In size four spandex she confidently stands in front of a class of 10 students.

“This ought to wake you up after spring break,” said Jennifer Osborn, Lawrence nontraditional student.

It’s hard to imagine Osborn once wore size 16 sweat pants.

“Remember, if you’ve been coming regularly you should be adding weight. You won’t end up looking like one of those muscle men, I promise,” Osborn said.

Jennifer Osborn became a fitness instructor at the Student Recreation Fitness Center at the beginning of the semester, yet she feels like she hasn’t missed a day here. Ten years ago Osborn was an undergraduate at the University of West Alabama.

She taught fitness classes there and eventually graduated with a master’s degree in English. After graduation, “life happened” and she didn’t make fitness a priority. A decade later, she decided to get back in shape.

“I went to the lift class two times as a size 16, and I knew it was what I needed. The weight literally started to fall off.

It was like ‘I’m an idiot, what have I been doing, I should have been doing this the whole time,’” Osborn said.

In the past year, Osborn has lost 60 pounds. She attributed every ounce of her success to the cardio and lift classes.

“Just four more reps. I know this is tough. I’m proud of you guys,” Osborn said to the panting class.

She used the term “guys” loosely since there weren’t men the room.

“‘Just Lift’ is a choreographed weight routine class with heavy repetitions. A lot of boys can’t do it. Am I mean if I say it makes me laugh?” Osborn said.

On four different occasions guys have come to the class and left halfway through. However, men aren’t the only ones the class intimidates. Osborn said women didn’t traditionally attend weight classes because they didn’t think it was their thing. Since Osborn has been on the other side, she understands how hard weight lifting can be.

“I want them to see that I struggle too. Sometimes I’ve had to stop and take off some of my weights. The point is to try it,” Osborn said.

Her fellow fitness instructors feel the same way. Omaha junior Maggie McCormick also teaches “Just Lift” and gets paid to do what she loves.

“A lot of people are under the impression that you need rhythm to do the classes, and this year the classes are geared toward newcomers in the sense that you don’t have to be a professional dancer,” McCormick said. “Anyone can do it.”

It was this that got Osborn back into aerobics. She feels lucky to have this second chance because a lot of people don’t get back to where they want to be.

She said that students didn’t get out of shape overnight, so they couldn’t get in shape overnight either.

“You have to get started. Once you start coming I pretty much guarantee that after a month of going to the classes you’ll see results. You have to make the changes in your life,” Osborn said.

She said the first change should be to exercise more and eat less. Osborn’s diet advice was straightforward, much like her class.

“The answer is pretty simple. Have a positive attitude. When you’re negative you’ll do negative things to your body and it will only make you feel worse. It’s a vicious cycle,” Osborn said.

For 55 minutes, the class gives students a chance to not think about tests, papers or relationships. Leawood freshman Melissa Melling is one such student.

“The fact that the instructor changed her lifestyle makes me want to go out and lose 60 pounds,” Melling said. “Plus, I wouldn’t work that hard if I was by myself.”

Osborn has been through college once and said that anyone could not eat and be skinny. However, she said it took a well-rounded person to be fit.

“I see some of these girls come in all lean and tan but they don’t have any strength,” Osborn said. “I want to show them that 10 years down the line, when they’re done with college they’re going to want to want more. They’re going to want to be strong.”

—Edited by Nick Mangiaracina