Drake Recreational Services Wellness Director Gail Witte discovered Fitness on Demand while searching for a way to better utilize the television located in the Bell Center’s fitness studio, and she decided the platform would be a great addition to Drake Rec’s services.
Fitness on Demand is a digital fitness and wellness platform that offers workout videos, healthy recipes and mental wellness support. Drake Rec purchased access to this program for Drake students, faculty and staff.
“It’s an opportunity to find some movement. It doesn’t mean that you’re gonna be like a massive gym rat or anything,” Witte said. “It’s really a service that can meet everybody where they are in their fitness journey.”
The Fitness on Demand app allows users the flexibility to bring their workouts anywhere and provides a wide range of classes from strength training to pilates to dance. Workouts range in difficulty level and are labeled as easy, standard or advanced in the app.
“Both of us [marketing assistants] have used it, especially over break when we went home and weren’t on campus,” said junior Ryley Roudabush, who serves as a Drake Rec marketing assistant. “It has a lot of really great online workouts for at home as well as being in the gym.”
Witte believes the flexibility of the app makes movement and wellness more accessible.
“We wanted to give the students and faculty and staff an opportunity to be fit wherever they’re comfortable,” Witte said.
However, if users like the flexibility of Fitness on Demand but prefer the gym environment, the fitness studio in the Bell Center has a television that can be used to play workout videos.
“We’re hoping people will really lean in and utilize not only the app but our space,” Witte said. “I think what’s cool is being able to do a rowing class. If you have the app, you can take it with you to the Bell Center and use a different piece of equipment with some guidance.”
The Fitness on Demand app allows users to create their own eating plan. What stood out to Witte is that the app’s nutrition tools are based on protein, fat and carbohydrates instead of calories, which she says is better for ensuring well-rounded meals. According to Witte, Drake Dining Dietician Samantha Matt was impressed with the nutritional support and recipes on the app and wants to help advertise it.
Roudabush and Jessica Lew, the other marketing assistant, plan to collaborate with Hubbell Dining Hall to promote the program. They want to use the new UCook station in Hubbell to cook a recipe from the app and post content about it on social media.
In her position as a marketing assistant for Drake Rec, Roudabush works on promoting Drake Rec’s programs, including Fitness on Demand, on campus and on social media.
“Me and the other marketing assistant have been working on brand rollouts, focusing on posters and stories and trying to implement it more into TikToks, and trying to find ways to reach the Drake students in a more accessible and entertaining way to draw attention,” Roundabush said.
To log into the Fitness on Demand app through Drake, students and staff can scan the QR code on Fitness on Demand posters around campus and enter their Drake email. A temporary password will then be sent to their inbox.
“You should check it out and just explore it,” Roudabush said. “Download it and see for yourself, because it can cater to a lot of different people and their schedules.”
