The Weekly’s Assistant Sports and Fitness Editor gets “the skinny” so you don’t have to

Because Gusties are notoriously busy with classes, extra-curricular activities and maintaining their social relationships amongst many other aspects of being a college student, working out often gets put on the back burner. Fortunately the Health Fitness Department is able to appoint many talented and healthy individuals to instruct a wide variety of free classes for students. These classes take place in the Aerobics room in the upper level of Lund and are offered throughout the week for anyone looking to take a quick study break, work out and have fun.

Cardio Intervals

The Cardio Intervals class, taught by Senior Health Fitness Major Tyler Mulcahey, offers a great workout to students who want to get their heart rate up quickly, and feel like they got a good, tough workout in. Each class involves four to five different exercises that each participant does for about twenty seconds, and then rests for ten seconds. Each interval is repeated several times which provides for a good “all around” workout that strengthens and tones the hamstrings, quads, triceps, biceps and core muscles. As an instructor, Mulcahey has had experience teaching spin classes at NBC Universal’s fitness center, which shows in his teaching style. He is very knowledgeable, outgoing and willing to be accommodating to students who may be new to cardio classes.

“I enjoy being able to get to know the class participants on a personal level—understanding what motivates them and gets them excited to exercise,” Mulcahey said.

Mulcahey’s ability to connect with all of the participants in class was obvious in the way he encouraged everyone to push themselves and talked with everyone individually. If you’re looking for a laid-back, yet challenging class, look no further!

Zumba

Paige Dieleman’s Zumba class is a great workout for anyone who wants to let loose and have fun while getting a strenuous total body workout. The class incorporates Latin American music with current tunes to provide participants with an hour-long sweat inducing, booty shaking exercise routine. If done correctly and with maximum effort, the class can burn up to 800 calories per session.

“My students come to have a good time and get a good workout. It’s about getting sweaty and not even realizing it because you’re having so much fun,” Dieleman said.

Overall, Dieleman’s class has been receiving stellar turnouts and reviews with an astounding 55 students attending her first class. Despite having so many participants, Dieleman manages to connect with everyone and always welcomes newcomers with a beaming smile and contagious enthusiasm. For anyone looking to let loose and still get a solid aerobic workout in, this is the class for you.

Cardio Mixx

It is very apparent in Courtney Farland’s Cardio Mixx class that she has a passion for what she does. Her enthusiasm for working out was visible from the very beginning of her class, all the way to the stretching at the end. Her class incorporates Tabata (performing high intensity moves eight times for twenty seconds with ten second breaks between each set), and step aerobics. At the end there was a workout to the song “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” which was a lot of fun and a great way to wrap up the class. One of Farland’s goals is to make her class sore, and she certainly succeeds.

“When one of my friends writes on my Facebook wall that she can’t move her arms because of the dips we did in class the night before, my day has been made.  As long as it’s a healthy soreness of course,” Farland said.

Overall, this was a fabulous class that I would recommend to anyone who wants a really rigorous, but fun workout … as long as you’re willing to be sore the next day.

30 Minute Abs

The 30-minute abs class, which is taught by Christine Roering and Kayla Schrupp, focuses on working the abdominal muscles, hamstrings and hip flexors. It is shorter and easier than the other cardio classes, which makes it a convenient choice for time-crunched Gusties. Although the two are still working out the kinks, they definitely put together a class that is an excellent workout supplement for someone who is already active and works out on a regular basis.

“I really like teaching exercise classes because I enjoy being able to exercise and better my health while encouraging others to do the same,” Roering said.

Although this was not my favorite class, it provided participants with a quick and easy way to work on their core in order to improve their fitness in general and hit on some key muscle groups that are often neglected by student athletes. Overall, I would recommend it to someone who is looking for a workout that is not as strenuous as the others and quick enough to fit into a busy schedule.