HIGH Fitness makes working out fun
HIGH Fitness has transformed group classes into fun, energetic, full-body workouts for all to enjoy. On Friday, Sept. 22, Utah State University Campus Recreation hosted a class at Legacy Fields in an attempt to hold their largest group yet.
“The start of the year is a great time to engage students and help get people engaged and connected,” said Katie Burns, director of Campus Rec. “We thought this could be a fun way to engage the campus community and get folks to rally around one specific challenge – creating the largest HIGH Fit class in Utah.”
Event attendance reached 100 participants — it wasn’t the biggest class in Utah, but it was the most ever for a Campus Rec class.
HIGH started in 2015, co-founded by friends Amber Zenith and Emily Nelson. Their classes, which started in a community center, turned into a fitness movement sparking interest across the globe. The current record is held by Joe Wicks, who hosted an event in London with 3,804 people.
Campus Rec turned its focus to the largest class they have held at Utah State and were thrilled at the result.
“HIGH fit is a unique fitness format that is very large in Utah and is really just starting to spread to the rest of the country. We wanted to show how much fun and how challenging of a workout it can legitimately be,” Burns said. “We also have amazing HIGH Fitness instructors, and we wanted to give them a chance to shine.”
Alexis Gordon, a HIGH instructor, said it’s about more than a workout. She loves teaching because it includes those who don’t normally enjoy high-intensity workouts.
“My favorite part is that high fitness has always been an inclusive workout. It’s more targeting your emotional
health than your physical health,” Gordon said. “We’re not here trying to make you a size two. We’re not here trying to make you lose your tummy. You’re just here to have fun and be a part of a community. Get your endorphins up and just make you feel incredible about yourself.”
Gordon has worked as an instructor for three years and has always wanted to hold an event like this. She said it’s been two years in the making.
“We’ve been planning to do an event on the field since I’ve been here, which is so incredible to see through,” Gordon said. “It just brings an awareness to the format. It’s a lot easier to do things like this when you’re in big groups. You can invite your friends, invite your mom and invite your boyfriend. This gets everyone together in like a lower-stress kind of way.”
Gordon said there has been a shift in the fitness industry, changing the perception of what healthy looks like today compared to when she was younger. She wants more people to enjoy being healthy and feeling good after a workout.
“A lot of people still don’t know about it, don’t know you can have this much fun working out,” she said. “This event just kind of gets the word out and makes it fun.”
Campus Rec hoped to introduce HIGH to new students and the community. In addition to their group fitness classes held in the ARC, they frequently offer fitness opportunities such as challenges, group trips and community events.
“We are always looking for creative ways to engage students and get more students involved in Campus Recreation,” Burns said. “This was a unique opportunity to engage a wider audience. We were also hoping to include the greater community.”
Ally Blair is a student at USU who has participated in HIGH classes before. She was excited about the event and even brought friends with her to try it out.
“I feel like everyone is just so happy. It’s so energetic and you just feel good, and everyone comes together and it’s just a good workout,” Blair said.
She and her friends hope for more events like this where they can spend time with the USU community and exercise at the same time.
“The energy that HIGH brings is something I enjoy coming out to, and just bringing the community of students together to bring the energy is fun and exciting,” Blair said.
Tayler Davis, the coordinator of fitness and wellness at Campus Rec, helped plan the event.
“All of our events are meant to have fun. We’re wellness, we’re fitness, and we want people to express themselves differently,” Davis said. “We wanted to try to get a big class too. Half of these people aren’t even people who have group memberships and come to classes regularly. It brings a different crowd of people here.”
She appreciates the inclusivity HIGH provides and believes everyone should have fun in their journey to finding healthy lifestyles.
“Fitness is fun, and everybody should find the way they want to do it. You don’t care about what you look like as long as you’re having fun doing it,” Davis said.
This event may not have broken any records, but Campus Rec said they achieved their goal of creating a fun, healthy environment.
“We are super happy with the event and how it turned out, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the event again in the future now that we worked out some of the kinks,” Burns said. “We know Utah State can hold the largest HIGH fit class in Utah.”