The Power Of Group Fitness

A lot of guys dismiss group fitness classes as a viable part of their fitness arsenal but a well taught class that fulfils key training areas is a powerful weapon that will help you get results faster.

When I first started out in this industry, I never thought I would be a group fitness instructor but here I am years later teaching 14 classes per week. At the moment it all actually pretty much takes care of all my training needs (not to mention all my recovery capacity). Over the years I have seen first hand how powerful group fitness can be and how the separation between weight room gym work and classes is really an irrelevant distraction created by those with vested interests.

Group Fitness Classes can be incorporated to enhance what you are already doing or even as a complimentary change to pounding heavy weights.

For example most people don’t stretch enough if at all. If they do, it’s often way too short. I’m fortunate to be able to take care of mobility and flexibility needs by teaching Pilates. Adding a class like this will enhance your training greatly. One of the secrets to squatting serious weights is functional flexibility. If you don’t have it, you will never squat that double bodyweight plus that will transform your physique. It’s that simple. Serious core strength is pretty helpful too. One guy in my class is stacking about 60kg on his back when he does a plank hold these days. With a core that strong how do you think his lifting is going?

Cardio is another area of training that is often not particularly exciting. But it doesn’t have to be. Find a class to take care of it. It’s much easier to just turn up and get the job done when time seems to go faster with an engaging instructor and the right format. With pumping music and a great coach to take you further than otherwise possible, you will get better results faster. A real no-brainer if there ever was one.

Finally what about making group fitness classes a key part of your major training efforts? I have lifted weights for more than half my life, most of it tending towards heavy weights for strength. So when I thought yeah let’s give BODYPUMP a try - muscular endurance, light weights piece of cake.

  Obviously I was wrong! Muscle grows best from a variety of stimuli and adding resistance based classes including strength circuits etc will target different muscular systems and structures. If you have been lifting heavy for some time, it also helps to give your joints a break.

Blowtorching Body Fat In Record Time – Part 2

Recently interval training, where periods of high intensity effort are broken up with periods of lower intensity effort has become all the rage. In terms of marketing this is being hyped as a new fad to the masses even though its effectiveness has been known by those in the know for more than 50 years. The beauty of interval training is that it allows for a much higher average work rate that also creates great metabolic and hormonal changes in favour of fat burning. Proper interval training is one of the keys to transforming yourself into a true fat burning machine.

The thing is to do it properly at the necessary intensity, safely and sustainably is challenging. This is especially true for the masses as various ‘systems’ have popped up promising rapid fat loss results in just 20 minutes or even less of ‘work’. This marketing fad bullseyes the whole ‘quick and easy’ hot button by bastardising solid science that found interval training is more efficient than LSD in terms of fat loss in a given time frame. The reality is that just because you are doing intervals doesn’t mean that you can shorten your work time and expect magical results. To get the best results you still need to put in the time, intervals will just make you work harder so you get leaner faster.

Interval training has great value but it is challenging work. It needs genuine effort and intensity to work otherwise it will turn into just a short low intensity session that burns very few calories without the metabolic benefits. For most people it is also very easy to over do it in their zeal and not have correct work to rest ratios and tire out too quickly or worse injure themselves. Depending on the method chosen (such as running/sprints) it can also be quite taxing on the body including the joints meaning that you may not be able to do it as frequently as you need to. Thus to get the most from intervals, you ideally need a well-managed program to drive the necessary intensity as well as prevent injuries and overtraining.

Despite all the current hype surrounding interval training, it is wrong to say LSD has no value in a maximised cardio program. Again it is a case of understanding how your body works and thus seeing how the advantages of LSD training can be maximised as a fat loss tool. Its strength is that it is relatively gentle on the body meaning that it can be done frequently (which adds up to a decent amount of calories over time) or in addition to interval training for additional work without taxing recovery or even as a form of active recovery. The other key trait is to really emphasise the “long” part of the equation. As great as intervals are, you can’t do them for 6-8 hours let alone for several days but with LSD training you can and if you get creative, this is where it really comes into its own as a fat stripping powerhouse.

To MAXIMISE your cardio and fat loss training it is a matter of harnessing the inherent advantages of both long steady distance and intervals. In theory, to burn off stubborn fat stores as fast as humanly possible you must create a training environment for long steady distance where you could keep the heart rate elevated in the fat burning zone for several hours sustainably to burn a significant amount of calories with a high proportion of them being from fat TOGETHER with finding a way to perform intervals as often as possible at the necessary intensity by not impacting on the joints and carefully managing work to rest ratios and recovery to reduce muscular soreness.

Once you understand the advantages and disadvantages of the various pieces of cardio equipment in the gym as well as being a little creative exploring other fat loss training options it is very easy to create a practical fat loss training system for yourself that perfectly matches the theoretical model and will rapidly incinerate fat when combined with your customised nutritional system