Written by James McGuirk

Thumbnail Photo by Saint Mary’s University

The Homburg Centre for Health and Wellness, located just off Tower Road on the east side of the Saint Mary’s University campus, is focused on fitness, health, and wellness. The building has much to offer and functions as more than just the campus gym, as many think it to be. The Homburg Centre has a fascinating history and much more under the surface. Every student has a membership to the Homburg Centre included in their tuition, and whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just looking to get into working out, it has all you need. Starting to work out can often seem daunting, but with everything the Centre offers, working out is much more accessible for anyone looking to get fit.

On September 20, 2007, Dr. Richard Homburg, who has an honourary doctorate in Commerce at SMU, gave Saint Mary’s University a cheque for five million dollars, the single largest donation in SMU history. However, this was not the first time Dr. Homburg helped out the University; in 2004, he donated $1.5M to establish the Homburg International Student Mobility Awards. SMU used the cheque towards the university’s Hearts & Minds capital campaign, which had the goal of 40 million dollars to build a health and wellness facility. Fast forward four years to 2011, and The Homburg Centre finally opened, named after Dr. Homburg.

The Homburg Centre is a large building with so much to offer its guests. Here are some of the different rooms and services available in the Centre:

First off are the men's and women’s locker rooms. They’re both large rooms for changing in and out of gym clothes filled with lockers, showers, and bathrooms. Each locker room is equipped with a sauna and a steam room if anyone wants to go for a good sweat post-workout.
Next is the weight room, a large room filled with many different machines, such as squat racks, dumbbells, and more equipment, all centred around working out with weight.
Right beside the weight room is the 2-level cardio room. The bottom floor of this room has various components, such as pulley machines, free weights, an area for stretching, and more. Upstairs on the second floor is where you can find all the treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals. There are many cardio machines upstairs, so even if the gym is full, you can usually get on the machine you want to use. All of the second-floor machines face the walls, which have a variety of TVs and headsets that can connect directly to them to enjoy while you're working out.
There are also studio rooms A, B, and C. These are all open rooms with equipment such as medicine balls, yoga mats, or stationary bikes meant to be used for various classes such as pilates or yoga. If the rooms are not in use, their equipment is free to use for all members.
There are also 2 full basketball courts, used not just for basketball but also volleyball and various other sports. The Courts can be rented for teams or groups that wish to use them.
Four squash courts are located in the Homburg Centre that can be booked ahead of time on the smufit website by students and members.
A Community room is also in the building, which is used for some of the fitness classes, along with some drop-in sports like badminton.

One service at the Homburg Centre that the students of SMU often underutilize is the many free fitness classes. There is a large variety of workout classes available for students to sign up for, varying in length and intensity. The classes are led by professionals, and the equipment is provided for you. Here are just a few available:

Bootcamp is a quick and intense workout meant to challenge you. The class instructor takes you through multiple intervals of different exercises incorporating different equipment and muscles in your body.
There are a variety of different free Zumba classes offered. The first is a typical Zumba class wherein the instructor directs everyone to work out/dance along to the music. The second is a Zumba toning class which is a bit more intense than regular Zumba and focuses on sculpting exercises that involve using weights. A third Zumba class combines the two, with the first half working on toning and the second half being regular Zumba.
Body Sculpt uses various equipment such as weights, bars, and balance boards to work out to music in high-repetition exercises.
There are also the classic Spin classes where an instructor leads a class on stationary bikes. In addition, the Homburg Centre offers a Spin and Pump class; this class switches between a regular spin class and weight circuits to get a full-body workout.

There are also a variety of registered paid programs that do not come free to students but are very useful for those who wish to use them. To get more information or sign up for any of these programs, simply head to the front desk of the Homburg Centre or call (902) 420-5555:

Hire a temporary personal trainer. This program is excellent for someone new to working out that may not know the proper techniques for certain exercises. The fee for a member for six sessions is $53 per session, but the price goes down the more sessions are booked. They can be cheaper for those who already have a membership or those willing not to be the only one with the trainer; the buddy personal training rates start at $37/session for members.
There is a wide range of Pilates and Pilates Reformer classes that range from beginner to senior. Pilates is focused on flexibility, muscle strength and endurance movements. The Pilates Reformer classes mix in machines to create a more intense workout focusing on core strength and posture. The classes are all offered once a week.
Karate class is another paid program offered at the Homburg Centre. They offer two different classes, each happening twice a week, one for beginners and an advanced Karate class for the more experienced.
For the members that have undergone a heart episode, there is the “Heart for Life” program. In these classes, they track your heart rate and blood pressure and take you through light exercises to improve your cardio.

A final program students can take advantage of is intramurals. Intramurals are a variety of pick-up sports available to the whole student body and not just the SMU athletes. Various sports are happening during the week in the Homburg Centre that students can sign up for and play. Intramural sports include volleyball, basketball, badminton, and others.

The Homburg Centre is a great addition to the Saint Mary’s campus that comes with a bevy of benefits for all students. With the membership included in tuition and so many possibilities for exercise, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not taking advantage of the opportunity and using the Homburg Centre.

An Overview of The Homburg Centre

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