Exercise: Why Groups Are Best!

“It’s cold”, “I’m sore”, “I’m tired”, “I’ll do it tomorrow!”  If I had a dollar for every time I heard one of these excuses in regards to exercising (and mainly out of my own mouth), I’d have a beachfront property. I’m the first person to admit finding the motivation to get off my butt and exercise is the most challenging part of exercising itself (especially when it’s almost hypocritical as my job is to get people to do so).

However, we all know exercise helps manage those aches and pains, boosts energy levels, improves sleep, and let’s not forget the countless health benefits. This is all fabulous news, but how do we work up the motivation to do it in the first place?! Groups hold the answer!

That’s where I come in – small group exercise. Evidence shows that exercising in a group setting is far superior to exercising alone. Think of how many times you thought about going for that walk/run, how many times you contemplated starting a gym program, but you just didn’t follow through with it. So, here’s 4 reasons why joining a small group is better than going solo

1. Being part of a small group exercise class improves mental, physical and emotional quality of life. One study found group exercise provided these improvements across the board by up to 26% compared to exercising alone, where you have to do twice the exercise to get only a small improvement in mental health alone. Most importantly, group exercise reduced stress by 25%
2. Group exercise allows you to be social and interact with others (but not necessarily an entire gym of strangers)
3. They hold you accountable – you know your group and Exercise Physiologist are looking forward to you turning up every week (and we are very disappointed when you don’t, because it’s just not the same without you!)
4. Plus having the guidance of a University-qualified Exercise Physiologist ensures you are performing specific exercises related to your health and injury issues, ensures that you’re doing these exercises safely and allows us to make changes to your exercises to keep things challenging and fun

Our small group exercise classes are limited to 4 participants. We have people with diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, falls risk and cardiac problems exercising with us at the moment. If you’d like to try using the power of group exercise to make a change to your health and well-being, the first exercise is to lift your phone and call us on 9548 3372 to organise your free 5 minute discovery call with me to see how I can best help you.

Ashleigh Hooper
Accredited Exercise Physiologist