Between classes, they head to the gym. On their shelves, protein powder and textbooks dwell side by side. For students looking to gain mass and muscle, their hobby, fitness routine and diet can become a seamless lifestyle.
After spending the summer working out with a competitive female body builder, junior DC Wolf became more interested in some of the intricacies of weightlifting and body transformation. Although he would not call himself a bodybuilder, he does try to set goals in order to gain weight.
"At Tufts I'd call them weightlifting enthusiasts -- those who follow a weightlifting program and have a jug of muscle milk," Wolf said.
Wolf initially began his exercise regimen in high school after gaining some weight on a trip to Spain.
"I'm from Boulder, CO, and it's a really health-oriented place, so when I came back [from Spain], I started working out," he said. "I hate running, so I was like, 'I'll just lift weights.' I'm not a big fan of cardio at all."
After learning more about bodybuilding over the summer, Wolf is now trying to maintain a regimen while back at school.
"You always have to stay in the mindset of watching what you eat, trying to get enough sleep, and a big part of it is, I've never been able to keep with a workout program at school," Wolf said. "I usually give up after three weeks, so I joined a P.E. class to force me to get to the gym."
Junior Alan Stewart began lifting weights regularly in order to improve his basketball game. He has now made other modifications to his routine in order to gain muscle.
"I started eating a lot more -- making protein shakes, eating power bars -- and I started eating healthier foods, like whole grains, things with lots of protein in them and carbohydrates. I eat things with a lot of calories, but less sugars and less fatty foods -- pretty obvious things," Stewart said.
As a trainer for the Tufts Personalized Performance Program (TP3), junior Reed Morgan works with many types of students to help them achieve their fitness goals. He said that many who are looking to add mass are surprised by how much they must alter their diets.
"One of the biggest things we've been doing is telling people about eating patterns," Morgan said. "People don't realize how much you actually have to eat to put on mass. You have to eat four to five meals per day and eat when your body isn't even feeling hungry."
Lunder Fitness Center Director Mike Pimentel, who also teaches a class that is required for all TP3 trainers, stressed that focusing on individual aspects -- such as a diet change or a different workout routine -- would be less successful than an overall lifestyle change.
"In order for any transformation to take place -- weight loss, weight gain or athletic performance -- you're better off having a balanced approached because your results will last long-term," Pimentel said.
Wolf agreed, noting that the benefits of his routine extend far beyond a heavier bench press and a larger arm circumference.
"The most rewarding thing is I've been in a better mood and feeling a lot healthier, and I guess [it also improves] self-esteem a little bit. You get sick a lot in college and with the weather here, it's easy to get depressed and down. An endorphin rush is nice to have," he said.
Students said that the progression of weightlifting routines is often as appealing as the results.
"That's probably my favorite part about it -- setting goals and achieving them -- like a certain amount of weight for a particular exercise or a certain number of reps," Stewart said.
"What draws me to it is that I admire the discipline that goes into it, forcing yourself to go to the gym on the days you need to and making sure you stay on a disciplined diet," Wolf said. "You have to be pretty dedicated. It's kind of like having an ongoing project, and that's what would draw me to it."
But Morgan said that his clients sometimes have other motivations to bulk up.
"It's funny; one of the questions we ask [at a client's first training session] is: Why do you want to achieve these goals? With an athlete, it's to improve their athletic game, but some guys say, 'I want to look more attractive to women. Honestly, I want to put on a couple pounds and I want to get my shoulders bigger.' In those situations, guys will focus a lot on their upper bodies and forget about their legs," Morgan said. "They just want their chests to be big. People wear jeans, so the girls aren't looking at their legs. You have these guys with big arms and big chests and skinny legs."
Wolf agreed that weightlifting involves a certain aspect of vanity, but said that it is not necessarily directed toward the opposite sex.
"There's definitely a macho or gorilla aspect to it. My girlfriend is like, 'Girls don't like guys who look that way. You guys are doing that for each other,'" Wolf said. "It's definitely positively reinforcing; if people are like, 'You're looking a little bigger,' it helps you know your workouts are on the right track."
Stewart doesn't feel there is any negative stigma associated with working out.
"If you want to stay fit and active, then I think that's always a good thing," he said. "I don't think anyone is opposed to people going to the gym."
For those interested in maintaining a workout routine, Pimentel stressed the need to be able to juggle many activities at once.
"For students at Tufts who have busy academic and social schedules and they want to throw in training on top of all that, just understand there will be impact on other areas of your life," he said.
Morgan also recommended that students take advantage of the five free personal training sessions that are offered to everyone at Tufts.
"You see so many people in the gym every week going at the weights and they have terrible form. They haven't been taught how to do that, and that can cause injury. I hope people find out more about the five free sessions because just doing that could help them," he said.
Wolf encouraged non-athletes to pursue their own fitness goals.
"If you want to get big for big's sake, just do it. I went to GNC and I was trying to buy protein powder, and I [lied and asked if] I wanted to play rugby next fall, what should I buy? Because a lot of people are like, 'Why are you doing this?'" he said. "I just want to make my body look different. I'm sure there's a media influence or psychological aspect to that, but don't let yourself be too embarrassed if you just want to get big."
