Marquette University offers barre, burn n firm, HIIT, pilates, yoga, spin and other group classes instructed by students nearly every day of the week at either O’Donnell Hall or the Rec Plex.
Melissa McMahon, a senior in the College of Business Administration, said that she has been teaching pilates for the past year and a half and currently instructs a class on Monday nights at 7 p.m. at the Rec Plex.
McMahon said she has formed relationships with the students who consistently attend her Monday night pilates class.
“My favorite part about teaching pilates is just seeing my girls who come like repeatedly again and again. I genuinely saw them grow and get better at each of the moves, it’s awesome to see,” McMahon said.
Pilates is a full-body strength-oriented workout created by Joseph Pilates that was originally used as a recovery technique for dancers. Pilates is known for improving flexibility, mobility, and posture.
McMahon said her classes she leads typically start out with roughly two minutes spent in the “hundreds” position, a warm-up stretch in pilates, then shifts to core, arms, and back workouts. Then, they end with ten minutes of stretching. She said she is always open to feedback from her participants
McMahon said she’s tried several different methods of working out, with pilates being her favorite. Since she has a passion and knowledge for pilates and works out every day, she figured she may as well get paid to do it.
Olivia Netteshiem, a senior in the College of Health Sciences, said that she has been teaching spin classes at O’Donnell Hall for a majority of her Marquette career.
Netteshiem said that her favorite part about being an instructor is seeing a group of people come to class and being surrounded by people who are motivated to work out. She said she wants to help people achieve their personal fitness goals.
Netteshiem said she started teaching classes because when she first came to school she didn’t get to know that many people. She enjoys working out, so she decided to get involved by taking gym classes, and eventually she became an instructor and has met a lot of people through the gym community.
“If you’re thinking about becoming an instructor, you should become one because you develop a different personality. If you’re shy in classes, or just as a person, you can be a totally different personality as an instructor. It’s a fun environment,” Netteshiem said.
Cycle spinning, also known as spin, is a high-intensity cardio workout that takes place on a stationary bike that is synchronizes movements to music. The workout targets quad, calf, glute and core muscles.
“What we do in class needs to match my music. I think when people are able to work to the beat it helps with their endurance,” Netteshiem said.
“If people are struggling, I’ll try to motivate them. It’s easy to give up when the instructor is not encouraging,” Netteshiem said.
A student fitness instructor is not limited to only teaching one type of workout. McMahon used to teach HIIT workouts and Netteshiem has taught yoga.
McMahon said if students are intimidated by attending a workout class for the first time that should try to overcome their fear.
“You gotta start somewhere. Nobody is going to be paying attention to you in class. They’re all going to be worried about themselves,” McMahon said.
When signing up to take a group fitness class, visit the Marquette Rec Sports Website, select the workout category of interest. Sign ups for specific classes are open 24 hours in advance, and classes have a limited number of spots available.
This story was written by Ellie Golko. She can be reached at [email protected].
