The new year means new fitness goals, and Century Square in College Station has just the thing. Home to retail, restaurants, hotels, and apartments, the shopping center on University Drive across from Texas A&M University’s campus also hosts free fitness programs throughout the week. Staples like Yoga on the Green, Lululemon Run Club, and Fit4Mom Stroller Strides are accompanied by unique pop-up classes on a variety of fitness trends.
“We strive to have diverse offerings that serve multiple audiences,” says Marketing Associate Amanda Tyson. “We want people to come out and have fun. … Especially if you’re making those 2020 resolutions, and you want to start those fitness goals all over, come out to the Green. You can come with your friends. It could jumpstart and inspire those resolutions.”
One of the programs continuing into the new year is Fit4Mom Stroller Strides, a novel workout that incorporates strollers into the regimen. The free, hour-long class on the Green is open to anyone, including dads and other family members, and the group goes out to lunch together afterwards. They meet on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 9:30am. The next class is on Jan. 22.
“It’s not intimidating like a gym, and it’s a really cool alternative to an everyday workout,” says Tyson. “If it’s not your cup of tea, you can always try something else. … The instructors always want new people to come, and they’re really welcoming.”
Every Saturday morning at 9am Lululemon hosts Yoga on the Green, an hour-long yoga class for any fitness level on the green space in front of Poppy. It’s free, open to the public, and does not require regular attendance to enjoy. In the case of inclement weather, Lululemon opens up their store to host.
“Yoga’s so wide-ranging, so it’s not limiting to anybody, and you see a wide range attending too,” says Tyson. “Every Saturday, we see the event attendance go up. More people are figuring out about it and realizing if they can’t go one week, they can still go the next week.”
Lululemon also hosts a Run Club that meets Tuesdays at 6pm. They meet at the Lululemon store and end at Mo’s Irish Pub where they hang out and enjoy special happy hour deals. If weather will be an issue, about 24 hours before the program they will make the call to cancel or reschedule it.
“The run club is very ‘let’s embrace the elements: put on a hoodie, and we’re going to go,’” says Tyson. “They’ve canceled only once or twice because it was unsafe.”
These fitness programs provide both a sense of community and benefit the variety of retail and restaurants that call Century Square home.
Tyson hopes having free, fun events makes Century Square a welcoming place to be.
“If people go to brunch before yoga or Mo’s happy hour, that benefits [the restaurants],” says Tyson. “It’s nice to see people patronizing those places or just getting people on the property and knowing that we have a neat place in College Station.”
In the past, Century Square has hosted events like a pop-up Pure Barre class, a kickboxing class, and a Burgers and Barbells event hosted by Hopdoddy. Tyson says they receive quite a few offers for classes on the Green, and they decide which to accept on a monthly basis. These one-off classes ensure there is always something new going on at the Green.
“We do have a couple things in the pipeline that we’re excited about,” says Tyson. “Stay updated on our Facebook and website, and we’ll post when new things do come.”
