Group workouts have many health benefits that you just cannot get on your own. Being with others in fitness classes is an exciting and beneficial way to incorporate exercise into your life. Numerous studies indicate marked enhancements in physical, mental, and emotional well-being, along with a decrease in perceived stress levels.
Whether you’ve joined a health club for weight loss, sports training, or just improving your overall health, group fitness is a great way to start. Rather than trying to come up with your own exercise routine, you can choose the classes that fit your schedule, meet new friends with similar goals, learn good techniques, and get an effective workout.
The term group fitness encompasses any and all form of fitness that’s done in a group setting, lead by a personal trainer or group instructor. With this form of exercise growing in popularity, you can now find group fitness classes of nearly any kind, both aerobic and strength-based.
Solo Workouts vs. Group Workouts: What’s the Difference?
Although there are massive benefits to working out alone. You manage your own time and perform your own routine without any distraction. Then there are 1:1 workout sessions with a personal trainer, which provide even more benefits. You get guidance from a fitness professional who makes sure you have the right form and helps you learn new movements and techniques. But there’s a viable alternative: Group Fitness Classes.
Exercising Alone
When you work out alone, you’re answerable only to yourself. You may struggle to find motivation while juggling daily struggles, busy schedules, and urgent tasks that take time away from a much-needed sweat-out session. You may fall into the trap of doing the same exercises, become unchallenged, and see poor results. Worse, you may work out more infrequently or give up exercise altogether.
Group Fitness Classes
On the other hand, having an exercise partner makes you plank harder and longer and pushes you to spend more time on that treadmill than when you’re going at it alone.
Exercising with like-minded people can make a difference in your commitment to your exercise routine. Like-minded people will support you and motivate you to attend classes consistently and push yourself harder. They can positively affect the amount, quality, or intensity of your workouts. And if you’re required to pay for a group exercise class, that’s an extra push too, you don’t want your money to go to waste!
If you are on WhatsApp, you’ll find an assortment of our group fitness classes that’ll get those endorphins flowing.
Our Group Fitness Programs at SF9 Fitness.
At SF9 Fitness, we offer structured group workout programs to suit every fitness level:
1) Fat Must Go (FMGO): A beginner-friendly group focused on reducing body fat and building a solid fitness foundation. This program runs for 4 weeks.
2) Visible Abs Challenge (VBC):
This is a follow up group to the FMGO, in this group, we will introduce more strength to help you lose more weight and build leaner muscles, to give your skin and body a better tone. This program runs for 6 weeks.
3) Power Bootcamp: An advanced class designed to tone your body and build lean muscle for peak performance.
We are not saying you should only work out with a group. But if you’re feeling down and your exercise mojo is low, know that you have other options to come out of a sweat-out slump and reinvigorate your routine.
Benefits of Group Fitness Classes.
On the flip side, group classes provide structure, camaraderie, and motivation. Whether it’s the friendly competition or the energy of the group, you’re more likely to push your limits and stay consistent.
1) Diversified workouts.
Aside from boosting motivation, joining group exercises diversifies your fitness routine. The variety of fitness classes offered at gyms can make your regimen more well-rounded by varying your workout styles.
If your main goal is to lose weight and improve cardiovascular strength, you can sign up for our classes that combine aerobic and anaerobic movements to burn fat, gain lean muscle mass, and become stronger. Our class is a fun fusion of fitness techniques, that can tighten and tone muscles without the unwanted bulk.
To improve muscular strength and endurance, choose weight training or boot camp classes. In these classes, you get a full-body workout using resistance bands, dumbbells, and balls in a fun group setting with your fitness besties and coach.
2) Social benefits.
You shouldn’t underestimate the value of exercising with a crowd. A study shows that 95% of people on a group weightloss program completed the program, compared to only 50% solo flyers who completed it. The research also mentions the group participants were more likely to continue their program.
Joining group exercises can also arouse your competitive nature, which makes exercising more challenging and exciting. A friendly competition with your workout peers and a little push from a training coach can be helpful when you’re trying to reach for a particular goal. At the same time, they can also cheer you on to train harder and longer, do more reps, and beat your previous personal records.
If you’re the social type, joining group exercise classes lets you work with people who share similar fitness goals and can help boost your performance, consistency, and inspiration. If you prefer working out alone, don’t worry. Most people you exercise with or join a group fitness class with you are just as focused on getting fit in an engaging and fun environment.
3) Further stress reduction.
Exercise stimulates the release of endorphins, brain chemicals that improve mood and boost feelings of relaxation and optimism. Exercising in a lively and vigorous setting may help boost this even further. Not to mention, it’s way more fun.
Group workouts foster camaraderie and make you feel more energized and pumped up. Exercising with another person, even if it’s something as simple as doing bicycle exercises, makes you feel calmer and it enhances the stress-reduction benefits of exercise.
4) Better form and technique
Some of the people you will meet in exercise classes have been working out at an intermediate or an advanced level, or they may have learned proper techniques from their trainers. As such, knowledge sharing is common among group exercise settings.
In group sessions, you’ll see what others are doing, and there are professional instructors who can help you out if you’re having trouble executing a movement. They’ll also teach you and the group the benefits of each type of exercise and demonstrate how to do all of them correctly. Gain insights from them to make the most of your gym membership.
5) Accountability
You can’t get fit and healthy if you don’t get to your workout. Yes, we’ve all done it. We say we will wake up at dawn for an early morning gym session. We set our alarms, but end up pushing the snooze button…more than once.
Sometimes we need extra motivation to get in shape. Group sessions improve consistency because they involve a commitment. ‘No shows’ and cancellations get noticed by others, and positive peer pressure can help curtail the urges to skip a workout. Even better, sign up for classes with a buddy and motivate each other to attend each session.
Statistics show that a remarkable 95% of participants who joined a workout with someone were able to complete it and sustain their weight loss over time. This shows the importance of social support and accountability when it comes to achieving health and wellness goals.
Conclusion
Group fitness classes are a great way to find motivation and accountability, while working with a trainer who can provide assistance with form and help you get results.
If you already have a membership, inquire about group fitness classes available to you. If not, register with us at SF9 fitness to see a change in your fitness journey.
