Burnt out by the pressure, one day Exercise Science student Elisabeth Tavierne, who was attending Ohio State University on a swimming scholarship, walked out of her competitive swimming practice and never returned.
She knew that although she had lost the desire to swim competitively, something she had been doing for over 10 years, she still wanted to focus on her health and fitness. Once she started working out on her own time and schedule, she couldn’t help but notice that there was a major and obvious divide in gyms– men being in the weight rooms and women mostly on machines like the treadmills and ellipticals.
Were women spending so much time on the elliptical because they didn’t know what other options they had to benefit them the most?
“[I’m] not saying that you can’t get a good workout from the elliptical, but [the women] just didn’t look like they were having fun,” Tavierne told USA Today.
This observation and curiosity led Tavierne to start CHAARG (Changing Health Attitudes and Actions to Recreate Girls). Originally created to be a club to help OSU women find their perfect type of workout class– whether it was dancing, CrossFit, barre, or something else.
However, word quickly spread to women at other colleges who were interested in having a chapter started at their own university. As a sorority member, Tavierne knew that she could use the same foundation that is used to build Greek organizations for CHAARG– with set weekly workouts in place of the “chapter meetings” that sororities and fraternities have every week, and members paying “dues” every semester.
Now, CHAARG has approximately 2,500 members and 17 active chapters, with six set to open come this fall.
If your college is not on the current list of the 23 participating schools, you have the option of joining CHAARG via their virtual chapter, an online community for post-grads as well as undergrads. These members will be able to participate in workout challenges and go to national events organized by CHAARG.
For example, this summer they are holding a “BOOTYCAMP”, a 6 week-long virtual workout program.
“I hope every member of CHAARG truly finds their passion for health and fitness — whatever that means to them,” said Tavierne. “I hope that they find a supportive and encouraging community and that they meet not only workout buddies, but lifelong friends.”
[Lead Image: Shuttershock]
