In short-and while it is not my intention to anger and offend people, this surely will- absolutely fucking stupid (and not the fun kind).
And for the record, I currently teach group exercise at the University of Central Florida-and as a by product I am an AFAA certified group exercise instructor.
So why is it so stupid?
Stupid may actually fall short of accurately describing your typical group ex class. Borderline criminal-while sounding a bit odd- may be a better description.
Group exercise is downright dangerous, and grossly unproductive. In fact, it's a great way to reverse your progress towards a healthy, fit body-inside and out. And this is without including the high chance of injury from jumping around on a sweaty/slippery wooden floor at high speeds.
As stated in the post about strength training, an old friend of mine that now teaches group ex up at FSU, has now suffered a third knee injury (major ligaments). 2 on one knee, the most recent is on the formerly "healthy" knee.
This girl has taught group ex for years, and was teaching a dozen or more classes per week at the time of this recent accident. 23 years old, both knees already going down the drain.
Imagine when she's 33, or 43...
Well actually, let's do that (this next friend is ~33).
Another friend of mine-even more of a group ex enthusiast- is almost literally falling apart (his back more than anything). He actually owns his own gym in Orlando, where all they do is basically group exercise classes.
While I am in no way insulting the guy-love him to death- he has never been in great shape for the years I've known him.
I recently read an article that put "aerobics' in a new rational light for me, simple as the concept is.
When you burn off large amounts of (blank), the body responds by trying to store MORE of what you burned off, in preparation for the next time you burn off that specific fuel.
Strength training (and interval training to a lesser extent), burns off large amounts of glycogen. The body's response is to increase the size of your skeletal muscle, the largest store of glycogen in your body.
When you burn off large amounts of fat, the body responds by storing body fat, an obvious source of fat (fuel) for low intensity exercise. Muscle is then seen as excess weight, and discarded (hence "cardio" destroys muscle).
Marathon runners and long distance swimmers fit the bill perfectly here-right along with people addicted to group ex classes, like my friend who owns a gym that does almost nothing but group ex.
So-now going for some repetition in my writing- group exercise is grossly unproductive, and more often than not will reverse progress for a healthy and fit body.
Can you be more specific on why it's so unproductive?
Sure.
Aside from the fact that it destroys the most metabolically active tissue in your body-muscle-, it does so in a relatively large amount of invested time.
So, group exercise= lots of time + retroprogress (whatever your goals are, they will be moving farther away from you).
But doesn't it burn a lot of calories?
Despite what your instructor may tell you, no, it doesn't. Unless your a real bad ass, you probably wont even catch up to the calories burned by your resting metabolic rate during the 60+ minutes spent in a group ex class.
And if you are a real bad ass-that is, work "really hard" and "push yourself"-, you'll be destroying muscle at a rate that will quickly slow down your metabolism-to the point where you will be burning significantly less calories on a day to day basis than you were before starting a schedule filled with group ex classes.
Speaking of classes, let's further expose the stupidity in these dangerous classes-which bears repeating, 9/10 group ex rooms are wood floored and extremely slippery when wet. And people wonder why their knees give out jumping around...
Washboard abs class- here's a fun one. A class designed to get you "washboard abs". Basic exercise physiology tells us that body fat can only be removed on a spot by spot basis via surgery.
Meaning, do all the crunches you want, it has less than nothing to do with getting tight looking abs. Great abs=a low body fat%. There's no way around it. You can not have tight abs and flabby arms and legs, think about how ridiculous that would look.
Building muscle in that region directly is not a great use of time either. They are a supporting muscle, use them for support with bigger compound exercises such as the lat pulldown.
Funny fact about washboard abs? Out of the dozens of instructors I've seen teach this class, not one, NOT ONE, has had good abs. In fact more than one of them have had an ample amount of belly fat.
Kickbox Cardio- here is the ultimate of the group ex classes, the most dangerous-and ridiculous- of all.
It's a class that teaches absolutely nothing useful in the way of kickboxing, and runs you through fast paced off-balance kicks and punches, on a slippery wooden floor. Most of my experience is with college students taking this class, but the criminal part comes in when older people take these classes-who are infinitely more prone to falling on their asses and hurting themselves.
All in the pursuit of being "fit". You'd think someone would have come up with something more productive and safer by now.... oh wait, we have.
All dance classes- I actually think these classes are cool-if you want to learn how to dance. But from what I've seen, the majority of people attending these classes are looking for a "good cardio workout". Some-but relatively few- care about actually learning the style of dance. Or if they do, they value the "cardio" more than the skills practiced.
Again, jumping around on a slippery wooden floor, lowering your resting metabolism, for 60+ minutes at a time= stupid.
All other classes- classes change from gym to gym, but they rarely differ in format. This includes Pilaties, "hardbodies", "sculpting", "step aerobics", "bootcamp", and the list goes on.
All steady state exercise, a massive waste of time, dangerous, and a great deal of wear and tear on your joints-regardless of age.
The exceptions- Yoga-and related classes- is an exception IMO, but only if done right. That is, not overdone. 99/100 people that I have seen in yoga classes are ALWAYS trying too hard. FYI, trying to rip your muscle from its connective tissue is NOT A GOOD IDEA. It will NOT enhance flexibility, only increase the chance of injuring yourself.
If anything, do yoga to relax. Enhanced flexibility lies in putting your muscles through a full range of motion under a significant load (strength training), not trying to balance on one foot, only to fall flat on your ass.
*I will say that some yoga instructors advise NOT to strain yourself, but few heed the warning.
Additionally, any class done in an HIIT format (interval training) is semi-productive and far safer than steady state "push yourself non stop" crapola.
My jump rope class is taught in this format. I have NEVER seen another group ex class taught in this format, or even heard of one for that matter. Ironically, the ever so popular spin class (stationary cylcing) would make a perfect HIIT class. But, I have yet to see a spin instructor have the balls to do this.
Doing so would collide directly with conventional wisdom, which ironically prevents the class from being anything but a hamster on a wheel waste of time.
In summary, stay the hell away from group ex classes unless they are taught by a competent instructor. And when you do find one-and I'm being 100% serious- let me know. It's a rare find and the instructor deserves a pat on the back.
Group exercise is outright dangerous (especially for older people), unsustainable (see previous point), a reversal of progress, and an enourmous waste of time and resources that could be spent better elsewhere (such as building muscle you stimulated to grow during strength training).
Probably worst of all though, it places you dirctly in an enviroment where conventional wisdom is all the rave. "More" classes, work "more", work harder...all the apparent-but false- answers you'll hear when results cease from kickbox cardio and washboard abs.
Now I wonder if my boss will come across this post....
-Dream
ps- sorry if this post came off a little bitter. If it felt negative to you, use this as a situation to practice learning from logic/rational thought, not to be dis swayed by emotions (and myths backed by emotions in the face of hard facts, as is the case with group ex classes).
pps-"so is your jump rope class safe and effective?"
Not nearly as effective as strength training, not by a long shot. But, if will help you if you can learn to build some speed in the short bursts of intensity.
Also, I do my best to make it as safe as possible in the short 20 minutes of class. That said, you're still jumping around on a slippery wooden floor.
