Boise State Students Access Nine Free Fitness Classes Covered by Tuition
Undergraduates and graduate students enrolled at minimum credit thresholds receive complimentary memberships that include access to cycle, dance, Pilates, and strength training sessions.
By Samantha Reed ·
Nin free fitness classes are available to Boise State University students who meet specific enrollment requirements, according to the Recreation Center. Undergraduate tuition automatically covers Recreation Center memberships for students enrolled in at least 11 credit hours during the academic year. This coverage also extends to students taking a minimum of six credits during the summer term. Full-time graduate students receive the same benefit if they complete no less than nine credits in a semester or at least six credits in the summer.
The Recreation Center, known locally as the Rec, provides these classes to help students pursue individual fitness goals. Each session is guided by students certified through the American Council on Exercise. Instructors lead participants through a structured warmup, a conditioning segment, and a cool down. The specific activities within these segments are modified on a class-to-class basis to address different physical needs.
Fitness and Wellness Coordinator Zac Cintron identified community building as a primary objective for the program. “The health aspect is important, but it’s not the most important,” Cintron said. “What’s most important for the instructors and for us is the connection, community building.” Student instructors are tasked with fostering these relationships while delivering the physical training.
Cycle classes take place in dark rooms equipped with mirrors and LED lights. These sessions mix strength and endurance training. Kiana Garman, a student instructor who teaches five days a week, noted that participants experience changes in resistance, pace, and weights throughout the workout. “As an instructor, it’s fun to get to know people,” Garman said. “I tend to remember how people were on the bike when they first started…I see how much stronger everybody gets.”
For students who prefer other formats, the Rec offers high-intensity interval training, HIIT, and a dance class called The Pulse. HIIT sessions utilize free weights and suspension trainers to create high-energy cardio workouts. The Pulse class teaches various dance styles, including salsa, hip-hop, and reggae, to increase heart rates and build endurance. Lower-intensity options include mat Pilates, yoga, and Barre. Barre participants use light weights ranging from one to five pounds along with the ballet bar. Grace Anderson, a classically trained ballet dancer and three-year Rec instructor, teaches the Barre sessions.
“Everyone in my Barre class gets to have their ballet moment,” Anderson said. Strength-focused students can attend total body strength sessions or Power Pilates. Total body sessions use dumbbells, sand bags, and body bars. Power Pilates combines functional strength training with Pilates-inspired movements to emphasize muscular endurance. TRX Sculpt offers another option for building functional strength through cable resistance. Instructors encourage members of all ability levels to attend these sessions.
Students can sign up for Rec fitness classes on the Boise State University Recreation Center website.
Source: The Arbiter (Boise State) · original report published
