BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
METUCHEN – The new $250,000 state-of-the-art Wellness Center has opened and is becoming an athlete’s haven.
The smell of sweat and new equipment emanates from the facility that sits in the old wrestling quarters behind Metuchen High School’s gymnasium.
“This is cutting-edge equipment,” said Nick Zaneto, the certified athletic trainer at Metuchen High School. “The weights are made out of rubber, which is much safer for the students. Now, there is no excuse for the athlete or the regular student. I am also in charge of the new Wellness Committee, which is brand new this year.”
The Wellness Committee held a Wellness Expo on March 26 to offer ways to stay healthy and to introduce the Wellness Center to the public.
The center is a joint collaboration between the Board of Education and the Metuchen-Edison YMCA.
William Lovett, chief executive officer for the Metuchen/Edison/Woodbridge YMCA, has said the center will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for Metuchen High School students, and nights and weekends for YMCA members. The YMCA will start using the facility in September.
Zaneto said he and Metuchen High School Athletic Director John Cathcart met with Megan Powers and Beth Helsby of the Metuchen-Edison YMCA to decide on what equipment would be best for the facility.
“The YMCA was good to let us choose what we were looking for,” said Zaneto, who said the center is much cleaner than the old facility. “We did a lot of research and visited other high schools such as Linden High School, Hillsborough High School and Ridgewood High School, which already had state-of-the-art centers in place and have top physical education curriculums.”
The center in Metuchen includes eight treadmills, eight ellipticals, eight bicycles, and various pieces of weight equipment, which includes the hammer string and free weights. The center also has exercise balls and the Dance Dance Revolution equipment, which is designed for cardio efficiency.
“The hammer string is good for the football players for pushing,” said Zaneto.
Zaneto said the center is great for the athletes, but the physical education curriculum will center on the Wellness Center for every student.
“Every student, whether they are an athlete or not, will start as a level-A user, which is a beginner workout” he said. “We can teach health fitness skills with the center, such as the standard pull-up, push-up, sit-up, bench press and squat technique. Also, we will use light weights. The student will learn other fitness skills such as golf, but each student will learn the basic circuit training skills. This is how we can follow the progress of each student.”
Fitness for life is a component of the physical education program that is often overlooked, due to the lack of modern equipment.
“This fitness facility will provide that,” said Cathcart. “Also, when we are fully operational, we will have a computer system designed to teach specifically about different theories in workouts, whether in cardio or strength, and nutrition.”
YMCA board members and school officials hope the wellness center can be a place for athletes and nonathletes as well.
In December 2005, state Sen. Barbara Buono and then-Gov. Richard J. Codey’s chief of staff, Peter Cammarano, presented the Board of Education and YMCA with a grant of $250,000, which covers the cost of the Wellness Center.