7 Benefits of Working Out in a Class
The benefits of working out are seemingly endless. By devoting just an hour a day to exercising, you’ll see the benefits in the form of:
- Improving your mood
- Boosting your energy
- Controlling your weight
- Lowering your risk of health problems and disease
- Helping you sleep better
- Giving your sex life more, well, life
To be honest, as long as you are careful and properly training, there are absolutely no downfalls to working out.
Like the saying goes “you’ll never regret working out — you’ll only regret not working out.”
However, getting that motivation to head to the gym on your own can be quite overwhelming.
First of all, there’s the lack of accountability. When you’re working out alone, the only person you’re held accountable to is yourself. This makes it super easy to wake up feeling a bit too tired and roll back over to sleep through your workout, or super easy to drive right past the gym on your way home from work to watch some Netflix instead.
Secondly, there’s the intimidation. You may feel as if you don’t know how to use any of the machines at the gym, and don’t worry — you are not alone. It can be scary to walk into a gym and make the best use of it.
However, do not lose hope — we’ve got the perfect solution: take a class.
Group exercise is the solution to all of your solo exercise woes, and we are here today to share with you why.
Read on to find out the top reasons why you stand to benefit a great deal from working out in a class.
Why You’ll Love Working Out in a Class
1. You’ll have stress-free structure.
With a group class, especially Pilates, the class is incredibly structured.
You don’t have to spend a bunch of time planning what you’re going to do for the hour of class. You simply have to show up, give it your all, and be ready to have your butt kicked.
The instructor is there to take the reigns of structuring the class so you can focus all of your attention on strengthening your body and making the best use of that hour.
2. You’re more likely to show up.
With most group exercise classes today, especially Pilates classes in L.A., you’ve got to sign up in advance to secure your spot in the class.
This makes it much more likely that you are going to push yourself to show up for the class, even when you aren’t really feeling it.
Because who wants to pay for the class and a cancellation fee, just for being lazy?
3. You’ll gain confidence.
How many times have you gone to the gym, only to do the exact same workout routine over and over again, never really expanding your knowledge or building your confidence to try something new?
Working out in a class pushes you to go outside of your comfort zone and learn things you wouldn’t normally do on your own at a gym.
And this leads to a major boost in confidence.
4. You’ll get a better workout.
Chances are good you’ve had those days when you’re out for a run alone, start to feel a little bit tired and just decide to call it quits.
If you’re exercising in a class, it’s much harder to call it quits when everyone else around you keeps going.
In fact, a study done in 2012 asked some of the participants to ride a stationary bike alone, and some of the others to ride it in a group. The ones who cycled solo only did so for just over 10 minutes, while the participants who were cycling in a group were able to push on for nearly 20 minutes.
When you crunch the numbers, that equates to 87% more exercise that happened in the group setting.
You can chalk it up to competition, distraction, or anything else you’d like, but there’s no denying that working out in a class setting massively increases the effectiveness of your exercise.
5. You’ll have more fun.
The same routine of working out alone can get really old, really fast.
While a solo workout here and there can be enjoyable, when that’s all you’ve got, you’re going to burn out quickly.
By choosing to work out in a class, you are guaranteeing you’re going to have a lot more fun. And, that means you’ll be increasing your chances of finding ways to incorporate that class into your life a lot more.
Plus, workout classes such as an L.A. Pilates class is a great way to meet new people, and everyone loves making friends.
6. You’ll have a support system.
In addition to all the other reasons working out alone isn’t the best, you also have the reason that it lacks a support system.
When you work out in a class setting, you not only have your fellow sweating friends to support you, you also have the support of the instructor.
The combo of these two things proves to be massively important in helping you push through the tough parts of class and get you closer to achieving your fitness goals.
7. You’ll feel much more motivated.
There’s something about walking into a Pilates Platinum studio with the music bumping that really gets you psyched to work out.
And, we don’t have to tell you that you won’t get this when you’re working out alone.
Plus, when you’re in a class, you’ve got an instructor there to motivate you through the last 10 seconds of the pose, despite the fact your body is shaking like crazy.
So what are you waiting for? Give Pilates a try today by signing up for one of our classes. Your first session is just $10!