Fit Friday #1: Fears in Group Fitness

I’ve been teaching group fitness classes for nearly 8 years. In all of my time as an instructor, I’ve heard every. single. excuse. for people not getting to classes and enjoying the fabulous environment of a group exercise class.

I thought it would be fun to put all of them into one space, because — let’s be real: if one person makes an excuse (which I’m calling ‘fears’ today), someone else has the same fear/excuse. As someone who is super introverted, I had ALL of these fears before I shyly entered a Zumba Fitness class more than 10 years ago (and immediately walked to the back corner, away from the instructor).

Do any of these resonate?

• I don’t want to do the wrong thing. Oh my, I hear this one ALL the time! First, who cares? I have never taught a fitness class where everyone was on the same beat, doing the same thing, at the same time. Even ME! Maybe you go left when others go right, maybe you spend more time on a move than others, maybe you try a fun variation of a move. This is about YOU. Everyone who comes to a group fitness class is way more concerned about themselves than what you’re doing, trust me.

• I can’t ________. Fill in the blank — can’t dance, can’t jump, can’t do a push-up. Guess what? All people who come to classes are NEW at one point, and many of them “can’t” do these things at first, either. As a group fitness instructor, it is my job to help you make the workout your own. I love showing variations of moves, and I’ll even help you with a different move (very common during insanity classes) that works for you, if you find that the move we’re doing isn’t the best for you. Can’t is not in our vocabulary! We’ll find something together that you can do.

• I don’t have time. This is one of my favorites. I’m also guilty of proclaiming this. I’m training myself to instead say “that’s not a priority to me” and if I feel awful about that admission, I know that it’s not time I don’t have, it’s a confusion of priorities. Working out takes like 4% of your day if you spend an hour doing it. Looking at it this way, it’s miniscule in comparison to the rest of your day. Also, group fitness classes are offered at all times of the day. And the latest trend is maximizing the workout in a shorter amount of time (think HIIT workouts like insanity). So, 30 minutes and you can be done for the day. Thirty minutes! (check out the various class times I offer on the shore!)

• I’m way too tired. This is a tough one, at first. However, working out/engaging in exercise actually helps BOOST energy. And, the flow in a group fitness class practically doubles that energy. There’s nothing more awesome than a group of people killing it on the floor together. You’ll leave feeling challenged, refreshed, and ready to conquer the rest of your morning/day/evening.

• I’m not ‘fit enough’ to do that. Everyone starts at the beginning. As my yoga instructor reminded us recently, we are all beginners. Every day. How will you improve your fitness if you avoid the thing that will help you get there? I really believe that a group fitness/exercise atmosphere is the least intimidating way to get started. Everyone there wants to improve, and as I’ve found, everyone wants everyone else to rock the workout, too. And, even better, I’ve seen participants push each other, in a really healthy and encouraging way.

I’m here to help you find success with your workouts. Please, feel free to reach out if any of these ‘fears’ sound like you, and I’m happy to help encourage you!