By Kat Egan, Personal Training Manager

There’s no wrong way to exercise, but research shows that exercising in a group setting can dramatically improve results and help you meet and exceed your fitness goals faster than you think! Along with being the Personal Training Manager for the Colorado Athletic Club’s Tabor location, I love leading Pilates, Yoga, Cycle, and Barre fitness classes. If you’re curious about the benefits of group exercise classes, wondering if classes are right for you, or feeling intimidated to work out in a group environment, here are some of the best reasons you should give them a try.

Physical advantages of group exercise

Group classes take the guesswork out of your workout

Group exercise classes are a great way to maximize the effectiveness of limited training time. Professionally-designed workouts optimize training intensities and work-to-rest ratios so the workout is challenging enough to yield results, yet balanced with enough rest that you can finish feeling satisfied, accomplished, and energized for your next activities. People who train on their own often go too hard or too long and rest too little between efforts, which diminishes workout quality and minimizes or even prevents fitness improvements.

You’ll push yourself harder when you’re in a group

There’s a well documented phenomenon – the Köhler Effect – that leads people to elevate their engagement and effort level, and hence their performance, during group activities compared with solo endeavors (Feltz et al. 2011). Everyone wants to contribute to the group effort and having people around you working hard naturally makes you give more effort.

The Köhler Effect doesn’t necessarily mean increasing your intensity to an uncomfortable or unsustainable extreme. Rather, it encourages people to extend the duration of efforts and complete intervals or tasks they might otherwise have quit early.

You’ll learn new exercises safely and effectively

Group exercise classes are a wonderful way to learn new movements and try new workouts under the supervision of trained professionals. We’re here to guide you through each exercise, make sure your intensity and resistance levels are appropriate, and encourage safe movement patterns.

Variety is a key component to continued progress, and group exercise classes provide a wide range of activities that target your muscle groups in new and different ways. This helps you avoid or push through fitness plateaus and also helps keep you engaged, curious, and interested in your fitness journey.

Psychological benefits of group exercise

Group classes mean missing fewer training sessions

Being part of a group means there’s a room full of accountability buddies waiting to see you! When I’m leading classes I love to see my regulars arrive and to welcome newcomers. The supportive and welcoming environment of a group exercise class makes people want to show up to work out together! Group classes are great opportunities to meet new people who have similar goals, values, and lifestyles.

Training together is less intimidating

Many people are self-conscious about trying something new in an open gym environment, but there’s safety in numbers! In a group exercise class you can follow along and take cues from the instructor as well as more experienced members. Classes are welcoming, supportive environments where we celebrate effort, improvement, and engagement.

Group exercise elevates your mood

The positive energy people bring to group exercise classes is contagious. One of the things I enjoy most about leading classes is seeing the weight of daily stress melt away as people feed off the positivity of others. Sometimes it’s the high-energy activity and energizing music of a cycling class, and sometimes it’s the collective calming of a yoga or Pilates session.

As you review the options for group exercise classes at Wellbridge locations, consider how you’d like a class to affect your mood. Are you looking for a quiet, guided environment to help settle your mood, or a higher-intensity, fast-paced setting that fills you with endorphins and leaves you feeling energized?

Group exercise makes big goals more achievable

The bigger the goal, the harder it is to achieve on your own. When you set ambitious fitness or performance goals it helps to work towards those goals with likeminded people, and to let people know what you’re working towards! Your goals are important to me and give me and others in the group valuable insights we can use to encourage you when the going gets tough and celebrate you when you reach new milestones.

How group exercise classes build community

It has never been easier for people to isolate themselves from everyone else, even in public settings. And there’s nothing wrong with seeking the privacy and focus of working out with noise-cancelling headphones sometimes. But group exercise classes are great for developing a sense of belonging and creating a warm, welcoming, and supportive social environment.

There are small but important ways we can all contribute to making group exercise classes an integral part of the Wellbridge community:
• I try to learn class members names and welcome everyone personally
• You can encourage or congratulate the person next to you
• Share tips and advice with newer or less experienced class members
• Coordinate schedules with class buddies to create even more accountability and have someone to catch up with at future classes

How to get the most out of group exercise classes

• Choose the right class level
With the wide variety of group exercise classes at Wellbridge locations, there is a class to match your desired intensity and experience level. Our goal is for you to feel challenged but never overwhelmed. If you have questions about what to expect from a class, consult with the Wellbridge staff at any location.

• Have clear goals
Are you looking to burn the maximum calories in an hour, build muscle and change body composition, develop strength for sport or lifestyle activities, or relieve stress and elevate your mood? Perhaps a combination of several goals? Knowing what you’re trying to get out of a group exercise class will help determine which classes you’ll benefit from the most, which ones you’ll enjoy the most, and what aspects of the classes you’ll want to focus on the most.

• Arrive prepared
Showing up to class a few minutes early and with the appropriate attire and equipment (if applicable) is a good way to set yourself up for success. It’s also important to eat and drink adequately in the 2-3 hours before an exercise class so you have the energy to focus and perform at your best. If you have questions about pre-workout nutrition and hydration, consult with a class instructor or the professional trainers at your Wellbridge location.

• Remember post-class recovery
What you do after you finish exercising determines how you’ll feel the next day, how you’ll perform in your next exercise session, and how quickly you’ll see results from exercising. Within an hour after a strenuous exercise class, aim to consume a snack or moderate-sized meal that delivers a balance of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, as all three macronutrients are important for post-workout recovery. Within 1-3 hours post exercise, you should also aim to replenish the fluids you lost from sweating during exercise.

• Track your progress
A simple training diary can be a valuable tool for tracking your progress. Over time, these journals – whether they’re online or on paper – can help identify exercise patterns that work best for you. For instance, you may learn that three classes per week is just right for making progress, but adding a fourth class per week leads to diminishing returns.

• Check in with professional trainers
We’re here to help you get the most out of your Wellbridge membership, whether that’s through personal training, group exercise classes, nutritional guidance, or showing you how a new machine works. With group exercise classes, instructors can help modify movements or sessions for your needs, help you utilize a variety of classes in a productive way, and help you optimally prepare and recover from exercise sessions to maximize enjoyment and results.

References:
Feltz DL, Kerr NL, Irwin BC. Buddy up: the Köhler effect applied to health games. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2011 Aug;33(4):506-26. doi: 10.1123/jsep.33.4.506. PMID: 21808077.