Senior Lissy Shortall, group exercise instructor for Total Body HIIT, finds a sense of reward in teaching classes and challenging students. The Elon community has voted Total Body HIIT the “Best Fitness Class.”
Shortall said the class is filled with high intensity and strength exercises that work the entire body. For Shortall, the classes give her the opportunity to share her passion with other students, while helping them maintain a healthy lifestyle through exercise.
“The class is intense, students should be ready to push themselves in a way that is safe, but also might surprise them of how much they're capable of,” Shortall said.
Shortall said she began teaching classes in her sophomore year, when she said she had a poor mindset surrounding health and fitness and was looking for a change.
Students like sophomore Avery Paulen enjoy attending all of the fitness classes located in or outside of the Koury Athletic Center. But Paulen said Shortall’s Total Body HIIT class is her favorite.
“The classes are definitely challenging,” Paulen said. “We're doing exercises like jump squats, squat lunges, burpees and crunches.”
Paulen said she enjoys the motivational atmosphere HIIT classes bring. Paulen said that going to HIIT holds herself more accountable as opposed to working out at the gym alone.
Students typically fill the offered spots quickly. Paulen said many of the outdoor classes are especially popular, with the 25 spots gone in minutes.
Paulen said she hopes to become more involved by teaching classes and becoming an instructor in the future.
“Taking classes has actually encouraged and inspired me, in my senior year when I'm not as busy, to teach a class or two,” Paulen said.
Shortall hopes her class will impact students to make healthier choices and focus on the positive impacts that exercise can have on the body.
“In general exercise is something that is going to benefit you in a variety of ways and has such a snowball effect,” Shortall said. “When you challenge yourself, that's when you change.”