Inside the Curry Hicks Cage at the University of Massachusetts, four long rows of CHAARG students stood on yoga mats that filled the length of the gym. A cheerful remix of Taylor Swift’s song “Willow” is played by a great speaker, along with guidance from exercise coach Haley Deeman.
The night workout was a wild exercise – an exercise that combined the movements of ballet and yoga to target small muscles. “I don’t like cardio, so this is perfect for me,” said Madeleine Lapierre, junior educator and psychologist.
CHAARG, which stands for “Changing Health, Attitudes, and Actions to Remake Girls,” is a fitness organization open to all female students at UMass.
Barry just had a workout this week. Every Monday, the group hosts full group workouts that are open to every member at various locations in the Amherst Public District. They explore all kinds of exercises such as dance, cardio, and even hula hop.
“Our goal is to empower people to find fitness they love and to show that fitness, health and wellness can and should be fun,” said CHAARG’s current ambassador, Allison McGlinchy.
CHAARG is organized like a sorority: there are chapters at more than 110 colleges across the country. The UMass chapter has more than 250 members this year and continues to grow annually.
The group regularly collaborates with local fitness centers including F45, Orange Theory, Amherst Fitness and 413 Family Fitness. These gyms host the group for free and in return, you may receive new members and word of mouth.
Besides these weekly workouts, each member is encouraged to join what they call a ‘small group’. Each small group consists of five to seven members, plus a leader who organizes weekly rehearsals at the campus leisure center. There are over 40 small groups present within a UMass CHAARG class.
“It’s really a great way to relax in the gym,” said McGlinchy, MD, chief physician in communication disorders and psychology. “He. She [the Recreation Center] It can just be an intimidating space, so small groups are a really great opportunity to get a bit of that confidence and go with a group.”
However, small groups do more than just exercise together. Oftentimes, CHAARG members will gather in small groups to study or go on picnics on campus or downtown.
“Two weeks ago, my small group and I went to Cushman Market & Cafe in North Amherst and just had breakfast,” said small group leader and diversity and inclusion committee member Bridget Tracy.
Tracy, a student with Junior Communication Disorders, joined CHAARG in her first semester of freshman year. “I joined at first because I just wanted to keep fit in college and didn’t really know how to do it; I did a lot of sports in high school.”
However, according to Tracy, her presence at CHAARG has shaped most of her social life at UMass. “I didn’t really join in perfect for the friendly side of it,” she said. “What resulted from that gave me a lot.”
“I’m everyone’s friend,” Tracy continued. “The guy I joined CHAARG with in the first year is still my best friend and I live with three people on Shargh too.”
Another member, kinesiologist Lucy Powers, said small groups are “a great way to make the group smaller, because we’re 250 people.”
Powers was inspired to join the fitness organization because she was looking to build more relationships on campus. “If it wasn’t for Charge, I don’t think I would have been at UMass,” she said.
Catherine Cunningham, a psychology student, joined CHAARG after having a watershed year. Cunningham is in a small group but doesn’t attend much of Monday’s big training.
“The girls here are very nice, even when they don’t come around very often,” Cunningham said. “You can do whatever you want.”
Along with the small group joining, members are encouraged to create what the organization calls “Chinstas” which are wellness Instagrams.
The Instagram posts, all organized under the hashtag #umasschaarg, allow the group to connect daily on a virtual level and post anything related to CHAARG.
“It’s like wellness, but also so much more because people spread like their favorite salad and then spread that great slice of pizza they have,” McGlinchy said.
“They post their workouts and post their lazy days, they post great days and something really good happened to them, and they post when they had a bad day,” she explained. “While things are now more personal, we are still able to maintain it like a virtual community.”
McGlinchy posts herself frequently on CHAARG Instagram, grounding her content with honesty and realism.
“The vulnerability in this space was very strong especially in terms of quarantine when everything was virtual,” McGlinchy added.
McGlinchy is the current CHAARG Ambassador at UMass. “CHAARG has completely shaped my life and has completely defined my college career,” she said.
McGlinchy was initially reluctant to apply for the position of ambassador. “I met some people who also applied and they said, ‘You know the worst that can happen is that you’re in the same place you are now,'” she recalls.
“I decided to kind of bet myself and I think I trusted myself that I could do it, and a lot of that confidence and belief in myself came from CHAARG.”
McGlinchy is one of six other CHAARG executive members who call themselves the “Exec. Team.” According to Tracy, these seven are truly the backbone of the organization.
“The work the Seven does is really good for the whole community because everyone can reap the benefits,” Tracy said. “This is the main reason why people love to join and feel comfortable because the CEO is so welcoming.”
The group has impressively maintained its regular schedule for the duration of the COVID lockdown.
“When we were brought home, I was really upset, it was in the middle of my first year [and] Tracy said, “I was missing UMass.
Our first [virtual] Happened, we had 170 people on a zoom exercise, and that shocked me.” “It means a lot to me and seeing other people feel the same way about it has also made me so happy.”
Many of the existing members were introduced to the group via a default setting, and CHAARG-based Instagram accounts gave them space to make introductions and connections. Student Elle Whitehead, who studies holistic wellness and community education in the BDIC program, said it was nice to be back in person and we already had familiar faces.
Whitehead is evidence that engagement with the organization shows a pattern of benefiting its members that goes beyond physical wellness. Whitehead was inspired by enough of her time at CHAARG to shape her individual focus around holistic wellness – something that has been greatly emphasized within the community.
“It’s a supportive group of women,” Whitehead said.
Grace Lee can be reached at [email protected].
