Your Pro and Con List for Group Fitness Training.

When you find your perfect match life just seems to get that much better. Of course by perfect match we are talking about your Personal Trainer. Finding that one person who can get you to work out your hardest, make sure you are using proper form, and helps you to get to those lofty fitness goals you set for yourself can make the rest of your life just fall into place.

While having an awesome personal trainer is always great, sometimes you just a little something extra or maybe just a bit different. You may start to look into group fitness training on your own or at the suggestion of your trainer for a bit of a change in your workout routine.

There are Pros and Cons with Group Fitness Training (as with most things in life), but after weighing the pros and cons and maybe a little chat with your own personal trainer you can find the right class/group that works for you.

PROs:

Cheaper: Trainers can charge less than their normal hourly rate when they have a bigger group. You still get the expert workouts and help, but a lower cost to you.

More Motivation: Not all your workouts can be with your trainer, in many cases you are working out alone, group fitness classes add that bit of socialization and peer pressure to show up that a lonely weight bench at the gym just can’t inspire. Being surrounded by your peers also helps to keep you working at your hardest. You sure don’t want to be who gives up on the push-ups with only 10 seconds left.

High Energy Instructors/Classes: The music pumps through you, the instructor is jumping around you, your fellow classmates are pushing it to their limits. You can’t get this kind of energy working out alone.

Variety/Fun: There are just so many options these days with group fitness, while you may not like all of them, there is bound to be a few that tickle your fancy. Keeping things fresh and different is also good for you body, you are forced to use to different muscles and do many exercises you may never do by yourself or just can’t do without a partner.

CONs:

No Individual Attention: Even in small classes you lose the trainer’s total focus so that there may not be time for them to get to you and make sure you are using correct form. You will also not get exercises geared just for you and your goals whether they are to be stronger, faster, or recover from an injury in a safe and effective way.

Lack of Attention to Form: This con is linked to the previous, but it should be noted that if you are not doing the exercise correctly not only will not get your desired effect, but you could hurt yourself in the process. With big classes there just isn’t enough time for the trainer to get around to everyone to check form with each rep.

Group Controls the Exercise: As with must groups the group dictates the way things are going to go and that is the same for group fitness. You get swept up in the energy and competiveness that you might push yourself a bit too hard, or forget your proper form just to keep up.

Overtraining Potential: Many group classes have a “Push it to you drop” mentality which is great if you are doing a class a week or just sporadically, but if you take a few of those classes you could be at risk for over training.

Now that you have the pro/cons listed out for you can talk to your trainer (and doctor) about signing up for some different group fitness classes, find the ones that work best for your personality and your goals, and then go out their and have some fun sweating out with a few new friends.

What is your favorite group class?