KPU Sports and Rec introduces virtual fitness classes

Sports and Recreation at KPU is keeping students, faculty, and staff physically active during the pandemic with their newly-introduced virtual classes.

The classes, which used to be taught in-person, started in June and are completely free for students. Sports & Rec is offering Mindful Yoga classes with coordinator Julia Nobauer and Full Body Workout classes with coordinator Jonathan Webster.

“A lot of us have this high anxiety right now with COVID, and so having this little bit of extra time to focus on your breathing, relax, and be calm— that is a big thing,” Nobauer says.

The classes are offered two times per week, with the Full Body Workout classes on Tuesdays and Mindful Yoga sessions on Thursdays. Both classes are an hour long, and they both start at 12:00 pm.

Nobauer says they have received positive feedback from students and are happy to connect with the KPU community, even if it’s online. Sports and Rec’s website includes a page that features at-home fitness and recreation activities to keep students. The site also promotes nutrition and wellbeing for students looking to manage stress.

“By doing it virtually and a live class, it also gives people a sense of accountability. You can watch a video at home at any time during the day, but the accountability of being like, ‘Okay, at 12 o’clock I have this class,’ sometimes is what people need to stay physically active,” she says.

The Full Body Workout, which is described as moderate to high intensity, begins with a warm-up while upbeat music plays in the background. The class incorporates exercises that work all the muscles in the body, and at the end, Webster includes a relaxing stretching session.

Throughout the class, Webster used gallons of milk for weight lifting instead of dumbbells. The program encourages students who don’t have workout equipment to use what they already have access to at home.

“You can use a bag of sugar or a backpack, and that could be your weight, you know? And those are things that typically people have at home,” she says.

Mindful Yoga focuses on maintaining physical health and mental well-being. The class aims to strengthen, tone, stretch, and relax the entire body using different postures, breathing, and relaxation techniques.

Nobauer says it’s easy to do yoga from home because you don’t need any equipment.

“It gives people the opportunity to stretch and work out but then not have to worry about not having any of the proper equipment,” she says.

She continues, “We picked these two specific classes because we saw that they kind of encompassed the most people. We’ll look to expand in the future, but these two we thought would be the best options for everyone.”