We don’t beat around the bush here. We don’t avoid tricky questions either. Although the fitness classes we offer are entirely free and unlimited to members we explore whether they’re worth doing, as many of our members favour a personal workout on the gym floor over a group session. So let’s dive in…
Who are they good for?
The first part to understanding if they’re worth doing for you is if you know what you want to achieve in the gym. If you’d like a truly personal workout that you can do at any time then sure, they might not suit. However, if you lack the know-how to construct your own training plan or if you’re new to the whole gym thing, using exercise classes as a place to start and inspire yourself is great.
Another element to this is they can fit in with your lifestyle around your working hours. Many of our timetabled classes cater for a 9-5ers routine, but that’s not to say that there’s nothing for those who work unsocial hours. In fact we schedule a wide variety during the day to offer more options to those with flexible or unsocial working hours.
Following on from that, if your time is precious and you only have a limited amount that you can spend in the gym, you’ll want to make it count right? Well by joining a fitness class you ensure the 45 to 60 minutes of the time you’re in the gym is all impactful. You’re led by a qualified instructor to preplanned motivational music with exercises that are going to push your limits and help you improve.
Can they be personalised?
You might be surprised to learn that actually group exercise classes in gyms can have a great deal of personal factors to them. Just because you’re doing the same class as lots of other people doesn’t mean you can’t tailor it to you.
Our instructors are great at offering substitute exercises who find the scheduled ones too easy or hard. There are also opportunities to change the weight used if you’re doing a body pump or a bootcamp class, as well as the ability to adjust resistance for ease or difficulty during a spin class.
Do they help mental fitness?
Group fitness classes can be a great benefit of mental fitness in more ways than one. Firstly, it provides a brilliant opportunity to become part of a community and make friends. As you’re doing the same class as many others, over time you’ll recognise familiar faces, build confidence to say hello and engage with the instructors or newbies. You might even have a regular or fellow newbie reach out to you in your first class.
It might come as no surprise that many forms of exercise can benefit your mind but, certain classes may do this better than others. For example, restorative yoga helps you unwind, Zumba can make you feel upbeat and awake or Pilates will help you relax starting with your muscles.
Do they get boring?
The variety of classes we include in our fitness timetable allows you to select a new fitness class every time so you never grow tired. You also have the ability to try different instructors and times of the day so you’ll be able to see which you like the most.
Even if you attend the same class type and time each week you’ll still never really be doing the exact same class. Why? Because our fitness class instructors are so great at what they do. They change the music and exercises involved so it’s not repetitive and provides a full body workout.
What about other people?
We know fitness classes across the industry were hit hardest by aftereffects of the pandemic and in some cases they still haven’t fully recovered. Many instructors have had to give up what they love doing because people find exercising in a group feels riskier to do, which makes their classes unviable to run. For the sake of instructors we think that giving a fitness class a go even if just once a week, will be worth it to them.
All In All:
We would have to say yes, fitness classes are worth giving a go even if the reason isn’t just for yourself. Our advice is: if you’re already a member you should, especially as they are included in your membership price and you have a huge variety to choose from.
Find your next fitness class here…
Not a member? Sign up here for unlimited free classes in your membership…
Liked reading this, why not check out our blog on Exercising in a Gym to Improve Mental Health by clicking here…
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