Hidden within Phillips gym is one of Oberlin College’s most underutilized resources: YeoFit workout classes. With over 16 fitness-related classes each week featuring yoga, boxing, pilates, and spin, YeoFit offers students, faculty, and staff free exercise classes taught by experienced instructors. 

Made up of many different types of Oberlin community members, classes are taught by seven different instructors. Some are students, some are faculty or staff, and some are personal trainers or professional fitness instructors.

College third-year August Fogler teaches one of the more popular classes, boxing, three times a week. Each Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, participants put on their boxing gloves and learn combos on huge punching bags.

“I didn’t have a ton of boxing experience before I came to Oberlin,” Fogler said. “I just started taking the class my freshman year. Growing up, I did not consider myself a person who liked to exercise. … [Then,] coming to college, a lot of people want to try new things — I showed up, and it was the most fun I’d ever had working out.” 

Accessibility is a vital aspect of YeoFit classes because students with a wide range of experience are encouraged to attend. Instructors view Yeofit as a unique resource that provides free, guided workouts designed to support all levels of ability.

“Exercise isn’t always super accessible for people; if you just show up at the gym, for example, it’s really intimidating,” Fogler said. “There’s all these machines that you might not know how to use. Not everybody has access to personal training. … There’s so many different reasons why people feel like they can’t exercise. And yet, we know that exercise is one of the most important things for our health. It’s so important to have this free resource that basically is beginner how-to instruction, no experience needed.”

College third-year and YeoFit yoga instructor Molly Ferguson echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of an exercise resource on campus. 

“It feels special and important to me to cultivate spaces on campus that are really grounding for people,” Ferguson said. “College in itself is a whirlwind of an experience, and I think that there’s a lot that we do here that leads to a sense of disconnection from our bodies. … I find it really important, specifically in a college environment, to make sure that there’s spaces for students that can contribute to some form of regulation, even if a lot of other factors are out of control.”

Ferguson has been teaching yoga for Yeofit since she was a first-year, drawing on experience she gained during the  7-month, 200-hour yoga training she did during her gap year. Teaching at Oberlin is part of her mission to help students slow down and improve their quality of life. 

“Our bodies are the most important tool for us in our life,” Ferguson remarked. “That’s how we live our lives and perceive and experience. Being strong and being present and aware of sensation is the jumping-off point to a full life. You can make decisions more clearly when you’re aware of your body.”

YeoFit is one program on campus that aims to bring together many different parts of the Oberlin community. Director of Winter Term and Global Learning Deanna Bergdorf teaches barre and pilates twice a week.   

“Teaching in the YeoFit program is a joy for me because it permits me to stay connected to this work that I love, even though my full-time career is now in a different field,” Bergdorf said. “It’s so important to consistently give ourselves time for movement and play. Even on the busiest day, it’s super helpful to pause, shift gears, and make yourself take time for physical activity.”

While some students come into classes with an extensive amount of experience already under their belt, YeoFit welcomes beginners too.  

“I was actually really scared to go at first,” College first-year and frequent boxing class attendee Louise Baer said. “I was really intimidated by the idea of it because I’m not super athletic and it’s at the gym. … But then I went with my friends, [and]now it’s gotten to the point where I can just go alone.”  

The draw, for Baer, is not only the boxing itself but the community and camaraderie that comes from the class. 

“It’s a space where you feel challenged, and it’s not at all competitive,” Baer said. “So the challenge is to just do the best that you can do.”