Some people may find starting a new exercise regime quite a daunting experience especially if they are not familiar with exercise. It is no question that exercise is good for us. Whether that is due to the improvements it provides in functional capacity, reduction of chronic disease risk or improvements in mental/emotional health and wellbeing.
There is nothing wrong with the fact that some people prefer to work out on their own. However, group-based exercise has added benefits that solo exercise may not provide. Some of these benefits include increased motivation, structure, increased safety, technique monitoring and social interaction. Obviously, not everyone lacks motivation when it comes to exercise but committing yourself to an exercise class may assist by providing a little accountability to your session and increasingly the likelihood that you will exercise regularly.
Safety with exercise is paramount, by exercising in a group environment with a qualified instructor your technique will be more closely monitored and corrected. This will allow for a reduction in injury risk but will also ensure that you are getting the most out of your exercise by working the muscles in a safe and effective way.
Some studies have shown that supervised group exercise is more effective at improving balance and reducing falls risk in older individuals. Similarly, other studies have indicated that people who exercise in a group setting work harder and achieve better results than when left to do the same exercise on their own. Possible reasons for this could be due to the fact that by having fun you may be slightly dissociated by how much harder you are working. Or possibly there may be slight competitiveness between yourself and the other members of the class, either way the ability to work harder with less attentional focus is a good thing.
As always if you would like further information regarding safe and effective exercise speak with an Accredited Exercise Physiologist. Or if you would like to find out about any of the group exercise classes we offer please contact our reception staff on (07) 4638 3777
