Explore the Z-Center
Joanna Kao—The Tech
Joanna Kao—The Tech
Joanna Kao—The Tech
Joanna Kao—The Tech
MIT’s Zesiger Center is the center of varsity, club, intramural, and recreational sports. Serving around 2200 users per day across the four-building sports complex, the Z-Center is home to a competition-sized pool, fitness center, indoor track, and space that can be configured for nearly any sport. The Z-Center was voted “Best Gym” by Boston.com’s A-list in 2010 — even Mark Wahlberg has stopped by several times while shooting films in the area. Tim Moore, the director of recreational sports and fitness, gave The Tech a tour of Z-Center facilities.
Aquatic Center
The Z-Center aquatic center contains a teaching pool and competition-sized pool that can be configured for long and short course swim meets as well as water polo matches. The northeast corner has 10-meter and 3-meter diving boards. Pool tools, such as kickboards, or pull buoys, are also available for use. The schedule for recreational swimming times is found on http://mitrecsports.com/aquatics/schedule/default.aspx
Rockwell Cage
Rockwell Cage is accessible through the door to the left of the Vassar Street entrance of Johnson Athletic Center. The Cage is used for varsity practice, physical education classes, and informal recreation.
International Squash Courts
International-sized squash courts can be reserved 24 hours in advance. American squash courts are located on the east side of duPont Athletic Center.
Johnson Track
The Johnson Track, on the second floor of the Johnson Athletic Center, has a six-lane running track. The infield can be configured for different sports, such as tennis and cricket.
Rudovsky Indoor Golf Range
The golf driving range is located on the east side of duPont Athletic Center. Individual, buddy, and group classes are available. Lessons with video analysis are also available — high speed cameras capture golf swings, and software is used to analyze technique. For information about lessons and rates, go to http://mitrecsports.com/golf/reservations/default.aspx
Fitness Center
The fitness center (for recreational use only) can be found on the second and third floors of the Z-Center. The second floor is a larger gym, equipped with a variety of cardio equipment and weights. It also has “Expresso Course” bikes, where users can choose to ride a specific course displayed on a screen and race other users and shoot to make the monthly leaderboard. The third floor is a smaller gym, providing more privacy. It’s “good for learning” how to use the equipment, according to Moore. The fitness center is staffed at all times when the Z-Center is open — 6 a.m.–11 p.m. on weekdays, 7 a.m.–9 p.m. on Saturdays, and 9 a.m.–11 p.m. on Sundays. The staff are available to answer questions or teach how to use the equipment. The fitness center’s peak hours are from 6–8 a.m., 11:30–1 p.m. and 4–9 p.m; according to Moore, “It’s hopping.”
Massage Therapy
In the corner of the fitness center on the third floor is Massage Therapy. For rates and more information, visit http://mitrecsports.com/massage-therapy/registration-procedures/default.aspx
Quotes
“It’s a comfortable gym, there’s a ton of equipment, and there’s always enough so I can just jump on one.” — Hannah L. Farrow ’11
“It’s conveniently close. I think [the fitness center] could use more treadmills — I’m a runner so that’s partially why. They run out of them at busy times, and some of them break down and have problems. — Joshua A. Zeidman ’14
“The whole thing is on average much better than what I was accustomed to. Just the fitness center — just the average. I come from Balogna which is pretty close to the place where Technogym is manufactured — they make products for gyms. We have pretty high standards. But anyways, if I say it is comparable to the average gym, it’s pretty high standards.” — Enrico Cantoni PhD