Fitness Classes: Where Coffee Is as Important as Cardio

If you stop by the Gaukler Family Wellness Center after an Aquafit or Prime Fit class, you’ll notice something right away: no one’s in a hurry to leave.

AquaFit Fitness Class

The workout wraps up, water bottles are emptied, and shoes are swapped out—but instead of heading straight for the door, people drift toward the lobby. Chairs get pulled a little closer together. Conversations pick back up where they left off last week.

On Free Coffee Wednesday, the routine is especially familiar. Someone pours a cup, someone else brings a plate of treats, and before long the lobby feels less like a fitness facility and more like a neighborhood gathering place. Stories are shared. Laughter carries across the room. Plans are made for next time.

Over the years, these post-class moments have turned into traditions. There are themed celebrations throughout the year, cookie exchanges during the holidays, and the occasional party “just because.” New faces are welcomed easily. Birthdays don’t go unnoticed. If someone misses a class, someone else usually notices.

What started as a group of people showing up to move their bodies has quietly grown into a community. The fitness is important, of course—but it’s the consistency of seeing the same faces, week after week, that keeps people coming back. The classes provide a reason to show up; the connections give people a reason to stay.

It’s a reminder that some of the best parts of recreation happen in the in-between moments. After the last stretch. After the workout is done. When everyone sits down together, coffee in hand, and enjoys being part of something that feels familiar, comfortable, and shared.

And if you happen to walk through the lobby on one of those mornings, don’t be surprised if it feels like you’ve stumbled into something special—because you probably have.

See Fitness Class Schedule