RK: It started out when my kids were little and I was trying to lose the baby weight after the birth of my first child. I felt like I was eating nothing but lettuce and water and really kind of knew that I needed some exercise. There happened to be an aerobics class at a local gym, and I took training classes a year later to become an instructor. A year later I was an instructor for trainers for that organization.

SN: What’s the difference in teaching fitness classes at MSU versus other places where you have previously been an instructor?

RK: The biggest difference is the age grouping of the clientele. The (YMCA), being very community based, has a very broad age range. My primary focus here is students, so it has a very narrow age range of about 18-22.

SN: What is it like adjusting your classes to the clientele?

RK: It’s certainly difficult because a hip-hop class here has a lot of popularity to it, whereas in a community-based setting, not only is the style of hip-hop a lot milder, it’s got to be very multi-age appropriate and choosing moves people can be successful with even if they’re in their 40s, 50s or even 60s.

SN: What do you enjoy about leading others in exercise?

RK: I think the two biggest things are teaching people and showing people that it can be fun to exercise, especially when I’m dealing with faculty and staff age groups. Exercise was not necessarily thought of as fun when we were growing up, and the philosophy and approach to that moving and being healthy has changed. That, and it’s a very people-oriented type of activity to do. There’s a lot of people connection, a lot of tiny little pieces of information that you keep adding that help improve their overall health.

SN: How do you come up with your fitness routines and add new material to your classes?

RK: The basic structure is through my certification in education and having an appropriate warm-up to the activity — about three to six minutes depending on the class — having a cardio section, then also having a cooldown and then sometimes having a short strength section. Using the basic structure and adapting it to the class — even in the yoga that I teach, there’s a warm-up, cardio and cooldown.

As far as adding something new, it’s being on the Internet and doing research, going to conferences or conventions to see what the newest things on the market are and determining whether these things are fads or whether they actually have a long-term viability. At first, people thought the group cycling thing was just a fad, and I was like, ‘Oh no, that one is going to stay.’

SN: Out of the three fitness classes you teach, which is your favorite?

RK: I really enjoy the sculpting with weights right now. The exercises are very similar to what you would find in a fitness center where you’d go in and use a machine, but we do it in a group format and we do it with music. I think it’s a wonderful blend of both worlds.

SN: Have you ever experienced a fitness flub while teaching?

RK: Oh heck yeah. I’m human. The trick is to recover gracefully and don’t let them see you sweat, so to speak. I’ve certainly had a few classes where I’ve walked out of the classroom, and even though I have a smile on my face, I’m kind of kicking myself in the butt. Fortunately, those are few and far between, but those do happen.

SN: What do you think distinguishes the IM classes on campus from other fitness classes available in the area?

RK: I think the biggest thing is convenience and price. It’s incredibly inexpensive to take classes here. An entire semester is only $55, and you can take as many classes as you want. Locally if you were to walk in, I’m sure you would pay $6-10 for a single class or anywhere from $30-50 for a monthly membership. A lot of students on campus don’t have transportation, and it takes a while to get somewhere. Knowing how busy students are, it’s trying to keep up with academics and trying to exercise to get that stress relief in.

SN: What advice do you have for people about exercise?

RK: For participants, the best thing to do is to find a friend that also likes the class and meet that person there, whether you’re in different dorms or somewhere else. You have a 50-60 percent increased rate of going if you’re planning to meet someone there. From an administrator or instructor point, it’s changing it up or making it fresh. Making sure you don’t get stale and you don’t get bored, because if you’re bored, you know the students are too.