Sophomore Katie Harris wants to make working out and fitness fun.
Harris is in the process of founding a Changing Health, Attitudes, Actions to Recreate Girls chapter at the University of St. Thomas. The organization balances fitness and a social meeting place for college-aged girls.
According to the CHAARG website, the organization “aims to liberate girls from the elliptical” and “shows them that fitness can, and should, be fun.” CHAARG chapters partner with local health and fitness studios in the surrounding area of their university and invite instructors to come to the university to teach workout classes to members.
“I’m an exercise science major and I’m really interested in (fitness),” Harris said.
She thinks working with CHAARG will give her “experience working with different people, especially in the health world.”
Harris learned about CHAARG from her friends on Facebook who participate in a chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After visiting the CHAARG website to learn more about the program, Harris she spoke with girls at St. Thomas and saw that many expressed reluctance to go to the weight room.
“I just heard through the grapevine that a lot of people are kind of afraid to go into our weight room here because there (are) so many guys, and it’s kind of intimidating for girls sometimes,” Harris said.
Harris saw this situation as an opportunity to integrate CHAARG into the St. Thomas community. She advertised on St. Thomas’ sophomore class Facebook page in hopes of finding girls interested in joining a CHAARG chapter and has since collected over 50 names and emails of girls interested in participating.
Sophomore Kaitlyn O’Neil saw Harris’ post on UST Class of 2019 Facebook page and signed up.
“One of the things I personally struggle with is finding the time to work out,” O’Neil said. She said she is looking forward to joining a CHAARG chapter and believes it will give her a “boost to work out on a decent schedule.”
Kiley Kostak, a transfer sophomore from DePaul University, saw Harris’ CHAARG post as a way to form friendships with girls who and share the common interest of working out.
“It sounded really fun and a way to meet people,” Kostak said. She likened the idea of a CHAARG chapter at St. Thomas as being “a sorority for working out with closer-knit friendships.”
Kostak expressed interest in the variety of workouts CHAARG would give her the opportunity to enjoy including crossfit, weightlifting and cardio. Harris added CHAARG fulfills fitness on an even broader scale and said CHAARG chapters have worked with boxing studios, yoga and barre (dance) classes.
To make sure this variety of workouts was possible, Harris located fitness organizations/centers within a 10 minute drive radius from campus as places CHAARG members could work out.
“We would provide transportation to the fitness center if we were going there,” Harris said. “Sometimes companies would come here to help out with the programs, so we just didn’t want it to be too far away from campus.”
Harris has nearly completed the application process to start a CHAARG chapter and will film a video that shows how CHAARG would benefit the St. Thomas community.
Harris will wait to hear from the national CHAARG organization on the final decision, but in the meantime, she is planning out a Facebook page where girls will be able to list their fitness goals, and post healthy recipes and check calendars for scheduled workouts.
“I figured a girls’ group of people who are really interested in fitness and health would be a great way to get together and maybe make fitness at St. Thomas more fun,” Harris said.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at swee4225@stthomas.edu