Fall Fitness is BACK! LMU’s Burns Recreation Center is best known for its on campus wellness center for nearly 25 years supporting students’ mind, body, and spirit. Located on the first floor, the FitWell Center classes resumed on Monday, August 31st on the second floor of BRC. The studio has as many as 35+ classes each week for faculty, staff, and students to partake in. Each class is taught by an LMU certified student trainer or an athletic trainer. The FitWell Center represents an energetic workout space for numerous exercises that match your specific fitness goals.
The FitWell Center is also proud to offer classes such as, Cycling, Yoga, Pilates, Zumba, and more. A fan favorite class this season has been F45. Function 45 is a teambased, functional training program where exercises are never repeated within the workout. It features High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Circuit Training, and Functional Training. The elements of the workouts are crafted to keep one challenged while also having a great time.
Another strength focused class available this Fall is the AB LAB taught by Jolie Parandian. Parandian, a junior finance major and dance minor, is also an ISSA Certified personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor at the Burns Recreation Center. She became a personal trainer her freshman year at LMU and still is one two years later. “I would consistently attend the F45 classes upstairs and I honestly found it pretty intimidating to go to the gym downstairs as a freshman because I didn’t really know anyone, so I would just go to classes instead.” Parandian said.
With her background in competitive dance for thirteen years, Parandian specializes in strength training, mobility, flexibility. She teaches the AB LAB every Thursday from 5:30pm to 5:50pm. The AB LAB consists of strengthening your core, gaining balance, and improving posture with intense abdominal and lower-back repetitions all for a total of 20 minutes. Bring on the sweat!
A typical AB LAB class with Parandian as your instructor consists of lively music, her microphone headset, workout mats placed on the floor, and whatever equipment she chooses for that day for the specific ab routine she created herself from extensive research online and past workouts she has taken. Parandian actually does the workout with the class while teaching at the same time. Once the burning sensation of your stomach comes to an end, she thanks everyone for coming and asks the class politely to clean off their weights and place it back onto the racks.
“It’s a fun and effective way to get in a good ab workout especially if you maybe lifted downstairs and want to do abs but don’t want to come up with your own workout. It’s nice because each instructor who teaches the AB LAB has a different way of teaching it so every lab you go to will look very different” Parandian said.
“Within the context of Loyola Marymount University’s mission, Campus Recreation & Student Facilities promotes the education of the whole person by providing programs and services that integrate mind, body and spirit. These activities and services provide the campus with an outlet to enjoy leisure time purposefully, while building a stronger LMU community” (LMU Student Affairs).
Paradain carries out the university’s mission statement by building a stronger community through actual training, but also care. “The thing I enjoy most about training is being able to help others to reach their goals and kind of serve as a role model for people in the gym. I felt like someone who started out in the gym, not very experienced. It was always nice to have older people who I could refer back to and look up to, so I hope I serve as that sort of figure for someone.” Paradian said.
To sign up for LMU fitness classes students can download and use the LMU BRC App and follow their Instagram: @lmubrc for the latest updates or scheduling changes. All classes are available on a first-come, first-served rule, so make sure to book ahead of time.
