Tests include strength, endurance and agility. Photo by Evan Triantafilidis.This challenge is aimed to test ones strength, endurance and agility.
“It’s kind of like my child here at ASU,” says Julian Baez, the fitness coordinator for the ASU Polytechnic campus.
Baez is talking about the Fitness Challenge held every semester at the Polytechnic campus for five straight semesters now.
When Baez started working for the Student Recreation Center (SRC) as a lifeguard when he was an undergrad, he had no idea he would be managing and creating a fitness competition for his campus a few years later.
Baez started as a lifeguard and then became a weight room supervisor before becoming a management intern and fitness coordinator at the Polytechnic campus.
Ever since his days as a weight room supervisor, a yearly task for him and his peers has been to make a competition for the campus.
This semester, students at the Polytechnic campus prepared for Sparky’s Fitness Challenge created by Baez.
The bench press and dead lift make up the strength portion, planks and a 800 meter run make up the endurance portion, and the agility portion features a 40 yard dash and a 20 yard shuttle run.
The finale of the competition is another one of Beaz’s creations.
A pitchfork shaped circuit containing tire flips, farmer’s walk and sprints is reserved for the top five men and women of the competition.
About 20 competitors showed up on Oct. 6 to compete in the challenge.
For many it was their first time in the competition, but Baez and the rest of the staff recognized quite a few familiar faces that have made it for several of the competitions.
One way of testing strength is by bench-pressing. Photo by Evan Triantafilidis.Baez walks around the weight room and mixed martial arts room, offering support and words of encouragement to competitors.
“It’s definitely more close knit than any other campus” Baez says. “We see a lot of the same people in and out of the gym but it makes it more of a friendly environment.”
Now in his fifth semester running the competition, Baez is no longer a weight supervisor for the competition, but he is instead in his office updating the latest standings for the contest.
Many competitors came out to push themselves to the limit, where some others came out to meet new people and exercise with other people on campus.
A variation of Sparky’s fitness challenge will be held on the West Campus on Saturday, Oct. 20.
The Tempe campus will also host events and competitions in the future, and I’ll keep you posted on those as well.
You can reach me at etrianta@asu.edu
