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Staying Active (Indoors!) at UCalgary

University is a time and place to make healthy lifestyle choices that can have a lasting impact, even if you're a computer science student (your back and neck will thank you). Since you pay for the services anyway, why not take advantage of UCalgary's Active Living facilities?

Staying active is important for good sleep, health, avoiding burnout, as well as countless other things. Now that it's cold out, it's a great time to take advantage of some of these indoor activities that could be a new and fun activity for you. For any of them, check in for a wristband at the Active Living Services desk.

Squash and Racquetball
We have the largest public racquet sports facility in Canada! Book a court online at https://active-living.ucalgary.ca/rentalsbookings/court-bookings or at the front desk (walk-in is usually fine). You can purchase a ball (either sport) for $4.75 and rent racquets for $2.50 each.
The rules are simple to learn and they're both a lot of fun!

Bouldering and Climbing Walls
The bouldering wall (in the Kinesiology building) is easy and free to access, and enjoyed by many students who go there regularly.

Since you need a harness for the climbing wall, access is a bit more difficult as you need to pass a belay test. You can learn how to belay by taking the "Indoor Climbing Intro" offered by Active Living, which costs $46. Harness and belay device rentals are $8 and $2 respectively, and if you want to rent shoes that is $9.

Gymnasium Drop-in Sports
Badminton, volleyball, soccer, pickleball, basketball, and more are available in the gymnasium at set times that you can check here (https://schedules.oval.ucalgary.ca/MobileOpenGymTimes.aspx). They are totally free for students, and badminton racquets can be rented for $2.50

Indoor Skating
Want to feel like an Olympian? This may be a bit less of a refuge from the cold, but it's still indoors and a ton of fun! Check out the public skate times at https://schedules.oval.ucalgary.ca/Public.aspx, admission is free for students and skate + helmet rental is $7.00 in total.

Open Swim
There is a lane swimming pool at the university with open swim times that you can check out here: https://active-living.ucalgary.ca/facilities/aquatic-centre/pool-schedule-hours.
Unfortunately, I'm not a swimmer by any means and there is no waterslide so I haven't taken advantage of this one.


General Fitness
Of course, there is the Fitness Centre and the Gold Fitness Alcove for weight training, cardio, and anything else you can imagine. The Alcove is specialized for circuit training or more casual exercise for some. It's much less busy and if you don't mind that people can see you through the glass, it's a very beautiful place to work out! They're both totally free.

Let me know in the comments if there's anything I missed or some activity you wish you could do on campus. Stay healthy and until next time,

Ana :)

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