6 Unique Benefits of Group Exercise Classes

Any type of regular physical activity has 100’s of health benefits.

• 45 benefits of strength training 

• 35 Benefits of Aerobic Training or Planned Physical Activity.+ 

• Exercise as medicine – evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in 26 different chronic diseases - Pedersen - 2015 

But what happens when we complete these exercise modes during a group class? Here are six unique benefits to training with others versus on your own. 

1. Adherence and consistency in completing regular exercise is easier.

   • The better health outcomes measured with research after completing group exercise versus exercising in isolation is often explained by it being easier to be more consistent with exercise and any habit in general when there is a social expectation to show up. The more consistent your exercise habits are, the more long-term benefit you will achieve Group versus individual approach? A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity | BPS - British Psychological Society + Building & Changing Habits with James Clear of "Atomic Habits"  + Adherence to community based group exercise interventions for older people: A mixed-methods systematic review - ScienceDirect + Group-based physical activity for older adults (GOAL) randomized controlled trial: Exercise adherence outcomes - PubMed + Is there evidence that walking groups have health benefits? A systematic review and meta-analysis | British Journal of Sports Medicine 

   • Interestingly, those who exercise in groups tend to perceive exercise as more important on average compared to those who exercise on their own, which might also foster weekly consistency. The acceptability of physical activity interventions to older adults: A systematic review and meta-synthesis - ScienceDirect

   • In a group class setting, someone else is thinking for you, so there is less mental fatigue in deciding what to train that day, which can also make regular exercise easier. 

     
     

2. Group exercise improves subjective well-being and mental health.

   • It is hard to know if these benefits are due to socialising improving self-esteem, health optimism or the stress relieving effects of receiving social support instead due to better adherence to long term exercise which has powerful mental health benefits on its own. Movement for mental health with Professor Brendon Stubbs. EP#553 | BJSM Podcast Exercising alone versus with others- The JAGES Cohort Study | Scientific Reports +  Exercise Arrangement Is Associated with Physical and Mental Health in Older Adults - PubMed + Received social support and exercising: An intervention study to test the enabling hypothesis - PubMed Group exercise for adults and elderly: Determinants of participation in group exercise and its associations with health outcome

     
     

3. Increases social engagement and fosters social connections.

   • Belonging to a group that meets regularly promotes increased feelings of group support, trust, and commonality, which are unique mechanisms that promote a longer and higher quality lifespan. Comparing the Happiness Effects of Real and On-Line Friends - PMC  

   • This is especially effective when training with people your gender and age. Older adults' preferences for exercising alone versus in groups: Considering contextual congruence | Annals of Behavioral Medicine | Oxford Academic + How, where and with whom? Physical activity context preferences of three adult groups at risk of inactivity | British Journal of Sports Medicine + Repeated exercise class attendance: The role of class members' similarity and social identification - ScienceDirect

   • In case you miss your group class or do not like group exercise classes, know that exercise on its own reduces the negative effects of social isolation. Real-life behavioral and neural circuit markers of physical activity as a compensatory mechanism for social isolation | Nature Mental Health 

     
     

4. Peer-based learning is one effective method of learning and mastering new skills

   • Observing other's exercise can help you master exercise competence and become confident your exercise technique fits within the normal wide range of safe movement demonstrated across the average class participant. Watching in-class coaching demonstrations and then practicing specific exercises with others to observe around you when you don't want to invest in getting one-on-one coaching is a very effective way to learn a large variety of exercises you can complete.  A Qualitative Analysis of Emotional Facilitators in Exercise - PMC   

   
   

5. Cost saving.

   • Despite long-term cost saving from investing in exercise for your health often, the cost is a perceived barrier to starting exercise in any gym environment. Classes are often more affordable than one-on-one coaching, so you can spend the savings on your other hobbies or visit Method Health's coffee shop after class with your new friends.

   • Economics of sport and physical activity participation and injury, Health costs avoided from being physically active - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. A comparison of Australian families’ expenditure on active and screen‐based recreation using the ABS Household Expenditure Survey 2003/04 - ScienceDirect.

   
   

6. Energy expenditure is often larger in group classes

   • Energy expenditure is often larger in group classes compared to training on your own which can be helpful to supplement any weight loss goals. Energy Expenditure and Intensity of Group-Based High-Intensity Functional Training: A Brief Report - PMC + The Effects of a Single Session of High Intensity Functional Training on Energy Expenditure, VO2, and Blood Lactate - PMC Most classes aim to facilitate weight loss goals by completing a lot of exercise in a time-efficient manner. Group classes should not replace other lifestyle strategies to facilitate weight loss Fat Loss Myths can play a big part in having a very active day and maintaining weight loss. 

   • If your primary goal at the moment is weight loss, be careful of intentionally compensating by being inactive in other parts of the day, such as saying, “I did a big session this morning, so I don’t need to be active later.” This might feel normal or be subconscious after doing a big exercise session, so you will still need strategies to maintain weight loss efforts Constrained Total Energy Expenditure and Metabolic Adaptation to Physical Activity in Adult Humans - PubMed 

   • A normal response from the body during weeks of “volitional starvation” as you lose more weight is for compensation behaviour to become more subconscious. What is the effect of diet and/or exercise interventions on behavioural compensation in non-exercise physical activity and related energy expenditure of free-living adults? A systematic review - PubMed + Weight loss induces changes in adaptive thermogenesis in female and male physique athletes This is where keeping an eye on your daily step count and/or making plans to do more exercise or reduce food intake anyways each week to months is important. Exercise Calorie Calculator: Easily estimate calories burned. 

So those are all benefits of group exercise classes. How good! However, group classes have some important limitations that guide your expectations of what you should achieve after months of regular attendance.

This should guide when one-on-one coaching might be worth the investment for the short term before continuing with group exercise classes.

• As group exercise classes often combine strength and aerobic exercise modes, you won’t maximise improvement in either. You will still get stronger. You will still get fitter. It will just be less of each than if you trained each mode separately. If you really care about achieving a specific goal, such as increasing fitness in a specific aerobic exercise mode (like completing a half marathon for the first time), getting as strong as possible at one or some specific lifts or movements (like bench pressing or squatting your bodyweight), or breaking through muscle growth plateaus, individualised training with a coach or following a program guided by a coach, might be best. If you only care right now about the general maintenance of exercise-induced higher quality of life, group classes are perfect for you. Optimizing concurrent training programs: A review on factors that enhance muscle strength - PMC 

• Exercise training in isolation is quite suitable if you don’t have trouble adhering to consistent training and you already reap the benefits of being social in other regular settings. 

• It might not be perfect for the initial stages of managing a new injury or recovering from a flare-up of pain. Often, the tolerable dosage of movement you want to improve on is hard to individualise during class when you're trying to fit in with what others are doing. Often days to weeks of individualised training might be better in these cases to help you regain tolerance to the vigorous and positively chaotic nature of group classes. Do we need another trial on exercise in patients with knee osteoarthritis? - Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. Sometimes, the group class coach has time to help you with specific modifications of exercises when returning to group classes. Still, it's best practiced outside of a group class setting first. Group classes can be a large physical stressor which can be a risk factor for pain flare-ups in any area of the body, so taking your time beginning classes while adapting to each large dose of daily exercise should ensure you will adapt over time to be able to tolerate whatever a group class throws at you.   

• Classes can encourage an effort of exercise that is above or below what you would typically self-select. In some contexts, self-selected intensity benefits a health goal more than when someone else selects your training intensity. Self-selected training intensity/effort or exercise choice might be more enjoyable as well, which can determine long-term weekly consistency of keeping active Disentangling the effects of choice and intensity on affective response to and preference for self-selected- versus imposed-intensity physical activity - ScienceDirect + Are Trainees Lifting Heavy Enough? Self-Selected Loads in Resistance Exercise: A Scoping Review and Exploratory Meta-analysis | Sports Medicine + Are athletes able to self-select their optimal warm up? - Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport + The Relationship Between Running Biomechanics and Running Economy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies | Sports Medicine + The effects of exercise variation in muscle thickness, maximal strength and motivation in resistance trained men - PubMed

So, with any exercise choice, there is often “no solution, only trade-offs.” We are happy as long as you can find the exercise setting that helps you maintain weekly consistency and keep achieving your health goals. If you are interested in starting or joining more group classes, check out our timetable of Method Health group classes we host in the mornings and afternoons on most days of the week and cash in on all the health benefits of group exercise Timetable | Method Health.