Sprinting up one of the steepest hills in the nearby park on campus, after just finishing up flipping monster truck tires and running around with a girl on my back, I couldn’t help but think what I was getting myself into. This semester, I made a promise to myself to become a healthier version of my best self. I mean, after a summer of being home where the menu all day every day is Italian, I definitely felt not so spectacular when I got back to school and all my friends had toned up, looking better than ever. So, I knew I had to kick it into high gear when I started off the semester, but I had to make sure I did it the healthy way. I had been hearing rumors around campus about this great new workout program, called CHAARG. Over the summer I followed them on Instagram and was reminded that it was supposed to be an amazing way to get healthy. The reason I joined? After running into my very own sorority sister, Katie Martin, at the activities fair the first week of school manning the Pitt CHAARG booth! She happens to be the president of the chapter at Pitt, and I promised her I’d give it a try. Believe me, it was hard work that basically kicked my butt. But I know that if I keep with it, the sweat and tears will pay off in the end. I had the chance to learn more about CHAARG and its purpose when talking with Katie, and she left me off with the inspiration to do my best to become the healthiest I’ve been in years.
HC: Describe what CHAARG is, and how it started.
KM: CHAARG stands for Changing Health Attitudes and Actions to Recreate Girls. We are a women’s health and fitness organization whose goal is to “liberate girls from the elliptical” and show them that fitness can be a fun, innovative, and community experience. Elisabeth Tavierne started the first chapter at Ohio State a couple years ago, and it is now at four other schools in three different states. CHAARG started as a blog on WordPress that transformed into the national website and huge social media platform that it is today through member input.
HC: How did you first hear about it?
KM: Around the same time that my own passion for health and fitness was blooming, my sorority sister Lyndsey Karp was on a study abroad trip with Elisabeth, who told her all about her new organization. Lyndsey came back and was like, “Have you heard about this!? This is you! This is your life! You need to bring this to Pitt.” After about a semester of stalking the CHAARG blog, I finally contacted Elisabeth about bringing a chapter here, and we started the interview process. The rest is history.
HC: What made you want to be a big part of the Pitt chapter?
KM: After struggling with my own personal body image issues and disordered eating, I’ve become incredibly passionate about promoting a healthy way to get in shape in college and in general. CHAARG is a major advocate of healthy women, mentally and physically. There is nothing like CHAARG at Pitt and I felt that girls on campus needed a community to help spread these ideas. If I can show my members that there is more to life than trying to conform to society’s ideas of “thin equals beautiful” then I will consider my efforts a success.
HC: What are some goals of CHAARG and its mission statement?
KM: CHAARG’s main mission statement is “Liberating Girls from the Elliptical.” We want to expose our members to as many different kinds of fitness in an open and accepting environment so that maybe they will try things they would not have done on their own; and to “find their fit” so to speak. We aim to ignite a passion for health and fitness in our members.
HC: How can girls become a part of it?
KM: All you have to do is go to CHAARG.com, click shop, then click Pitt, pay the $45.00 member fee and sign up. That’s it.
HC: What does it take to be in CHAARG?
KM: There are no requirements for the girls or a baseline level of physical fitness that girls have to have. You must simply be a full time student at Pitt. Of course, we value dedication and hard work.
HC: What are some personal goals for yourself?
KM: As an avid cross-fitter, many of my personal goals revolve around that. I’d like to get a ring muscle-up, a 285 deadlift and a 165 squat clean and jerk by the end of this calendar year. Perhaps more importantly though, I want to re-evaluate my relationship with food. Though I no longer obsess over it or let calories control my life, I still have days where my weight on the scale means more to me than the weight on the barbell. Even though I know that I’d rather be 140 pounds with a 200lb back squat than 130 pounds and maybe a little bit leaner, it is still sometimes a struggle. I’d like to get past that.
HC: Why is CHAARG different/ how does it stand out?
KM: CHAARG is different because a) there is nothing that caters specifically to girls and b) no other group offers the variety that we do. There are fitness clubs like the Body Building Club and Panther Cross fit, both of which do amazing things for their members; but we expose girls to as many different kinds of fitness as possible while also incorporating the weight lifting and smaller group work outs.
HC: What would you say is the importance of CHAARG?
KM: Any organization that advocates strong, healthy women is important in my opinion. CHAARG is not just a club, it’s a movement. For girls who are still chasing the ever sensationalized thigh-gap and protruding hip bones: STOP! Eat REAL food! Exercise! Be HEALTHY. Love your body because it is the only one you will ever have. We want to instill in our members the idea that “Strong is the new Skinny” and help foster positive self-images all across campus while showing them that fitness is FUN!
Photo Sources: Katie Martin’s Facebook Page