Liz Kelly is not your typical college student. After analyzing mountains of economics notes, you can find the College of New Jersey third-year business major walking on her hands at the Fitness Center, where she serves as a manager, in Wonder Woman-themed workout leggings, or coaching 82 girls on the online boot camp program she recently piloted.
The program is something that Kelly has dreamed of creating for a long time, but it was not until recently that she found the time in between her economics courses and active campus involvement to take on the task.
She took to her Instagram, a platform she has been using to share her passion for fitness and faith since October 2016, to advertise the free trial program and gauge interest. She was shocked at how quickly the sign-ups poured in.
She is probably one of the only people on earth this would come as a shock to though, as everyone who knows the very-humble Kelly has been touched or inspired by her in some way.
In addition to her Bootcamp program, many past internships, and full course load, Kelly also serves as the President of the TCNJ Women in Business club, is a manager at the college Fitness Facility and is an active member of DSP Business fraternity.
She received her original fitness certification through the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and has since pursued many add on certifications such as the Les Mills Sprint certification.
Her interests in Entrepreneurship and desire to be her own boss are what inspired her to create her own programs.
The first cycle of the 4-week boot camp began February 18th and is set to come to an end Friday, March 15th. It was intended to help young women reset mentally and physically before Spring recess and included a motivating email every morning at Kelly’s 5 a.m. wake-up time, fit tips, workout challenges, nutrition advice, inspiration, and tools to help women build habits for success.
Students who were already signed up for the college’s group fitness program, which offers unlimited group fitness classes from yoga and barre to cycling for just $25 per semester, were additionally able to take Kelly’s classes, which include Full Body HIIT and Abs & Booty, are offered twice a week.
Liz beamed when asked about the progress of her students as the first round of her program comes to a close. “I have been getting so many emails from women who were scared coming into this program and are now so excited about the future of their health and fitness journey,” she said, “The women who also participated in my classes have become so much stronger. They have gone from using modified versions of the exercises to experimenting with the most advanced that I offer in class.”
The only thing Kelly is more passionate about than fitness is her undying devotion to her faith, and she loves to incorporate the two together. Online and on social media I have more leniency because this is my platform and I love to share Bible verses,” she says of her Instagram, “the bible is honestly a book of motivational quotes.”
Some of her favorite verses are those about gratitude and of these, she references Psalms 100:1-6 which focuses more specifically on grateful praise.
“I incorporate gratefulness into the end of every class. I always say to say thank you to the people around you because if they were not there, we wouldn’t have a class, say thank you to your body because I believe God made each of us in a wonderful way, and then I also say thank you to everyone for being there, because I wouldn’t be a couch without them. God tells us to always have a grateful heart and gratitude is a huge part of my coaching style.”
As far as Kelly’s plans for her post-graduate career go? “I don’t know exactly what it is going to look like yet…but I know it’s going to be awesome.”
You can get involved and check out her fitness programs through her Instagram @lizz_fitt or her Bootcamp website lizfitbootcamp.com/bootcamps/.
All photos courtesy of Liz Kelly.