Group Fitness
Group fitness has exploded in the last decade or so. Brands like Orange Theory and Barry's have spearheaded the movement, with many local gyms adding classes to sweeten the deal for members. The group class format has the potential to be a great entry point for folks looking to build a workout habit, and it is unequivocally a good thing for the public at large. But that doesn't mean classes will work for everyone.
I work at a gym that offers a variety of group fitness classes—and wrote the programming for our barbell-based class for several years—so members and clients often ask me whether they should take them and/or where they might fit into their fitness routine. So let me lay out the very nuanced answer I give them, so you can decide if they’re a good fit for you.
Who Are Fitness Classes Great For?
People That Don't Want To Think When They Work Out
For the large majority of group fitness classes, you show up, the instructor shows you what to do, and you do it. You don't have to think about your program—whether that be the exercises, sets, reps, etc.—and you never need to worry about the logistical problems associated with navigating a busy gym. It’s pretty straightforward.
A lot of people don't want to think at the gym; they want to turn their brain off and get lost in intense physical exertion with loud-ass music crowding out the intrusive thoughts. If you’re this person, group fitness classes are tailor made for you.
People Who Are Motivated By Working Out With Others
Group fitness is also great for people who like to form trauma bonds with strangers. Suffering with others is way better than suffering alone, and you may may even make friends in the process. That’s also why classes provide a great opportunity for building or finding a community.
If you're trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle, making friends at a gym isn't the worst idea. If you know you're the type of person that feeds off the energy of others and enjoys fitness fellowship, classes are a great option for you.
People Who Want To Get Exposed To Lots Of Different Exercises
Gyms want you to come back so the classes are designed to be highly engaging and fun through the deployment of a shitload of novel exercises. When I designed the classes at The Training Room for several years, members never did the exact same workout twice. If you are the sort of person that wants to be titillated by your workouts, group fitness may be just what you’re looking for.
I want to mention one caveat though: there is a happy medium for variety. Good gyms and class instructors understand this and will throw in enough repetition to allow for progress and enough new stuff to keep you engaged and having fun.
They Can Be A Great Value
Group fitness is similar to meal services in that you're paying for someone that (hopefully) knows what they're doing to take care of most of the work for you. Without context class memberships may seem expensive, but you have lots of time options, the workout is already prepared for you, and you get the attention of a coach. If you make regular use of them, class memberships can provide tremendous value, especially unlimited plans.
But since classes are still significantly more expensive than traditional gym memberships, they may be out of budget for a lot of folks. As with most decisions around services and pricing, it's a question of value. If you frequently use the service and the outcome is significantly better than if you didn't have access to it, it may be worth the higher price.
Who Are Fitness Classes Not Great For
Folks That Want To Optimize Strength Or Muscle Growth
Fitness classes are wonderful at getting people moving and they can raise almost anyone’s “fitness floor”. In other words, they are great at creating fitness generalists. But if you want to excel in some area of fitness, whether that be strength, muscle growth, endurance, etc., you’ll need to move beyond classes. To be clear, that doesn’t mean you need to stop doing classes, but rather that they alone won’t be enough to get you to the next level.
To optimize strength or muscle growth, you need to increase the amount of weight and reps you can use for a particular exercise over time. It's difficult to do that in classes where the rate of exercise turnover is high, the rest times are short, and the rep schemes aren't consistent.
In other words, what you gain in variety and engagement with classes, you lose in specificity and the potential to greatly improve in a single fitness quality, like strength.
You Want More Control In Your Workouts
Not having to think can be great, but you're at the mercy of the instructor and what they decide to do that day. If they pick exercises you hate or that have minimal utility for you, tough shit. That's what's on the menu, take it or leave it. There's that meal service parallel again.
In many cases, fitness classes are where people start when they have no idea where to start. But once their general fitness needs are met, someone may decide they want more autonomy with their own workouts. From that point on, you’ll need to try personal training or customizing your own workouts.
You Need Something That's More Scalable
While a well-designed fitness class will cover the needs of most folks, they are still, in many ways, a one-size-fits-all approach to fitness. There is too wide a fitness level range to cater to everyone. If your fitness level is far below or far above the target participant, you may get little out of your experience.
Good class design accommodates a wide range of fitness levels, but folks exercising for the first time may want to find a lower entry point by engaging in activity on their own or may want to seek out a class that caters to beginners.
It's also common for some folks to take a class long enough to feel like they've maxed out what they get out of it. If that's the case, you may want to try something more specific on your own or find a class that caters to higher fitness levels.
You Want More Hands-On Instruction
Group fitness is designed to get lots of people in a room at the same time to maximize revenue for the gym and lower costs for the members. Instructors are vastly outnumbered and aren't able to watch everyone at all times. That's not their fault of course, but rather the way the model works. If you want more oversight, you need to increase the coach to participant ratio, which can be found in private, semi-private, and small group training.
An Extra Reason You May Not Want To Solely Rely On Classes
I am going to break the record for the number of times group fitness has been compared to meal services in this post, but the comparison is too perfect not to lean on it. Fitness classes have the same major problem as meal services: you don't learn as much. It's convenient as hell to have all the work done for you, but part of doing the work yourself is learning what works and doesn't work.
It's difficult to learn how to create effective workouts if you only take classes in the same way it's difficult to learn how to cook when someone else is always preparing your meals. Both have the potential to make you completely reliant on the service. If you intend to take classes for the rest of your life, by all means do it. But if you'd like to go off on your own at some point, consider trying to also put together your own workouts so you can start the learning process.
Wrapping Up
Fitness needs exist on a continuum. Where you are on that continuum will dictate the type of activities you should be engaging in. Someone that has never worked out before in their life may struggle in a class and some folks will want something more advanced or specific.
Classes can also work as a tool in your fitness tool belt rather than the be-all and end-all solution to your fitness needs. There is a happy medium where you can do your own workouts and fill in the gaps with classes, which is what I recommend for a lot of my clients. Just make sure you're giving yourself enough recovery time.
Finally, fitness classes can be a fantastic way to raise your fitness floor, meet new like-minded (or bodied) people, and remove the ambiguity for someone looking to build a workout habit. Most folks will NEVER need to move beyond the level of fitness classes provide, but as with every activity designed to accommodate a large group of people, anyone on the extreme ends may need to look elsewhere.
Thank for your reading, and as always, drop a comment if you have something you want to say.