Group Fitness

Pros and cons of the latest craze

Sweat is dripping, there’s EDM blasting on the speakers, and a competitive spirit lingers in the air.

While it might sound like a rave party, it’s just your local 6am group fitness class finishing up their workout.

And if you haven’t heard, group fitness is taking the world by storm.

Whether it’s a cycling class, Pilates session, or yoga flow, group fitness studios are popping up left and right as their market value is booming.

Is this a good thing or are there hidden costs associated with it?

Before I ruffle too many feathers, yes – an influx of people into the fitness realm regardless of the medium is absolutely a positive thing. We’re all well aware that being physically active leads to countless benefits and the more individuals engaging in it has downstream positive impacts on all of us.

A rising tide lifts all boats.

The world is a better place when more people are taking care of their health by engaging in regular physical activity.

Yet it’s also foolish not to point out that there are some flaws in the group fitness approach… just as there are with the “individual” fitness approach.

But let’s start by looking at the glass that’s half full.

Positives of Group Fitness

---

Motivation Overload

If you’ve ever been to Orange Theory, Barry’s Bootcamp, or a similar interval-style class… you’ll understand. It doesn’t matter if you got four hours of sleep and are running on fumes, the motivational environment will give you a boost and leave you drenched and exhausted before you could ever imagine an hour had passed.

Which is terrific.

We all experience a lack of motivation to exercise, some more than others, from time to time. And especially for those where this is more common than not, a group fitness class is often seen as a necessity to get a workout in and do it with a sufficient intensity to see progress.

Not to mention the often-outrageous monthly fees that many of these studios charge that will leave you feeling remorseful if you don’t get your money’s worth.

Structured Program

One of the most cited reasons I hear for why a person chooses not to exercise on their own is that they don’t know what to do.

Maybe they walk around the gym floor and do a couple exercises with dumbbells, try out a few machines here and there, and then grab a yoga mat to close out with some abs. Regardless, they don’t follow any semblance of a plan and feel like they just aren’t doing what’s best for them.

Enter group fitness.

All you have to do is show up.

The plan has already been created and the sole job of the student is to listen to the instructor and plug away at whatever is next on their agenda for the session. Of course, it takes some effort to do the exercises with proper intent but the cognitive energy necessary to plan the workout is eliminated.

Again, +1 for group fitness.

Social Interaction