs, and a variety of sports equipment that is available for free at the front desk!
4. Rutgers Fitness Center (Easton Ave)
Amenities include a fitness center.
5. College Ave Gym
Amenities include a main gym (two basketball courts), a gym annex, a rock wall, power and conditioning rooms, a fitness center, and a recreation office.
Routes for running:
Friendly suggestions: DO NOT walk or run "alone" outdoor before 6:30 AM (ish) and after 6:00 PM (ish). You may extend this time frame by one or two hours during Summer. I'm making this clear because your safety comes first and foremost. It's important to consider.
1. Rutgers Ecological Preserve (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
A small bundle of old growth forest with a network of simple, scenic trails about 3.8 to 4.8 miles long. In the weekend, you can make it a group hike trip. I've been there during Fall and Spring, and it looks so gorgeous. Yellow, Red and Blue individual groups are the small ones, and overlap in a White would make your hike longer. Find maps here.
2. College Ave route
It starts from Hamilton Street, straight toward the College Ave Student Center, to Buccleuch Park. Or you can start somewhere in between and go back and forth until you get tired. I recommend using this route in the morning. You'll see people running on College Ave alongside you. If you want to go to College Ave Gym, then this would be the best choice.
3. Busch soccer field
This is my favorite route because I go to Werblin Fitness Center. If you run 1 lap, then it would be 1 about a mile. And that's great because you can keep count on how much you run. If you don't like crowded places to run, then this is the best place.
4. Busch to Livingston route
If you have ever taken a bike from Busch to Livingston or vice versa, you would know what I'm talking about. Basically, you would take the same route as the bus, but it's a little more private, more comfortable to run or walk. It's long, but you don't have to wait for the bus if you want to go to either of these campuses.
5. Livingston parking lot/track and field
Livingston track and field is also one of the best places for running because it is enormous and created for runners. I have seen people running around and across the yellow lot parking lot which is cool, too. In fact, you can run somewhere around your commute in the yellow parking lot.
6. Johnson Park routes
The Rutgers Ecological Preserve area does connect to Johnson Park. The park is enormous and full of great activities to do. If you like animals and birds, you may visit this park to feed them. Every year on my birthday, I visit this park to say hi to all the animals and birds. I love this park because it's green and has a beautiful walkway closer to the river. Hence, it would be a great place to walk or run for a while.
