Bridgewater, Va.- The Bridgewater College Funkhouser Center is adding a new group workout cycling class on Thursday nights at 5:00 p.m.
Home to Bridgewater College’s recreational center, the Funkhouser is a place where students can go to workout and participate in different intramural sports with classmates and friends. The Funkhouser has had two workout groups in the past fall semester that includes a full body workout class and a yoga class. This spring semester the Funkhouser has added a cycling class to their list of workout classes.
These group workout classes require no registration or equipment to join. The classes are open to all Bridgewater students and faculty as long as they bring their Bridgewater College ID.
On Mondays at 4:45 p.m., the full body workout class is taught by Lori Schrock, who is the Campus Recreation Director. This workout class consists of an hour workout where the class hits a different muscle group in the body for five minute segments.
“The exercises include things such as squats, chest press, back rows, bicep curls, planks and many more. All exercises have modifications to make them more or less challenging to fit an individual. Participants have a shared experience where they can get stronger, encourage each other, work off stress, create energy and have fun! It is also geared for all fitness levels, so grab a friend or come solo and join us!”
Sophomore Grace Elder goes to the workout class every week and said, “I enjoy the people I do it with. We all support each other and have fun. We spend about 5 minutes strengthening each part of the body. For example, for legs, we do squats and lunges.”
On Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m., senior Katie Yoder teaches a yoga class open to Bridgewater College students. The yoga class is roughly 30 to 45 minutes long with calming music to help the attendees to relax and stretch out. Yoder is studying Political Science, Spanish, and Art here at Bridgewater College. Yoder is also on the swim team.
Yoder talks about teaching yoga and said, “My favorite part is being able to share a calming practice with my peers. There’s a lot of stress on a college campus and most students have an overwhelming schedule. It’s been really neat to see people show up each week and leave feeling a little calmer and more joyful.”
Senior Luke Wintersgill talks about going to Yoga with Katie weekly and said, “Katie makes the classes a perfect balance between relaxing and exerting. It also caters to beginners and intermediate skill levels that will ensure everyone is appropriately challenged. I enjoy going to yoga with my friends and seeing all their progress alongside my own.”
In addition to the current two workout classes, the Bridgewater Funkhouser Center is adding a new cycling class. The class started on Thursday, Feb. 8. This new cycling class is led by Sophomore Elizabeth Hipp. Hipp is a Health and Exercise Science Major here at Bridgewater. Hipp enjoys working out and pushing others around her to better themselves to be stronger physically and mentally.
Hipp talks about what she loves about teaching cycling and said, “As a teacher, it’s important to encourage your class to push through the fatigue and soreness together. The high energy atmosphere in a cycling class is one of my favorite parts about teaching. When the class responds positively to your feedback, it changes the energy in the room. It opens up the opportunity for growth and potential bonding.”
Senior Lizzie Mumbert participated in Hipps’ first cycling class and said, “I liked how encouraging Elizabeth was as a coach and that I was doing the class with friends. We did a warm up cycling, slowly built up to a faster pace, did some standing up mountain climbers and then a cool down. Then we did a bit of an ab workout too and stretched to finish.”
