Benefits of group exercises

The biggest benefit of exercising with a group is that you never get fed up with the sometimes monotonous nature of the workout schedule. While we all realize that constant exercise is necessary to keep our fitness at optimal levels, we still often manage to find one reason or another to be non-punctual for our daily sessions. The basic reason why people – ordinary mortals and not fitness freaks – respond in this way, is the lack of interest one develop over a period of time in our workout routines. If one did not find anything interesting or entertaining in the sessions or life inside a gym, we simply wouldn't bother to turn up for another couple of hours of boredom. But, group exercises are a definite solution to this attitude. After all, who on this earth doesn’t like to be social and in the company of others, sharing the same fitness objectives of having fun, while enjoying the beauty of Newlands Forest?

	According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), one of the most important trends in fitness for 2009 is Group Exercise. Group Exercise can take many forms. The vast majority of group exercise classes are offered at commercial fitness clubs, in the form of aerobics classes, yoga classes, boxing instruction, and spinning classes as well as outdoors activities such as Forest Fitness. Whatever the form, group exercise is becoming increasingly popular, as it provides class members with scheduled, supervised and goal drive workouts. The scheduling of exercise forces individuals to make a time commitment to fitness and the supervision of a group class enables even novices to exercise safely, with proper technique while having fun.

Benefits of Group Exercise over Individual Exercise

Social benefits – Most people spend their early years socializing in groups. This includes games and fitness activities. In later years, most individuals are too busy to socialize regularly. Group exercise can mitigate this problem, by allowing scheduled group activity time. Group exercise has the added benefit of preventing boredom with exercise, by adding an element of camaraderie to the chosen activity.

Increased safety – Working out in a class, with an instructor, can help insure that all participants are using proper exercise technique. Proper technique is important to maximize the benefit of exercise, while minimizing the risk of injury.

Accountability – Those who exercise in groups are more likely to stick to their workout programs, according to the ACSM. Making an appointment to exercise with others increases the likelihood that the individual will show up to exercise. There is no penalty for a missed workout for those who exercise alone. Those who exercise with a group risk “angering” workout partners if sessions are missed. This provides some extra motivation to stick with the program.