A Lafayette student does PiYo, a new class offered at the fitness center.

Photo by Julia Brennan ‘17

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Classes to improve your fitness this winter

With the coldest part of the winter season upon us, there is little to motivate Lafayette’s students to make the long and snowy trek down to the gym. Recreation Services, however, offers a number of classes each week that give many students the boost they need to rough the cold.

Lafayette offers various GroupFIT classes ranging from Vinyasa Yoga to Kickboxing. The Mind & Body classes, which include different forms of yoga, require preregistration, and are $15/session for students. Extremely interested students, however, can pay $50 for unlimited classes through the semester.

Because of the cost, many students choose to take free Cardio & Strength Classes, which also offer a more diverse range of options. Students simply register 24 hours in advance for classes offered Monday through Friday.

“I enjoy going to spin classes because there’s an instructor there to motivate me,” Kathryn Martinides ’18 said. “A workout class is so much more appealing than running on a treadmill for an hour.”

Lafayette has about 12 group fitness instructors, ranging from Lafayette’s certified students to professionals. One of them, Flo Barnes, began teaching Piyo, a Pilates and yoga inspired workout, at Lafayette this semester.

Many students who take the class prefer the more structured workout environment.

“When you’re in a class, a lot of the time if you’re doing the wrong move or if you have poor form, you have the instructor there to show you good form and to correct you,” Barnes said.

Because of these advantages, the group fitness classes have seen increased popularity. Last fall, 269 Lafayette students tried the classes, Assistant Director of Recreation Service Karen Howell wrote in an email. Class attendance was about 57 percent of its maximum capacity, which is the highest it had been in over the past eight years.

“A couple of times I have gone without having reserved a spot, and I couldn’t get in,” said Caitie Hope ’15, who has taken the body pump classes.

Students can visit Lafayette’s Recreation Services website for a full schedule of GroupFIT classes. While Lafayette’s students are extremely busy, it seems many have opted to make time for the fitness options offered on campus.