You reluctantly begin to stir as the alarm breaks the silence of the early morning. Your hands, feet, arms and legs begin to come alive. Your eyes open slightly as you struggle momentarily to make sense of your surroundings. The absence of dawn’s early light reminds you it’s too early be awake. You are at the crossroads...
You mindlessly make your way to the car. The proverbial horn has blown, and you have had a DAY! The dread sets in as you exit the parking lot and are reminded of the unpleasantness of the daily commute. You long for the coziness of home and comfort of your favorite sweatshirt. The crossroads approach. Left to home, right to group exercise...
We live in a world where so many things compete for our time. We often find ourselves at the crossroads where we must decide how to prioritize the competing requirements of life. So we asked our members and group exercise instructors, why do you make group exercise classes at the Y a part of your life?
Self-care: As so many things fill up our daily schedules, it’s important to take time for ourselves. Leave all the “things” at the door and take time to focus inward, take time to be selfish, take time to breathe, take time to sweat...take time to be better.
Camaraderie: Group exercise: for all those times where you want to skip a workout, but you know you have a community of friends, a tribe that will hold you accountable and is looking forward to joining you on your journey.
Energy: Join a fun, social atmosphere where people bring it! There are no shortcuts because the motivation is high and it’s contagious. Group exercise gives you that little extra nudge to finish that last round or those last few repetitions.
Variety: Run the same route, do the same 30 minutes on the elliptical, lift the same three sets of ten. It’s common to find your workouts lacking variety. Group exercise offers something for everyone spread across different days and times breaking the monotony and ensuring you don’t fall into the same old routine.
Goals: They may be different, but we all have them: lower the numbers on the scale, decrease the inches on our waistline, run faster, jump higher, overall general health. It doesn’t matter what your goals are. Group exercise is here to help you accomplish them. Just like our goals are different, people are different, and group exercise is scalable, flexible and accommodating to diverse people with diverse goals.
Written by Cooper YMCA Boot Camp Instructor Travis Horner