Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. Now this week, we are talking to those of you who love group fitness classes, but you find that a lot of times you get hurt while you are doing them. What steps should you take to ensure you are able to find a group exercise class that won’t hurt you?
1) Check Out The Class Before Participating
Tip Number One To Finding A Group Fitness Class That Won’t Hurt You: Go see if you can check out the class before you actually participate in the class. A lot of times, just by watching the class and seeing how the instructor interacts with the students, you can gain valuable insight into how the class will be run before you try it out.
Action Step: Some gyms go as far as to broadcast their group exercise classes online. This can be a great opportunity for you to see how the class works before you give it a shot.
Related: Tips for the 20-minute workout
2) Interview The People Who Are Taking The Class
Tip Number Two To Finding A Group Fitness Class That Won’t Hurt You: Interview the people who are taking the class. See what their experience has been like and whether or not they have ever gotten injured while doing the class or a similar type of class. Talk to those who are currently doing the program to see what their experience has been like while doing it.
Action Step: When the class is ending, see if you can talk to a person or two to ask them about how the classes have been going for them. Also, some group classes have online communities on Facebook, so that can be another good place to connect with others to hear their experience.
Related: Baby Boomers – Exercise tips if you’ve never worked out before
3) Find A Class That Offers Multiple Levels Of Challenge
Tip Number Three To Finding A Group Fitness Class That Won’t Hurt You: Find a class that offers multiple levels of challenge. Remember, the challenge that is going to benefit you the most is going to be the appropriate challenge, not the hardest challenge. So, when you find a class that offers multiple levels of challenge or a studio that offers multiple levels of classes at different levels of challenges, this might be a better fit for you.
Action Step: Look up the classes online to see if there are different levels offered. Also, this is where the participants’ insight can be very helpful as they can tell you if different modifications are offered during the class.
