Group Fitness Classes

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While walking up the stairs of the gym I work at, my client looked up at me and said, “Zenon, I think I hurt my back in the group fitness class I took yesterday. I kept on trying to engage my core the way you taught me but it was too hard.” Later, I was talking with two guys while they were waiting for their next group fitness class, and one said to the other, “There is this one teacher that’s amazing—his class is so hard!”

With the financial strains we are all feeling these days, gym goers are opting more and more to meet their daily fitness requirements by joining a class that is offered for free at their gym. This is good for many reasons. It’s a communal environment and seeing friends and neighbors from your community can motivate you to work hard, and it can be fun. But does working hard equal fitness? Not if you were to ask my client who hurt her back in class.

I always recommend, “Exercise conservatively, and go easy on the weights. You can always push harder tomorrow. But if you push yourself too hard now, you may not be exercising tomorrow at all or maybe longer.” Tempering your workout is rarely an option in a group fitness class, which often pushes you well beyond your limits, unless you’re willing to walk out or do your own thing during class and that is often a discouraging experience. This is not exactly a way to promote healthy living.

Correct exercise form is crucial for people who want to get lasting results from fitness routines. When our form is poor we often start using the wrong muscles and thereby defeat the purpose of being there. Worse yet, you can often exacerbate old aches and pains, or in the case of my client, get new ones. It is very difficult for one person facing twenty to make sure everyone is doing it correctly. It is not entirely up to the teacher to enforce good form, as students need to do their own do diligence, but I am afraid I have to say that I don’t see a lot of care for accuracy in the execution of exercises in group-fitness classes.  

Most trainers, especially elite trainers, see group fitness as a necessary evil in the fitness world. While talking about group fitness with one of our nation’s elite personal trainers he said, “Well it helps to make money,” as if it was the only thing of value he could say about group fitness.

Personally, I disagree. There is absolutely a place for group fitness. But group fitness on the whole needs to have clear standards and requirements and gym goers should actively seek out guidance and direction on how to make the most of the class in a safe way.

Suggestions for Group Fitness Providers:

•    Limit class sizes to fewer than 20
•    Ensure that each and every person gets some direct attention and correction.
•    Spend more time teaching the exercise before running the class ragged.
•    Clearly post workout intensity levels.

Suggestions for Group Fitness Students:

•    Make SURE your form is correct.
•    Do your homework on your class.
•    Who is the teacher, what are their qualifications, certifications?
•    Always ask questions, no matter how small.

Although I am a personal trainer, I remember teaching fitness and martial arts classes years ago, and it was great. I hope to have the chance to teach group fitness again, but if I do I can promise you that I will not be hurting people by working them too hard! Instead, I plan to teach them with accuracy so when they do work hard they will get the benefits they planned on.

Zenon Dolnyckyj is the co-founder of Golf BodyPro and a fitness professional in New York City. His website is golfbodypro.com and his email is zenon.d@golfbodypro.com.