Girl, look at that Aggie; I work out

Fitting in with fitness: Nikole Repp, Sophomore Psychology major, is one of many Aggies who enjoys fitness. Repp has also volunteered to help other with fitness at Aggie events.
Fitting in with fitness: Nikole Repp, Sophomore Psychology major, is one of many Aggies who enjoys fitness. Repp has also volunteered to help other with fitness at Aggie events.

Kaylee Jones

Assistant Managing Editor

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon at 12:10, students gather in the Aggie Rec Center for a midday pick-me-up.

This past Tuesday, two CU students organized piles of bar bells and balance balls in preparation for Fitness Fusion, a new class taught twice a week by Adjunct Professor Susie Dodson.

“It’s kind of a slow growing class,” Dodson said. “We started out with two or three, then last week we had seven.”

Dodson explained the idea behind Fitness Fusion was to implement variety in students’ workout routines.

“A lot of people just don’t want to come to one class for core,” Dodson said. “I thought, ‘Well, maybe if we start implementing other things along with it, maybe they’ll start drawing in.’”

The class incorporates several pieces of equipment for use during super sets that work opposite muscle groups.

Students rotate muscle groups, working their legs by going straight from lunges to squats and back again.

“Fitness Fusion is kind of like an interval class, but you’re just working on conditioning,” Dodson explained. “We’re working on the buso ball and the kettle bells. We’re working on the balance ball, doing bar bell and just dumb bell sets… You’re just concentrating on working on the core as a whole.”

Dodson said the class is convenient for those struggling to find time to fit a workout session into their day.

“[The class] goes really, really quickly, so there are a lot of people who are just here on their lunch breaks,” Dodson said. “It’s basically a forty-minute class, and then you’re out of here. It works for a lot of people whose time is limited.”

Despite receiving a degree in Education, Dodson said she became interested in fitness 25 years ago.

“It’s something I love,” Dodson said.

She teaches Fitness Fusion as well as a Walking/Running Club & Core Training Class at 6 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays.

“I also teach Power 12, where you’re constantly changing.” Dodson added. “You only have so many minutes per station, and you’re going from cardio to weights.”

Dodson encouraged CU students to start diversifying their fitness routine in order to keep a healthy lifestyle interesting.

“Just step out and take a class, and just hang with it,” Dodson said. “Take as many classes as you can, different classes. I think the thing with people who get burned out is you just do one class all the time. You need Zumba. You need core. You need weight class. You just need it all.”

The goal of the Aggie Rec Center is to “promote and encourage the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.”

Currently, Cameron offers programs such as Spinning, ABSolute and Zumba with times ranging from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Students interested in pursuing a healthier lifestyle can find a full listing of fitness programs offered at the Aggie Rec Center on CU’s Wellness and Fitness Calendar.

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