The chance to lounge in a bathing suit under beaming sun rays on the beach in Panama City, Fla., is enough motivation for Melissa Garth to sweat it out in the Recreation Center seven days a week.

As spring break approaches, Garth, a senior in management from Chicago, is toning up a bit before exposing herself in front of hundreds of others.

For two months, Garth has been a regular at the Recreation Center, running at least three miles a day.

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I think it’s important to look good, especially when you’re around other people, Garth said. I feel better when I work out. It will make [Panama City] a lot more fun if you feel better about yourself.

Working out on a regular basis has become a habit for Garth. She cannot imagine traveling to the beach without tightening her body muscles. It would put a damper on her relaxing and tanning activities.

I wouldn’t have as much fun, she said. I probably would be embarrassed to even get into a bathing suit. I’d just be so self-conscious.

Tara Pieronek, a junior in advertising from Carol Stream, has always exercised, but visiting Jamaica during spring break is an encouraging incentive. She also feels better about herself after working up a sweat.

While I’m in Jamaica, I’ll be wearing bikinis and shorts and things, she said. If I know I’m going out, I’ll probably workout. I’ll have more confidence too.

Bruce Lukes, the assistant director of facilities at the Recreation Center, said Garth and Pieronek are among the 77,000 people that have visited the Recreation Center within the last two months, which is 4,000 more than last year. The Recreation Center usually attracts about 50,000 during the same period at other times of the year.

This means that there are 2,750 people a day utilizing the facility, Lukes said. We see this pattern every year. From Martin Luther King’s birthday through February we get a lot of people with New Year’s Resolutions and those who try to look good for the beach. It’s the busiest eight weeks of the year.

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While other students have decided to exercise to look good during spring break, students such as Maria Weber, a junior in industrial design from Des Plaines, said people should exercise year-round. Health should be a priority instead of looks and body enhancement, she said.

I work out all the time, she said. I’m not an exhibitionist. I exercise to be healthy and not to look good. It’s important to be healthy all the time, not just for a week. I guess there are people who want to look toned for a week. Different strokes for different folks.