October 5, 2024

Why Group Exercise? By Mollie Millington

Most gyms offer group exercise classes such as yoga, Pilates, indoor cycling, Body Pump, Boxercise, and CrossFit. Most group classes will be included in your membership fee and are offered at all times of the day.

Why should you give group exercise a try?

Group exercise adds variety to your workout. If you hit the treadmill every day after work for 30 minutes, a group exercise class can help you get over a plateau by challenging your body in a new way.  Muscles can be accustomed to always working in the same way. So if you always go for a run, try a yoga class to switch it up a bit. If you regularly lift weights, try Zumba for a fun heart pumping workout.

Having a class at a set time automatically fits it into your schedule. It is easy to say, “I will go to the gym after work” and somehow never make it there because you prepared dinner for the family, helped the kids with homework, and then needed to run errands. But when you know your favorite class is at 6:30pm you can’t put it off until later. You also know when you will be done which helps you plan the rest of your day.

Someone knowledgeable will guide you. You might not always feel confident doing exercises on your own in the weight room. A group exercise instructor will know how to maximize your time in the studio and give your body a fantastic workout. Every class is designed to work muscle groups in a certain way and order after an appropriate warm up. Cooling down and stretching out at the end of a workout is important too and you might overlook that on your own.

Fun! Finally, group fitness classes can be fun. You can try different types until you find one that you love (and doesn’t seem like work.) You can make new friend who enjoy the same things you do too.

If you haven’t yet, give group exercise classes a try. Men are joining in too as they realize cross-training is an effective way to develop fitness faster. Just be sure to arrive early and let your instructor know if it is your first time trying out the class. 

Mollie Millington is a London-based personal trainer who offers in-person and virtual training.  You can find her on Twitter (@PTMollie) and online at www.ptmollie.com. She posts free workouts, product reviews and recipes every week.

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