With group fitness, those trying to lose some winter weight don’t have to sweat in solitude anymore.
Group fitness classes are available for free to students at both Wilson and Brodie Recreation centers throughout the year at multiple times a day. Classes offered include various types of yoga, weight training, dance, cycling and other cardio or toning exercises.
“The group fitness classes at Duke are great because, no matter your fitness level, they’re always challenging enough to make you feel good and want to come back,” senior Allyson Morton said.
Senior Morgan Carney teaches the most popular group fitness class offered—Cardio Dance—Lisa Jindra Wright, coordinator of group fitness and physical education instructor, wrote in an email Sunday. She added that the Carney averages 70 students per class.
Carney, a dancer since she was three-years-old, said she began teaching Cardio Dance her freshman year.
“[It is] hard to say my favorite aspect [of the class]… I just love it in general!” she said. “It’s not a workout for me—it’s an awesome dance party with fun music and a ton of friends. The hour long class flies by every time.”
Morton also noted that the class draws in people who don’t want to work out on their own.
“It’s a dance class to top 40 hits with your friends, and if you feel shy or insecure about shaking it or jumping up and down, the feeling quickly goes away when you see people of all ages and genders also doing it,” she said.
Other popular classes include Body Tone and Zumba, Wright said, which usually have 30 to 50 participants. She added that group fitness recorded over 13,000 participants overall in the Fall.
This semester, Wright said, Duke will be offering a new format for the hip-hop and Bhangra-hip-hop fusion classes. They have also added a 45-minute express indoor cycling class and Kripalu yoga.
According to the Duke Recreation and Physical Education website, Kripalu Yoga practice focuses on breath and meditation along with standard yoga poses.
Some specialty classes are also offered for a small fee, Fitness Directory Mary Ann Dobbins said. One is Cardio and Core, a small-group personal training class, which combines walking and running intervals with Pilates-type core exercises.
Regardless of one's skill level or interests, group fitness classes offer an array of opportunities to anybody looking to get in shape.
“I started going to the group fitness classes to change up my workout and do things out of my comfort zone,” senior Ellie Proussaloglou said. “I love to run, but fitness classes are a great way to do something new.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.