Are you a young woman in college? Do you like health and fitness? Do you want to be a part of a strong female empowerment group? Then CHAARG is the perfect group for you!
Changing Health, Activities, and Actions to Recreate Girls is a health and fitness movement that was founded in 2012 at the Ohio State University by Elisabeth Tavierne. It teaches young women to “ditch the elliptical” and have fun while working out. Many women are too embarrassed to go to the gym for a multitude of reasons: they don’t want to lift weights in front of men, they’re concerned about people judging their physical appearance or think they look weird while exercising.
CHAARG doesn’t care where you are in your fitness journey, as long as you show up, have positive energy and try your best during the workouts. This isn’t your stereotypical sorority-type group: CHAARG encourages women of all shapes and sizes to join. This movement inspires women across the country to live a healthy and happy lifestyle their own way. CHAARG is for empowered women who empower women.
Not only is CHAARG an organization that allows you to surround yourself with incredible people, but there are a lot of perks that come with it.
Affordability
Depending on where you go to school, quarter-system universities require you to pay three times a year, while semester-system universities ask that you pay twice. The price range is between $40-$50. That’s the only thing you have to pay in order to be a part of the organization and attend all the events.
Weekly Workouts
CHAARG has weekly “spotlight” workouts once a week on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. You go to a fitness studio (free of charge!) to work out with your girl gang. No workout is ever the same, which is the most fun part of the experience. You get a variety of workouts and challenge yourself to try new things. They range from boxing, HIIT (high-intensity interval training), zumba and barre.
Small Group Sessions
At these meetings, an executive board member leads a small group of women. There are around 10 people per group, and it’s up to them what they want to do to make the most of the small group sessions. There aren’t any “rules” on what you can and can’t do. All you’re required to do is accomplish something within the session. Groups can work out together, grab coffee/food or even study! It’s a safe space to build friendships and learn from each other.
Group Socials
Provided by the organization, group socials are an opportunity to relax and just have a good time! These events differ depending on your university and the time of year, but there are some similarities. Each chapter has movie nights. There is always one for Valentine’s Day and one for Halloween. There are also end-of-quarter/semester parties where you get together and hang out. Additionally, at the end of the year, there’s a formal ceremony where you celebrate the year you’ve had together. You also announce next year’s executive board members. Some of the group socials can be unique to your university. For example, chapters at Chicago universities like Loyola or DePaul give members access to theatre and improv shows.
These women are seriously something else. During each workout, they motivate each other to push themselves and do their best. They are the type of women you want to surround yourself with not just in college, but in life. They make you the best version of yourself you can be and challenge you to new heights. We live in a world where we need a supportive and fun group of people more than ever, and CHAARG provides that.
The best part about this organization is how much it has grown these past couple of years. It started out at one university eight years ago, and today, it has over 100 chapters across the country with 17 new chapters launching this year. It’s so insane how much it grew in less than a decade. The goal of this organization is to have a chapter at every university in the United States, and possibly the world.
CHAARG really is what you make of it. If you want to try something new, spend time with other women and develop a love and passion for a healthy lifestyle, then this is the organization for you! You will grow and inspire in many ways.
As the CHAARG community likes to say… CHAARG ON!
