[Danielle Douglas-Gabriel | The Washington Post]
“Not that the elliptical or treadmill are bad, but the girls looked so unhappy. They didn’t have smiles on their faces and were just counting calories.”
There was nothing appealing about heading to my college gym — okay, maybe the cute guys playing basketball. But the mammoth sports center, teeming with athletes, was intimidating. And with zero athletic ability, I mostly stuck to the elliptical, not wanting to embarrass myself in the weight room.
Elisabeth Tavierne noticed a similar trend among the women at Ohio State University four years ago. Tavierne, then a junior studying exercise science, had been a competitive swimmer, so she knew her way around a gym. She said women were missing out by sticking to cardio machines.
“Not that the elliptical or treadmill are bad, but the girls looked so unhappy. They didn’t have smiles on their faces and were just counting calories,” she recalls.
To liberate women from the elliptical, Tavierne created CHAARG (Changing Health, Attitudes and Actions to Recreate Girls), a campus fitness club that organized workouts at local studios. Every week, members could try classes such as Turbo Kick or CrossFit.
The club was such a hit that students from nearby colleges inquired about starting their own chapter. Today, there are CHAARG chapters at 45 universities — including the University of Maryland at College Park, Salisbury University and George Washington University — with more than 7,000 members.
“We haven’t done any real marketing at this point; it’s really all just been through social media and girls hearing about us from friends at other universities,” Tavierne says.
Alison Venooker, a junior at U-Md., has been a member of CHAARG since her freshman year. A three-sport athlete in high school, Venooker was set on staying fit in college, even though none of her friends were game to join her in the gym. Working out alone on the StairMaster got old fast, so she looked into CHAARG after seeing a flyer in her dorm.
“It was intimidating at first because I didn’t know anyone, but everyone was immediately friendly,” she says. “Once you join, you get added to the Facebook page, and girls will post whether they’re going to get lunch somewhere or studying, for people to come along.”
So far, Venooker’s favorite workout has been the dance-infused martial-arts class Tae Bo. She liked it so much that over winter break she took her mother to a class.
CHAARG has become a big part of Venooker’s college experience. She now leads the social-media effort for the chapter, keeping its 204 members abreast of activities and events.