Open 24 hours a day, Eco Gym, the first ever human and solar powered fitness center, prepares to open up Oct. 1. Using state-of-the-art fitness machinery, electricity is produced from each workout, fueling the gym. The more each member works out, the more power they’re producing for the gym, and the less they pay. Eco Gym is located at 2847 Pfingsten Road.

”If you average a lot of scan-ins in a month for workouts, you can get memberships potentially free,” Chris Wersal, general manager at Eco Gym, said.

Along with being energy efficient and resourceful, Eco Gym’s purpose is to provide results for their members, according to Wersal.

“Often people will join fitness facilities that are $12 a month, knowing they’ll be members for awhile and get zero results,” Wersal said. “That’s what our model is to give people results and to be that missing link between what they want to achieve, and actually achieving them.”

Accompanying advanced machinery, Eco Gym offers multiple different classes: indoor boot camp, core camp, tabata circuit training, yoga and zumba classes.

“[We] have more to offer than just four walls of ceiling and equipment,” Wersal said. “We actually have substance to our memberships, we have substance to our gym.”

Eco Gym offers the combination of fitness counselors and trainers, and provides a sense of community. According to Wersal, all staff members have a degree in the field or have a masters certification in personal training.

With already over 500 memberships, according to Wersal, Eco Gym is open for all ages. Whether it’s training for a sport or leading a nutritional lifestyle, Eco Gym can provide assistance to all high school students.

According to Kay Sopocy, head of the Physical Education Department at South, governing a healthy lifestyle should become a habit because there are many benefits.

“Any facility that’s trying to make people better and more fit is definitely a benefit,” Sopocy said. “I think [Eco Gym] is great. The more facilities we have hopefully the more people will work out. […] I hope with the concept [Eco Gym] is running under, that they’ll be successful.”

Junior lacrosse player Nonie Anderson finds Eco Gym important in leading a healthy lifestyle. Anderson said that it should be taken advantage of.

“At South there’s an awesome weight room to use for free, but if [students] workout at odd hours, probably really early in the morning or later in the evening, [students] should [go to Eco Gym],” Anderson said.

According to Wersal, the diversity of Eco Gym can assist South students in achieving success.

“What’s important in high school is how people are doing in their sports, activities that they do, hobbies, things like that, and with our general membership we can help out with that,” Wersal said.