The Miller Wellness Center (MWC), which offers a variety of Group Fitness classes targeted at diverse age ranges, and available at different times throughout the week, recently saw a 39% increase in class attendance rate.

Group Fitness classes have been available to students and members of the community since 2008, when the Wellness Center opened. However, it wasn’t until eight years later that students could attend classes for free. The 2019 members of the Students’ Association allowed Group Fitness to be included in the General Activity Funding (GAF) Fee, making classes free of charge for students. Jake Heidenreich, the fitness and aquatics coordinator at the MWC said this completely changed the demographic for who is attending classes.

“Most of our classes were – back in those days were- focused on the community members and now we’ve completely flip-flopped since students now have ready access,” said Heidenreich.

The number of classes offered has seen little change over the years with an average of 45 to 60 classes per week. This number is dependent on the semester and fitness instructor availability. However, the dynamic changed as the 2025 spring semester began.

“This semester we have especially done a big push to add extra classes onto our schedule just because we’ve had such a high demand for classes,” said Heidenreich. “Throughout this entire spring semester we are averaging 900 people per week.”

The Group Fitness classes saw peak attendance in February with close to 1100 attendees in one week. Spring 2025 began with 52 classes and according to Heidenreich, the MWC has added five more time slots, making 57 classes available for sign up each week.

The yoga classes have been the most popular with the Tuesday and Wednesday 4:15 p.m. time slots being 97% full most weeks.

“Most of our cycling classes are along the same lines; we just are limited because we only have 25 bikes,” said Heidenreich.

Emily Weiss, a fitness instructor at the MWC is a senior human biology major and plans to attend PA school after obtaining her undergrad. Weiss began instructing this semester. She, too, has noticed the increase in class attendees.

“I’ve been attending classes the entire time I’ve been a college student, and definitely since this semester it has increased and I love it as an instructor,” Weiss said. “It is so fun to see the bikes fill up and have that positive energy all throughout class because there’s so many people.”

She teaches “Rhythm Ride,” which is 45 minutes of cycling, “Night Ride” and “Spin and Stretch.” Available for official sign up next semester, “Spin and Stretch” is a combination of cycling and yoga, 30 minutes on the bike and 15 minutes on the mat. Weiss also often subs for “2BFit,” a class targeted toward those of older age.

Weiss sees the most attendance when instructing in the morning. The Rhythm Ride classes she teaches on Mondays and Thursdays at 6 a.m. are normally full.

The increase in attendance has only affected Weiss in positive ways.

“I really enjoy looking out, seeing everyone so happy to be there. It’s very motivating to me, and also to the others,” Weiss said. “Also seeing everyone in sync with moves is really awesome.”

The MWC has a “no-show” policy for their classes. Attendees are allowed to cancel their class up to 30 minutes prior to its start time; however three “no-shows” will result in suspension from registering and attending Group Fitness for two weeks. The policy has been implemented stronger with the increase in people signing up every week.

“We’ve had to be really strict on that because if people are ‘no-showing’ our classes, then they’re taking away spots from other people,” said Heidenreich.

Since seeing the major increase in attendance, the MWC has been on the lookout for more fitness instructors, added more class time slots and while there have been no big purchases, Heidenreich said his exercise band budget has increased.

Weiss recommends the Group Fitness classes to anyone who has never been.

“It’s such a positive environment and instructors are only there to help, if you ever have questions you can go up to any of them,” Weiss said. “We love seeing new faces as well as returning.”

If students are interested in becoming a fitness instructor, they can reach out to Jake Heidenreich.