Group Exercise or Group Fitness is any form of workout taught in a group setting. Working out in a room full of strangers can be a nerve-racking experience and the atmosphere can seem incredibly intimidating or overwhelming. Don’t let the fear of that keep you from trying out group fitness though. Once you try it, you may never leave it. Here is what group fitness taught me.
New Friendships
When you attend group fitness classes surrounded by strangers don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and make new friends. Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know. It may not be the main objective of the class but building these new friendships can help build accountability, support systems, and it may just keep you going to those classes. If you are nervous about going alone to your first class, take a friend to go with you or take a look around and make a connection with someone else who is there alone.
Motivation
Group fitness instructors can be a ton of fun to be around. They bring a lot of energy to the class which will push you harder than you thought you ever could. Whether you’re a competitive person or not you will still push yourself. Being surrounded by people will push you to do more without you even realizing it. Also, the people around you are “in the same boat.” Don’t be afraid to offer someone a high five or a “good job!” after something that was particularly challenging.
Introduce yourself
Before you begin the class, take a second to introduce yourself to the instructor. Although the instructor usually knows who is new to the class, introducing yourself will make you feel more comfortable taking the class. This will allow you to find out what the class is like and inform the instructor that you would like help with exercises. This will also clue the instructor in that they might want to check in with you throughout the workout to see how you’re doing.
New Exercises
If you are not the one-on-one training person or don’t like trying new exercises on your own, group fitness can be a great alternative for you. Group fitness allows you to try new exercises that you would never try or think of doing. You can try them in a setting where someone is showing you exactly what to do and how to do it. This will help build repertoire of exercises and confidence for those other times when you are working out on your own.
Written by GUADS staff member Patrick with contributions from www.active.com
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