Skip to main content

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 :)



Comments



Popular posts from this blog

IKEA Yearly Midsummer Buffet 2024 Review

Every year around June, IKEA hosts a Midsummer Buffet full of fish, meatballs, salad, and more. You have to be an IKEA Family member (which is free) and buy a $25 ticket in person on a previous day. I attended the Calgary buffet, and here is my full review!

5 Things to do Before the UCalgary Semester Starts

I know, I know... summer is almost over already and it feels like it's barely started. Regardless, it's only a bit more than a week before classes start again (less if you're doing Block Week, which I tried last year ), so here are some reminders before the school year begins. Set up your calendar For UCalgary students, download your class times through the D2L portal and  import your them to your preferred service (mine is Outlook) : Personally, I like to colour code and label lectures/tutorials/labs separately on my calendar like so: Of course, many people also just take a screenshot of their timetable and set it as a wallpaper or save it somewhere easy to access; that can work too :). Put in your Course Overload Request(s) This is a pretty urgent and important one: make sure you check your degree requirements. If you're still waitlisted or not enrolled for a course that you need  to take this year, then you should submit a course overload request ASAP. At UCalgary fo...

9 Not-So-Obvious Dorm Essentials

These aren’t necessarily things you need to pack in advance (you could buy them after moving in), but they are things that I personally found useful which aren’t usually listed in traditional packing lists. Earplugs or Sleep Sound Machine Dorms unfortunately often have the issues of noisy neighbours and loud garbage trucks or snow plows at strange hours. If you find this bothering you, invest in some earplugs (much cheaper at Shoppers or Amazon than in the on-campus pharmacy) or a sound machine. If regular earplugs are uncomfortable for you, you can try “women’s” earplugs (they might fit better for you regardless of gender). Humidifier