Rochelle Schwab has been on the move her whole life.

As a young girl, she started physically running to escape a childhood home haunted by alcoholism.

As a military wife, she uprooted her family 15 times and followed her husband, Dan, a former Army officer, to duty stations from Washington to Honolulu to Korea.

Now, Schwab burns an estimated 14,000 calories every day on the job, teaching 30 hours of fitness classes each week at Oregon State University.

The director of OSU's popular Faculty/Staff Fitness program, Schwab is easy to recognize in the corridors of Langton Hall. A sleeveless vest reveals her toned biceps; her braid swings behind her as she hustles between classes.

"She's kind of got a cult following," said Barb Lachenbruch, 53, a professor in wood science, who's participated in the faculty and staff fitness program since 1992.

"She bounces around. She doesn't strut," Lachenbruch said. "Rochelle is inspirational and nonjudgmental.

"She's deeply devoted to improving our lives and our health."

Schwab knows faculty and students have full schedules and they have a tough time finding an hour to dedicate to their fitness.

"I tell my students," Schwab said, "if you have 24 hours in a day, and you're paid $24,000 a day, how would you spend it?

"Your health is worth $1,000 an hour. If it were worth $1,000, would you give it away?"

If you don't take that hour for yourself and your health, someone else will take it, Schwab said.

She can cite the benefits of exercise: reduction in stress, lower blood pressure, enhanced muscular and cardiovascular strength.

But the biggest benefit is reflected in how you live your life.

"You're not just looking at how to get through the day," Schwab said. "You're looking forward to the day."

Schwab walks - or rather, runs - the talk.

She's run three marathons and raised four daughters along the way.

While she's devoted to fitness, her life is founded on faith and family.

"When I was 18, I accepted the Lord in my life," Schwab said. "He made everything happen. I've been truly blessed."

"I wasn't going to get married," she said. "Then I met Dan."

She stepped off the career path for 14 years to stay home and raise her daughters.

"I showed them love and affection," Schwab said. "Taught them to be strong, set boundaries and love themselves. All the things I didn't get growing up."

Her daughters are grown, ages 20 to 28; two are married. The oldest, Kaitlin, and her husband have a 7-month-old girl.

The students in Schwab's classes are younger than her daughters.

"She's quite fun and somehow keeps up the pace throughout the class," said Keith Reid, a sophomore in biology in a hip-hop dance class.

He guesses that Schwab is 35 years old.

At 53, Schwab easily passes for a decade younger.

She keeps pushing herself and her students. She teaches water aerobics, circuit weights and cardio kickboxing. When people expressed an interest in Zumba and hip-hop dance classes, she learned the routines to teach them.

"Come on. Push it," she tells her students as they near the end of a 50-minute workout.

"Ten more seconds."

During the cool-down, Schwab suggests cleansing breaths, then tells the students to lie down on their backs.

"Think about melting into the floor. Thirty seconds just to think about yourselves."

When they stand, Schwab gives one final set of instructions.

"Right arm up. Left arm up. Give yourselves a hug."

Then she changes the music CD and gets ready for Body Sculpting, her next class.

Related

• Correction: Calorie count (Nov. 12)