The key to improving your fitness and losing weight is in finding what suits your lifestyle and personality. Some people prefer to put on their headphones and work out alone while others choose social options of training with others. More and more people are choosing to join group fitness classes though as they see the benefits of this form of training even though it goes against their personality. Below are seven reasons why you should give CrossFit group fitness a shot:
1. ACCOUNTABILITY
Consistency is everything when trying to lose weight and increase strength or fitness. When you have signed up for a class or someone is expecting to see you there, you are being held accountable to show up. There are some people that don’t need as much accountability as others but everyone experiences days where they really don’t feel like getting out of bed early or stopping off at the gym on the way home from a busy day at work. Group fitness motivates everyone when the thought of not training pops up. This is because it is easier to let yourself down than is it to disappoint other people who are supporting your fitness and weight goals.
2. ROLE MODELS
Group fitness means that you’ll more than likely be spending your training time rubbing shoulders with people that are fitter, stronger and more disciplined than you are. Research has shown that overweight people tend to lose more weight when they spend time with their fit friends. Research results have also shown that the more time they spend with their fit friends, the more weight they lose, as they start to adopt the lifestyle habits of those that they spend their time with.
3. COMMUNITY
The people you share your training with form a community. There is something about suffering through a difficult workout together that forms a bond between everyone. This community may consist of very different people but they all have one thing in common. They have the same goal of improving their health and fitness. It is this community that will challenge you to always be improving and will push you to do the best you can do during every class.
CrossFit is known for having a strong focus on community as they have developed a community-driven philosophy that’s supportive, encouraging but also always challenging people to improve no matter what their history, background or current physical condition is.
4. CONFIDENCE
Having a supportive CrossFit community as your fitness group boosts your confidence as you see others believing in your ability at times where you don’t. We’ve seen personalities completely transform as people achieve their first pull-up or climb a rope for the first time, which they thought wasn’t possible for them. Celebrating these fitness milestones alone at home or in a gym, cannot be compared to celebrating them in a CrossFit box with a supportive community.
5. KÖHLER EFFECT
The Köhler Effect is the idea that people push harder in a group to avoid being seen as the ‘weakest link’. In group fitness, this can be seen in people pushing themselves more during each workout. Research has proven this to be true. Group fitness showed to improve performance by double the workout time compared to those who trained solo. CrossFit classes will push you past the threshold you would normally hit compared to if you were training alone. This could be either by you training longer or increasing your intensity by adding a competitive edge to your training.
7. FUN
Group energy is a great way to stay motivated during training sessions. Laughter and smiling in classes motivate you to keep going even when you feel like giving up while solo training sessions can make exercise monotonous and seem more difficult than it actually is.
You know the saying, “There’s strength in numbers.” This is true for group fitness too. CrossFit group fitness offers the support and accountability that even the most diligent can benefit from. There’s a bond that gets formed when a group struggles, sweats and grinds through a tough workout together, which is helpful for accomplishing your fitness goals. Once a group fitness class is scheduled into your calendar, with other people banking on you showing up, it’s not so easy to skip a class.
Give group fitness a go at MVMT CrossFit.
