American Muscle Fitness Club Association (AMFCA), like the name suggests, is a health promotion and fitness club that provides workout sessions for students. Founded in 2016 at Troy University, the club now has 52 official members.
“The group is for people of all fitness levels,” said Denzel Veale, a graduate public administration and public health student from Lithonia, Georgia, who is its president.
“We are not a bodybuilding club and are mainly focused on helping all the students.
“We are mainly a service organization, and our main motive is to give students fundamental fitness.”
Even though the name itself may sound intimidating, AMFCA is open to everyone, no matter how athletic they are.
“Our members range from having workout experience to beginners, and we provide exercises with modifications accordingly,” said Michaella Kroeger, a sophomore exercise science major from Muscle Shoals.
Kroeger has been a head fitness leader of AMFCA since the organization started on Troy’s campus.
A certified head coach drafts the workout sessions for the club.
Participants are broken into several groups according to their fitness levels, and each group is led by various fitness leaders who are usually exercise science and athletic training majors.
They get to utilize their knowledge and help people with their workouts while gaining experience.
The club has a membership fee of $30 for the entire school year, and it comes with an American Muscle dry fit shirt. Paid members are also eligible to get service hours for attending the membership sessions.
“Members of the club can get access to like-minded individuals, ability to give back to the community with service projects, ability to be a part of making American Muscle possible, which could be a great resume builder,” said Cody Kimmel, a graduate student majoring in kinesiology from Lititz, Pennsylvania.
Kimmel has been working as a head coach of the organization since August 2017.
“I joined the club in order to just stay in shape after being a part of the track team,” said Shakiel Parker, a senior business marketing major from Opelika.
Parker has been a member of AMFCA for a year and a half as a student involvement member on the board.
“The club has helped me out a lot,” Parker said. “I feel more energetic now, and I feel as if I’m in just as good of shape as I was while running track.
“It has helped me become able to work on things I would not do in a weight room and do it with an energetic group of people around me.”
Kroeger said: “It’s hard to start a workout routine and very easy to break it, and the members of this club have helped to hold me accountable because we are all working for the betterment of each other. The people in American Muscle depend on each other for accountability and support, and my main job is to help make sure everyone is giving their all 100 percent of the time.”
The first branch of AMFCA was started at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia.
Today, the club is active at seven different colleges, including Troy University.
The American Muscle Fitness Club meets Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. in the Wright Hall gym or the Bibb Graves Quad.
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