Aside from some occasional headbutting, goats are fairly docile creatures. That temperament should serve them and LSU students well in the goat yoga class UREC’s in October on the Parade Ground.
Goat Yoga is part of UREC’s GroupX fitness program series, which aims to reach more students by offering different takes on regular fitness classes. UREC Coordinator of Fitness and Wellness Melissa Mapson said UREC is partnering with a vet student who owns a farm to bring the ever-hungry animals to campus.
“We’re going to have about two to three goats and they’re gonna be walking around a little bit,” Mapson said. “You can basically interact with the goats in a pose. That’s a really great photo op.”
UREC Assistant Director of Fitness and Wellness Paul Kwiatkowski said the idea for the goat yoga class came after he and his colleagues noticed the popularity of Seaux Stressed events, which are sponsored by LSU First Year Experience. In previous years, these events involved various animals and photo opportunities and were a hit among students.
“I know two years ago I took a picture of a kangaroo. That’s awesome. That’s just the coolest thing,” Kwiatkowski said, “and the line was just down the block with students.”
Goat Yoga will be a free class, and UREC members of all skill levels are encouraged to attend. If your social media profile needs some sprucing up or you need to de-stress after a rough week, some candid pictures with goats may be just what you need.
Goat Yoga is just one of these specially-themed programs, UREC is going all in on Halloween this season by holding a Zombie Zumba class.
Zombie Zumba is a special, Halloween-themed version of UREC’s weekly zumba class. Mapson said costumes are highly encouraged, and the participant with the best costume will win a prize. Zombie face paint will be provided to make dancers look extra un-dead. After dancing for an hour, you might smell like a zombie as well.
“We tried to program an event around the holidays we have,” Mapson said. “We know that people are going to be here in the facilities, so why not celebrate those different opportunities while they’re here?”
Another Halloween-themed event that will be held at the UREC is Riding Through the Decades. Throughout the last week of October, each nightly cycling class will be themed after a different decade, starting with the ’70s. Mapson said the instructors will have music playlists corresponding to the decade of the night, and that participants can dress up with attire from each time period if they want.
“Have fun with it,” Mapson said. “Fitness shouldn’t just necessarily be like, ‘I have to be miserable the entire time.’”
Some other specialty programs the UREC will hold this semester include a fitness boot camp and a weight-training fundamentals class.
Kwiatkowski suggests that less experienced UREC members pick one activity that interests them and follow through with it.
“If you look at all 70 classes on our schedule, that gets really intimidating,” Kwiatkowski said. “But if you find a time that works best for you and just pick one and commit to that one, you’ll see that expand. You’ll make a community with the people who are taking the classes.”
Kwiatkowski also said UREC opened a new facility last year in Canal Hall that few students know about. This makes it even easier for students, especially those on the opposite side of campus from the UREC, find time to get active.