Rise and grind: Ohio State club works out together Monday mornings on the Oval

Audrey DuVall
Wed, 15 Oct 2014 02:57:36 +0000
Campus, exercise, GRIND club, Monday, Monday morning, ohio state, osu, work out

Members of GRIND club work out at Browning Amphitheater Sept. 29.
Credit: Audrey DuVall / Lantern reporter

For many Ohio State students, the last place they want to be on a Monday at 6 a.m. is campus, but a select few are, and they’re breaking a sweat too.

A new student fitness organization called GRIND meets every Monday, rain or shine, from 6 to 7 a.m. on the Oval and uses the campus as their gym.

One of the captains, Ashley Kloeb, a fifth-year in nursing, said students won’t have to worry about gym fee to get in a solid workout.

“We use campus as our gym, using the steps, running around Mirror Lake, using benches. It’s using the environment. Kind of the idea is that you don’t have to pay to work out, you can have a hard workout wherever you are,” Kloeb said.

Being a member of GRIND comes at no financial cost. Participants only need to fill out a waiver when they show up. So far, about 40 participants have shown up each week, she said.

“There is no fee, no general body meetings, just show up with a water bottle,” Kloeb said.

The workouts, though, vary in their intensity.

Still, Meg Melotti, a fourth-year in exercise science, and another club captain, said the group naturally attracts those ready to work hard to sweat.

“Obviously we want intense people to come and be there but I feel like with the environment and just how early it is that is the type of people we get,” she said. “We just want people to push themselves to that limit and get a good workout.”

Melotti also mentioned that the captains provide modifications and that because everything they do is for time, not reps, people can move at their own pace and work at their own level.

GRIND uses the Oval as its meeting point and warms up by jogging to different parts of campus to work out. At its Sept. 29 meeting, participants jogged to Mirror Lake and used the Browning Amphitheater as their gym, doing push ups on the steps and squats on the stage.

GRIND is not just about exercise, though.

Kloeb said there’s a community aspect to the organization as well.

“We are very much about the community building. The goal is that you have these people that you work out with once a week and if you want to train for a marathon, or you — if you want to go try out this workout class, you have this group of people you can reach out to. Even just to hang out with,” she said. “That is what we are hoping for.”

They do teamwork challenges where everyone has to work together to build a community. One challenge — dubbed the warrior carry — challenges two members to carry a third member a given distance, Kloeb said.

GRIND member Jessica Harlow, a fourth-year in fashion and retail studies, said she feels that the community exists.

“It is not like a club on campus, it’s like we are a family on campus,” Harlow said.

Participants are invited to attend breakfast at Hangover Easy after the workouts, so they can relax and get to know other members.

GRIND members are also student ambassadors for the Wounded Warrior Project. They are selling T-shirts as a fundraiser for the project. The Wounded Warrior Project works to gain awareness and support for injured service members.

GRIND was started this year by its three captains, Kloeb, Melotti and Richard Desmond, a fifth-year in international business and strategic communication.

They are currently looking for co-captains to take over next year.

Waking up before dawn on Mondays might seem like a difficult task, but Kloeb has some advice for anyone interested: “Just don’t hit snooze.”