My  Experience  With  Health    and  Fitness  Promotion  Through    

Organized  Exercise  Autumn  Potter|  Kinesiology  

Science  Discovery  &  the  Universe  |  autumnrainn@gmail.com    

My roll in this initiative is Event Coordinator and I have to organize a Studio Spotlight event for each week of the semester. This entails contacting local fitness instructors and setting up events to deliver a variety to the participating girls. The purpose of this is to stay active while always doing something different. This method keeps it fun, while expanding knowledge of your body and ways to stay fit. With this, I set up events, promote them, facilitate them, and then review them. I have to stay in contact with the instructors throughout the semester, get their certifications, insurance, sign liability forms and help them navigate campus. Then I write a thank you card and send it to the studio of the instructor that came for the event. After the events, I have another mentor in my desired field which has been helping me tremendously with Kinesiology and figuring out what I want to do after graduation. When given time, I plan extra events outside of Studio spotlight time Additionally, I am responsible for planning my own weekly workouts to lead for a small group. I started this off with goal setting and a self fitness evaluation based on individual goals. Each week after I led a different style workout. They are always in a different to provide the variety that I value in keeping a passion for fitness. These workouts include both resistance and aerobic exercises. Each week I talk about the benefits of the type of workout I lead. The best ones this semester have been a stair workout mixing resistance exercises with sprints, a high intensity interval training day, tabata and a resistance glute workout. We talk about nutrition, routines and mental health as well. I have also gone over with them how to train different muscle groups. With this small group, it is also my goal to keep a sense of community so I keep an active group chat with hopes to foster strong bonds between girls. This way they will always have a support system throughout their fitness journey.

Photo credit: Alison Venooker

Photo credit: Diana Day

I plan to pursue a graduate degree in Physical Therapy school and to have as many fitness related jobs in my life as I am able to handle. My goal is to end up as a yoga instructor and get a personal training certification before graduation. I will continue to lead small group workouts for CHAARG and participate in studio spotlights. I am currently training Event Coordinators for next year and I am so excited to see where they can take CHAARG and University of Maryland. I am so lucky to have come in contact with so many amazing people and I know that they will always be there for me on my path to my own career. CHAARG has shown me how to love my career and to value health and fitness. I have learned so many styles of exercise and the importance of variety and fun.

Impact of CHAARG community: My life has been impacted incredibly by the decision. I have made over a hundred friends through this organization who I will always be there for and they continue to inspire me. I hope to continually do the same for them. These women are powerful and inspiring. I can not think of a better way to practice health and fitness because the community that CHAARG provides strengthens all aspects of overall health. Impact of Event Coordinator position: This position has strengthened my confidence and skills with public relations. I have learned how to plan for the interest of a whole group and how to make accommodations. I have practiced etiquette of scheduling events within the fitness field. Most of all, I am so excited to have so many connections in the Maryland, D.C., Virginia area from having so many events with a different studio each time. Impact of Small Group Leader position: This position has allowed me to design workouts for groups. I have learned to take into account all fitness levels and how to provide modifications of the workouts. I have strengthened my leadership abilities by leading all of these workouts and it also makes me really happy to see direct changes on the women that I work with. Impact of Disruptive Movement: Since this is a start-up company, I have been able to see the inner workings of getting a fitness business going, from promotion to establishing a message and even designing clothes.

Organization  &  Acknowledgements  

Re@lection  

Impact  Future  

Activities  The organization that I primarily did my work through is University of Maryland CHAARG. I will begin with a big thank you to my mentor, Caitlyn Findley, the Ambassador for CHAARG on campus, for providing me with this amazing opportunity. The purpose of this organization is to liberate girls from the elliptical and to help them find a passion for health and fitness by providing different types of workouts and a healthy community to be involved in. CHAARG was founded at Ohio State in 2012 and has spread to over 50 universities. Growing each semester, it is leaving a lasting impact on college girls across the country. Along with exercise, we focus on mental health, body-positivity and nutrition. The mission of CHAARG is to empower every CHAARG girl to be the best version of herself. CHAARG shows girls that fitness is and should be fun through the variety that we provide to girls. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge Alison Venooker and Diana Day for their photography. Part of my role in this organization involves networking with fitness studios in D.C. and Maryland through the Event Coordinator position. I would like to acknowledge the following studios that I have worked with this semester: Tara Missick Zumba, UMD Barbell, Rachele Brooke Smith, NumiYoga, Mixed Martial Fitness, Happy College Girl, RulzFitness, Claudia Pagán and Michelle Willis Tae Bo. I am thankful for all of these instructors for working with me voluntarily to put this together. After working with Rachele Brooke Smith, a dancer and lifestyle coach, I was offered to work with her as a part of her Disruptive Movement. Initially, I contacted her to do a Studio Spotlight with CHAARG on campus. We ended up connecting with shared goals and passions and realized that we would work perfectly together. She gave a wellness talk and lead a dance workshop. I have spent many hours talking with her about apparel designs, social media and reaching out to a college girl audience.

I am so happy to have had this experience and to be a part of a community that impacts thousands of college women. Seeing so many strong empowered people all come together to grow and stay strong is incredibly validating and my own support system in itself. This has been a very productive way to realize that I can have a job that I want to go to every day and that I will love. I am so excited to continue with the fitness field and to make changes in the lives of so many people. Although this field is competitive, wellness of others is always a priority and that is what I am so drawn to. I feel like I have made a withstanding impact on many people and they have made an impact on me.

Photo credit: Alison Venooker

Photo credit: Alison Venooker

Photo credit: Diana Day

Photo credit: Alison Venooker