Associate Dean of Men Jeffery “Chief” Rogers is taking a break from the cadence runs this winter and is offering a new way for students to wake up and get fit. Every week students can get up at 7 a.m. and go through the full insanity workout program to build their endurance and drive and break up the laziness of the winter.
Students have been joining Rogers in the group fitness center in the Roche Sports Complex and cycling through the new Max 20 variation of the Insanity workouts for a diverse and intense physical challenge.
“It’s a pretty tough workout,” Rogers said. “Our students are breathing hard trying to keep up. The beauty of it is that it’s not the students competing against me, but it’s your mind telling your body, ‘I can do this!’”
The essentials of the workout are high intensity, interval training workouts. Students will do activities such as push-ups, planks, and burpees in quick succession for 30 minutes straight. The program lasts for 60 days, and roughly 10 students have been attending routinely.
Sophomore Ian Gensler has been one of the participants, and said he has enjoyed the challenge of the workouts.
“It’s as hard as you make it to be,” Gensler said. “It’s a nonstop 30-minute struggle between the mind and body, but it’s sure to work wonders if you can keep up with Chief.”
Rogers makes it a fun and personally rewarding time for all of the students and gets them pumped up for each workout.
“I start the workout by saying, ‘What’s your name?’ That will be the name of your lake. It will be a saltwater lake because after 30 minutes you are going to have a lake of sweat right in front of you,’” Rogers said, laughing.
In winter, it is easy to get caught up in the books, and Rogers said he hopes to give students the opportunity to take a break from the studies and work on themselves.
“We have got to take care of our body,” Rogers said. “I am a firm believer that body, mind, and soul must be working together.”
