After being on such a rigid training schedule all summer and fall, it was a breath of fresh air to do whatever the hell I wanted on the workout front. I let my body recover, I took all the classes and now I’m back in the swing of things and following a somewhat routine.
Without any races on the horizon, I don’t have any major fitness goals at the moment. Yes, I’m a fitness blogger with no fitness goals. Is that even allowed? Even though it’s not a tangible goal, regaining my strength has been my main focus in the 2+ months since I ran 26.2 miles.
My new fitness routine has essentially become:
Monday– Strength at Uplift
Tuesday– Cardio of sort (currently spending lots of time spinning at CYC thanks to Calories for a Cause)
Wednesday– Yoga
Thursday– Exceed
Either Friday, Saturday or Sunday is rest day. Then I do another day of strength (typically at Body Space Fitness or Kore) and one “wild card workout” as I like to think of it at somewhere slightly out of the box that I’ve been curious about.
Yes, that’s all group fitness, all the time. I cancelled my Equinox membership at some point this summer because it was getting a little ridiculous. I used Equinox as a shower more so than anything. While it was a lovely shower and I deeply miss those Kiehl’s products, it was definitely not worth $205 a month.
I’ve since been booking about 95% on my workouts on Fitreserve (<—$50 off code), which I’ve talked about here a bit. All group fitness, all the time works for me right now for a few reasons:
I’ve been feeling lazy. Training for a marathon requires a lot of self motivation. Running a marathon required a lot of self motivation. You end up giving yourself a lot of pep talks during a 4+ hour run. Since the marathon, I’ve felt like all my motivation has been sucked out of me. Group fitness classes are great when you lack motivation because you get to feed off the energy of others plus your instructor.
On the subject of laziness… Group fitness is blissfully mindless. All I have to do is show up, and someone else does all the brain work. I’m fully capable of creating my own workouts (and have the NASM certificate to prove it) but there’s something nice about going with the flow and doing what someone else planned out.
Accountability. Signing up for a group fitness class means I will [probably] go to said class because 1. I hate losing money and 2. I’m friendly with a lot of the instructors and they’ll make me feel a tiny bit guilty for skipping class.
Efficiency. I’m totally guilty of wasting a ton of time while I’m working out on my own and then either I can’t squeeze in the full workout I wanted to because I wasted too much time, or I end up calling it quits early because I’m not longer in the zone.
Running before work really stressed me out unless I was doing timed intervals. 4 miles can take me anywhere from 40 minutes to forever depending on how slow I’m moving. Group fitness classes have a set start and end time.
Maybe I’ll grow sick of my group fitness routine in a few months (although I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of Uplift…) but for now I’m enjoying focusing on both regaining my strength and only hitting up the workout classes I truly like.
I’m a group fitness instructor and personal trainer and fully capable of designing my own workouts and pushing myself.
And yes, I signed up for a 3 x a week small group training program for exactly the reasons you describe; letting somebody else be responsible for coming up with the workouts, being accountable because I’ve paid for them and wanting to be more efficient in the gym (everybody knows me at the gym I train at and wants to stop and chat, in particular, about the recent loss of a family member).
Sometimes being a part of a group is a really good thing.
So happy to hear I’m not alone in this sentiment, I’ve had other personal trainers scoff at me for this.
I’m right there with you! I love the mindlessness of walking in a class and knowing I’ll be drenched in sweat 45 mins later!
At 6AM/ 7AM it’s the best, right? Get in, get out
Great post! I’ve recently learned about the importance of really listening to my body (and mind) in terms of what I need from my fitness routine. When I listen, I find I’m more motivated, engaged, consistent and see much better results. So good for you for going with the flow, and thanks for sharing these thoughts.
Chrissy
http://www.thestretchlife.com
It’s so true and so important. It definitely informs me and whether or not I need to push harder or slow down.
I love group fitness for those reasons too (especially in my now post-fall marathon, winter transition). I have to get there at a certain time and know I’ll be working out for 45-60 minutes, and don’t have to think about what to do.
Seriously, post-marathon it’s the way to go after all that self motivating.
Interesting – I haven’t heard of Fitreserve before and curious about Uplift. Which class of theirs do you really enjoy? Too bad none of these various services (Fitreserve, ClassPass, etc) include trapeze! That’s the dream, right?
I’m obsessed with Uplift’s strength class. There was a hot second when I was still working for CP and they had trapeze at Streb. I legit freaked out because free trapeze. They might still offer trapeze in other cities but I don’t think at Streb anymore.
Oooh actually, it looks like they do list Streb. Interesting. Still never been there – something about falling into mats makes me squirm.
For some reason the mats didn’t bother me. The board feels really far away though and they wouldn’t let me take off a rise. It’s also a “shorter” rig I’m pretty sure which means you have to speed up your trick a touch. Despite that always I’ve always had great instructors and small classes there
All of these points are SPOT ON.
I so look forward to strength training again after running a marathon but often to plan on workouts and get myself to the gym is asking a lot after 4 months of self-motivation. Group classes are great and I’m competitive, so they push me to do my best instead of checking my phone for 3 minutes in between each exercise haha
I took a class at Uplift once and loved it. Have you tried Peloton cycle? It’s my favorite 🙂 Going to check out Swerve one of these days as well!
Seriously, getting back to working out was SO hard post marathon
I love Peloton, such a beautiful studio. Definitely have to check out Swerve if competition is your thing!
I am not training for any races right now, or in the near future, so I am certainly enjoying doing whatever workouts I want whenever I want. I haven’t gotten back in the group ex workouts yet, but have been loving the Nike Training Club app to push me to do new workouts!
Love that app, my favorite when I’m traveling and need quick inspiration at a hotel gym
I’m with you on the group class thing! Part of why I love CrossFit is because the workout is assigned each day. No thinking necessary at the crack of dawn haha.
Thinking at 6AM/7AM just ain’t happening, so much easier when it’s planned out
I’m all about group fitness, It keeps me motivated and accountable!
It’s the best!
I am so much more likely to follow through with workouts (and have fun!) if I go to group fitness classes! Whether it’s zumba, cardio hip hop, body pump, etc., I love them. Totally agree with you.
I hear ya, way more fun that making my own date with the treadmill or dumbbells
i love group fitness for your reason behind efficiency! i’ve been active for year, but over the past year, i began getting a bit lazy/unfocused, and like the motivation of an instructor.
however, i like to change everything 🙂 and being in group fitness, i cant do a plank at the end of every round if i feel like it, so sub an exercise, or do arms when they design a leg workout. for that reason, i couldnt solely do group fitness. but i’m so glad i branched out and tried it!
This is such an interesting perspective! I’m a runner through and through and desperately wished I did more workout classes and group fitness because I neglect it like crazy! It can be very expensive though and I usually see running as easier because I don’t have to drive anywhere or coordinate around anyone’s schedule but my own. You make it sound so fun and simple though and it makes me want to start doing group fitness ASAP!
AMEN! To all of this. I owe so much of my health and happiness to Group Fitness.