The holidays are just a few months away and that usually means good home-cooked meals with the family. And with that comes the difficulty of staying in shape.

Good thing OCCC’s Wellness Center is around to help.

For a nominal fee, there are many different types of fitness classes offered in a range of time slots designed to work with student schedules.

The facility offers a group fitness pass for $50. Jessica Hughes, occupational therapy assistant major, said the pass is good for the entire semester and allows students to take any aerobics class OCCC offers.

The group fitness pass allows a student to participate in as many classes as desired while avoiding additional fee.

All of the classes are available for the group fitness pass. Classes range from $20 to $30 each, so the pass allows students to get more for their money.

“It’s a better option instead of paying individually,” Hughes said.

“The group pass pays for itself after just two classes.”

Kaitlyn Rider, physical therapy assistant major, said the best aspect of the Wellness Center is it’s already paid for. The fees at OCCC support the facilities.

“I think [the facilities have] good equipment,” Rider said, about the equipment in the Wellness Center.

The center offers different ways to stay healthy at a variety of times.

The Wellness Center is open 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.

The center offers a cardio area with three treadmills, two elliptical cross trainers, and recumbent bikes. The weight room has a variety of machine and free weights. The center also features a gymnasium and aerobics room.

The classes offered in the center range from the new aqua Zumba and silver cardio to body sculpting, cardio kickboxing, and Pilates.

In addition to the classes and services offered, OCCC also operates an Aquatic Center, which features an Olympic-sized swimming pool, which is available for recreational use.

The Aquatic Center offers recreational swim hours from 6:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Aquatic Center also offers water fitness classes.

For a full list and schedule visit the OCCC recreation and fitness website.

Megan Woody, occupational therapy assistant major, said she enjoys the fact that the Wellness Center is open most of the year, only closing when the school does.

“The center’s accessibility during wintertime is key to its involvement in students’ health,” she said.

“I think it’s great that everything is inside. Winter is not too far away and it’s nice to have a place to swim and work out during the winter.”

For further information about events, hours and class schedules, visit www.occc.edu/RF/, or call 405-682-1611, ext. 7860.