Three-thirty in the afternoon is a time of the day that means plenty of things for the average human being. The work day is almost over, maybe it’s that time for the student from elementary school through college where they finally get home from a tough day of classes.

Or maybe, maybe it means something way out there. Peak weight room hours.

One of the resolutions I made to myself after becoming one with my chair and desk at The Badger Herald last semester was to get my sedentary body out of fossil form and back into that once-decent 200-pound frame body I inhabited just a year ago.

Let’s be honest: We all say we’re busy (which I truthfully am) but sometimes after a hard day of mental sweat, a physical sweat is the last thing we want to subject ourselves to.

So, I bought myself a locker at the SERF, my first new pair of running shoes since 2008 – after the soles finally fell out of my old Nikes – and began to put my body through a more rigorous physical trail than a contestant on “America’s Biggest Loser.”

But, to my surprise, if I actually wanted to work out the way I wanted, I needed to find the right time to do so.

3:30 p.m., or really anytime after 3 p.m., is like working out in a circus.

For one, the weight room is more crowded than an early 19th century tenant house – and I do not use that reference lightly. Want to bench press? Forget about it. Four men with muscles the size of Sylvester Stallone in the first “Rambo” are already there, putting up ungodly reps of unthinkable weights.

Want to do some bicep curls? Well, guess what, those flabby arms of yours are going to stay flabbier than my stomach after this Wisconsin winter. Why? There’s no room to breathe, let alone curl around the dumbbell racks of the first floor weight room during peak hours.

Hell, there’s hardly room to do anything at all. It’s more packed than a clown car on the basketball court upstairs, and the miniscule amount of basketballs for rent have already been checked out long ago.

Sorry, bro, looks like that jump shot will have to stay looking like a Ryan Evans free throw rather than a Sam Dekker three.

Growing up a Lakeshore dorm resident as an underclassmen, I was first subjected to the Natatorium as a freshman. The Nat has definitely seen better days, but it still serves a solid purpose. Basketball courts, swimming pools, weight room areas, everything the basic college student needs.

But, it’s old and outdated. The weight room is too small and the place gets log jammed during anytime considered an ideal time for the student to work out. Sure, during the first part of the day the place is a ghost town (like most of the student fitness facilities from open until 3 p.m.) but I can’t exactly tell my professor at my 11 a.m. lecture, “Excuse me, I must be dismissed. If I don’t get my swoll on now, I never will.”

Remember the NatUp campaign in 2010? I thought the biggest mistake was it targeted the wrong building and funded an unsuccessful bid for a renovation with segregated fees for a project that would require raising segregated fees to fund. Why not target funds for renovations or reconstruction away from the student body and toward donations from alumni and others?

No offense, University of Wisconsin, but I’m broker than PacMan Jones after a weekend stay in Vegas.

I’ve seen what Wisconsin has been doing around campus with the renovations to the athletic facilities. First, these changes were needed and our student-athletes deserve the best for all the revenue and exposure they bring to this university. Plus, they work their tails off to be the best, and they deserve to pursue that every day in the best facilities possible. Never underestimate how important top-of-the-line facilities are in bringing in recruits and maintaining successful athletic programs.

And maintaining Chris Borland’s quiet dominance of ping-pong on the football team.

Anyway, now that almost all the major projects are done, like LaBahn Arena, the renovations to Camp Randall and a new scoreboard and sound system for the football stadium, it’s time for the university to turn its eye back toward the thousands of students who make up the general population of the campus.

I’ve been to UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh’s student fitness facilities, and let me just say, we are woefully behind. So, muscled men and women of the respected Southeast Recreational Facility, Nat and Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center, aka the Shell, it’s time. Rise up, put down those protein drinks and demand a better workout!

And please, for the love of God, wipe down the bench after you’re done using it. Please?