Students who go to the gym for whatever reasons, to enjoy, to get in shape or to chat, are in for a sweet treat: the Teen Summer Challenge offered by Planet Fitness.

The Teen Summer Challenge is an opportunity for high school students ages 15 – 18 to workout from now to Sept. 1 completely free. There are more than 1,800 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada that offer this program.

“I have been to the gym at school, but it can be very crowded if there are multiple students from teams, and the equipment is hard to find,” WCHS freshman Petra Baggili said.

All teens who sign up for the program are entered into the Planet Fitness Scholarship Sweepstakes. The winner of these sweepstakes will be awarded a $500 scholarship in each province/state and a $5,000 grand prize in both Canada and the U.S.. Teens can also win prizes like wireless headphones, movie tickets and Planet Fitness merchandise. The chance to work out at Planet Fitness can provide more places for students to work out rather than just their school gym.

Baggili is on the varsity track team at WCHS, and almost everyday after practice she and her other teammates must work out in the school gym. They share the gym with the other students that participate in other sports, which can make things very crowded. However, with the new Planet Fitness program, they now have an alternative to the WCHS gym.

On behalf of Planet Fitness, a survey conducted by Kelton Global shows that 91% of teens want to stay active over the summer. This is one of the main reasons that Planet Fitness began the program.

“The reason we started this program was to beat childhood obesity and also promote our facility,” Planet Fitness staff member Thomas said. “We’ve never done this program before, so it’s really exciting to be able to get our area’s childhood population moving.”

Like any activity in life, working out has its ups and downs. The rush of adrenaline whenever the an athlete meets a personal goal can sometimes trump that unfortunate, but well-earned soreness after an excessive workout day.

“My favorite things about working out are also getting stronger, seeing how far I can push myself mentally and physically, and meeting new people,” Baggili said.