A few people walk in and say hello as they go toward the exercise machine of their choice.

Fitness Center manager Humberto Sanchez smiles and welcomes the students as they prepare to get into the rhythm of their workout.

With the sound of weights clashing in the background, Sanchez waits at the door for more students to arrive.

On any given day there can be as few as five people or as many as 45 people using the center.

The Fitness Center, located between the track and the tennis courts, is open to all students who are enrolled in a physical education class.

“We offter a place for students to exercise and to strengthen their bodies,” Sanchez said. “The Center is also a lab, so normally people come in and try what they learned during class.”

The Center is open Monday and Wednesday, 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and re-opens from 12:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tuesday and Thursday, the Fitness Center is open from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and re-opens from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday’s schedule is from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Times will change during the summer session.

Despite being a requirement for most P.E. classes, there is a variation of the types of students who go in and exercise.

“The large majority of students come here because it’s part of their class,” Sanchez said. “However, we do get more dedicated students who are trying to get into better shape.”

For Nancy Sanchez, undecided major, the Fitness Center is a fun and comfortable place to exercise.

“I like it because it’s small but they have a lot of machines to workout on,” she said. “I like coming here after my aerobics class.”

The Center has machines like treadmills, stairmasters, free weights and stationary bikes.

“You can find almost anything you would find at a Bally’s or at a 24-Hout Fitness Center, only at a smaller scale,” Sanchez said.

King/Drew University, which works closely with the EC Fitness Center, donates some equipment. Among all of the different types of equip-ment donated to the Fitness Center, there is one exercise machine called the “Kaiser,” which is considered to be a low-impact workout machine.

Instead of having weights on it, the machine has compressed air, and this allows the person using the machine to exercise his or her body strength without causing any excessive pressure on the joints.

Sanchez, who has been working at the Fitness Center for four years, welcomes all students who are interested in developing an exercise routine for themselves.

“Some students have a basic concept of what they want to do,” Sanchez said. “If they don’t, they ask us questions and we are more than willing to help.”