Although exercise can help you look and feel better, many people decide that it’s not for them. Seduced by the convenience of modern living and the high prevalence of desk jobs, they prefer a sedentary lifestyle. This increases their risk of serious health issues like obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Regular exercise and good diet slow down the aging process, reduces the risk of getting a serious illness, and can speed up recovery if you have an unexpected medical condition. Exercise builds strength and endurance, builds muscle, burns fat, and checks loss of bone mass.
Fortunately, it’s never too late to start exercising, regardless of age or current level of fitness, and one of the easiest ways to start is by joining an exercise class. Every health club offers a variety of fitness classes and you can find out more about the best classes through a family friendly facility like Fitness 19.
What type of class to join?
It can become overwhelming trying to figure out what type of fitness class to join. Here, for example, are just a dozen popular classes, namely Yoga, Power Core Yoga, Spin Class, Pilates, Zumba, Aerobics, Body Sculpt, Senior Strength, Total Tone, Circuit, and Power Dance.
How to decide
With each fitness class offering a wide spectrum of benefits, it can be difficult to decide on the best one. Even if you were to research each one online, talk to instructors, and get feedback from participants, it might still be difficult to make up your mind.
Ask the right question
Here are three questions you can ask to determine the right class for you:
- Do you want to lose weight?
If you want to lose weight join an aerobics class, Zumba, Spin Class, Power Dance or HIIT. While each of these approaches weight loss in a different way, they can all help you achieve your goal. Besides joining a class that will help you burn calories fast, you should also consider the benefits of wearable technology like Fitbit, Garmin, or an Apple Watch. These will help you to track all your fitness data like how many calories you’ve consumed vs. how many calories you’ve burned, as well as your heart rate and sleep patterns.
- Do you want to improve your flexibility, coordination, and balance?
If you want relief from stiff muscles, tight tendons and ligaments and to reduce muscular inflammation, then think about classes like yoga, Power Core Yoga, and Pilates. The difference between regular yoga and Power Core Yoga is that yoga is slower and gentler while Power Core Yoga is more like aerobics because you quickly move from one asana to another to build up your strength and stamina.
- Do you want to look lean and strong?
If you want to develop an impressive physique, one that makes people sneak a sideways glance when you walk past, then think about exercises that involve strength training and toning. Body Sculpt and Total Tone are just the right examples.
Follow a trend
Another way of deciding the type of class you should join could be by looking at the popular fitness trends this year.
- Body Weight Training.
Body weight training builds muscle and burns fat but doesn’t use traditional barbells, dumbbells, and exercise equipment to do it.
- Exercise and Weight Loss.
Exercise and weight loss exercises promote weight loss. According to the Center for Disease Control, a third of American adults fit the criteria for obesity. This is one reason, why you will not have any difficulty finding a class that targets weight-loss goals.
- Yoga.
Yoga consists of poses and postures. There are general yoga classes, as well as different disciplines. Strictly speaking, yoga for physical cultivation is called Hatha Yoga to distinguish it from other types of yoga that promote spiritual growth. This type of yoga improves blood and lymph circulation, breathing, flexibility, strength, tone, and mobility.
- High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
This is a cardiovascular workout that only lasts for about 30 minutes. However, that is more than enough time because the exercise focuses on a burst of intense exercise followed by a brief rest. You can do HIIT by sprinting and resting or varying the intensity and speed of a treadmill.
- Functional Fitness.
As the name implies, the idea is to do exercises that improve the muscles you use every day. The focus is to improve overall fitness, strength, and mobility.
- Strength Training.
This uses weighted resistance like free weights or weight machines to build muscular size and strength.
- Fitness for Older Adults
This uses lightweights and a mild form of aerobics for older adults to build up muscle tone and improve endurance.
Get in shape in 2016
The advantage of joining a fitness class is that you will learn how to do an exercise and at what pace. In addition, you will be part of a fun group. You can flit from one class to another or dedicate yourself to one form of fitness.
Article Submitted By Community Writer