Group Fitness Classes See a Large Turnout for Ladies Night

Walking into the gym can be intimidating; with several buildings to workout in and a variety of machines to use, it can be overwhelming and difficult to decide what to do. This is an issue for both men and women on campus, but the perception is that women are the ones who shy away more often than men.

In order to encourage more female students to utilize the weight room and other facilities, University Recreation has held multiple “Ladies Night in the Weight Room” events, including one on Wed. March 22. While previous “Ladies Night” events have focused on the weight room, this time the hope was to give women the chance to empower one another through group exercise.

Group Fitness coordinator Leigha Krick said the goal was to reach a larger group of participants by offering a variety of programs. Ultimately the event was able to reach this goal, as 27% of participants attended their first group fitness class.

Personally I have taken multiple classes at University Recreation, and when I heard about this event I dragged my roommate along with me to go check it out. The night consisted of three group fitness classes. Participants could choose between cycling and BODYPUMP™ for the first hour followed by a cardio dance class that everyone was encouraged to join. In addition, one weight room was reserved for women only and personal trainers handed out information sheets with suggested exercises.

For BODYPUMP™ the class reached its capacity.  This alone was encouraging for Leigha and her staff “since BODYPUMP™ is such a strength based program and most woman can be intimidated to join a class.”

Overall, incorporating group fitness into “Ladies Night” was a great way to get people to participate in classes they usually wouldn’t. As a participant I felt empowered being surrounded by so many women who were filled with so much energy and excitement about working out and about University Recreation as a whole. After the success of this event, it will be exciting to see what change will be sparked with events like these in the future.