Why group training is the ideal way to return to peak fitness

Why group training is the ideal way to return to peak fitness

10 July 2019

So, we’re now at the midpoint of the year, and you probably know what that means: it’s time to reflect on some of your New Year resolutions. If, like a lot of people, you set a weight loss or fitness-related resolution that you have already declared to be a failure, we aren’t going to blame you too much. After all, according to Lifehack, only 12% of people succeed with their resolutions. There are a lot of reasons for such widespread failure, and no, it’s not because you’re lazy. Lifehack has posited several of these potential reasons itself, including “you’re trying too hard”, “you don’t enjoy the process” and – especially intriguingly – “you have no social support”. This brings us neatly onto the subject of group exercise, and why it could be just the thing for reviving that supposedly ‘failed’ fitness resolution of yours before 2019 is over.

So, we’re now almost at the midpoint of the year, and you probably know what that means: it’s time to reflect on some of your New Year resolutions. If, like a lot of people, you set a weight loss or fitness-related resolution that you have already declared to be a failure, we aren’t going to blame you too much. After all, according to Lifehack, only 12% of people succeed with their resolutions.

There are a lot of reasons for such widespread failure, and no, it’s not because you’re lazy. Lifehack has posited several of these potential reasons itself, including “you’re trying too hard”, “you don’t enjoy the process” and – especially intriguingly – “you have no social support”.

This brings us neatly onto the subject of group exercise, and why it could be just the thing for reviving that supposedly ‘failed’ fitness resolution of yours before 2019 is over.

It helps to make working out so much less intimidating

Let’s start with the obvious reason why group training could be the ‘silver bullet’ – well, one of them, anyway – for turning around your fitness fortunes. You’ll be pursuing your exercise goals in the company of not just other participants in the group class, but also the professional trainer heading up that class.

Many of us are very intimidated by the thought of going to the gym by ourselves, due to a fear of being judged. Indeed, this was a concern cited by 65 per cent of women responding to one survey, and more than a third of men, as reported by Fitness magazine.

When you turn up to a group class, though, you’ll soon see that while different people may be at different stages of their fitness journey, we’re all ultimately the same. You don’t have to fret so much about being mocked by that buff athlete who’s always flexing his biceps in front of the mirror, when there will almost certainly be people in the class who’ll be at a similar stage to you.

What’s more, your fellow participants are likely to be able to provide you with tips, inspiration or even a shoulder to cry on whenever you fall just a few agonising pounds short of your weight loss target for the week or month.

It introduces a social element to your fitness efforts

Have you previously signed up for fitness classes, only to cancel a day before the first session out of embarrassment, or even just because you suddenly ‘couldn’t be bothered’ anymore... right up until the next day, when you suddenly wish you’d gone through with it after all?

Don’t worry... this is something that so many of us do. But just imagine if you had already attended a few group training sessions with the same co-participants – for example, one of the weight loss boot camps in the UK or Spain offered by Prestige Boot Camp – and you felt that same urge to ‘back out’.

For one thing, you wouldn’t have the embarrassment of attending to worry about, but instead the embarrassment of cancelling! Who wants to be that person in the group who gave up on the boot camp halfway through? In this sense, the fact that you’re chasing an exercise goal with other people around you can really drive your motivation to at least complete the course.

Plus, there’s also the readymade bunch of potential new friends that group training gives you – people who’ll be going through many of the same trials and tribulations as you. You’ll be able to swap banter together, talk about the match last night or just egg each other on when one of you is struggling. It all helps to make the whole process of getting fit so much more enjoyable for everyone in the class.

In short, when you wish to return to peak fitness or achieve a long-yearned-for weight-loss goal in a way that’s also fun and rewarding, there’s nothing quite like group training. So why not look up the leading gyms or boot camp providers online today to see what opportunities there could be to rejuvenate your exercise campaign with a little help from other people this year?