It’s days like today that have me convinced that group exercise is the best thing going.
I took my favorite Wednesday boot camp class and had a blast. It’s the perfect mid-week fitness class for me because it breaks up my solo workouts and often exposes me to new exercises. (For example, today we wove a heavy kettle bell in and out of our legs like a basketball. Such a simple exercise that I never tried before!)
It also serves as a great reminder that exercise can be fun. Yes, I enjoy the workouts I do on my own, but I truly have a great time when I take certain group exercise classes like BodyPump, boot camp and Jazzercise. The energy and enthusiasm of everyone in the room does something to motivate me that I can’t seem to replicate on my own. If you haven’t found a group exercise class you adore yet and think you might enjoy the environment, please keep trying! I am convinced there’s something out there for everyone!
After boot camp, I worked through the rest of the morning until it was time for lunch. My gym is planning a Healthy Kids Day later this month and I am doing my best to get some delicious and nutritious snacks donated, so company outreach took over most of my morning. Fortunately I’m having good luck and I think the event will be awesome! Lots of fitness activities, healthy cooking demonstrations and games!
Lunch
When lunchtime rolled around, I drove home to let Sadie out and reheat leftovers from last night’s dinner.
Sweet potato + Broccoli + Chicken Sausage
After I took the time to reheat everything, I realized I wasn’t feeling any of it. (I blame Ricky who tweeted out a picture of his 4Rivers Smokehouse lunch as I sat down to eat mine. <—Jealous!) I was too lazy to refrigerate everything again so I ate it anyway, but it was just kind of a blah lunch. Hopefully dinner will hit the spot! I’m hoping I can convince Ryan to make the drive into Gainesville with me after work for dinner at 4Rivers. We used to love that place when we lived in Orlando and we’ve been meaning to check out the Gainesville location for a while now.
Back to work! (And back to dreaming about pulled pork!)
Question of the Afternoon
- What are your favorite group exercise classes? Least favorite?
Favorites: BodyPump, boot camp, Jazzercise, barre, power yoga and any other Les Mills class I’ve tried!
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I totally love BodyPump! I’m actually getting certified this weekend to teach it!! CAN’T WAIT! 🙂 I always feel so great and fully “exercised” afterwards, all body, gotta love it!
And I really like the TurboKick and Yoga classes at my gym on Saturdays too. Oh! And Cycling! 🙂
I really love BodyPump, Crossfit, vinyasa yoga, and kickboxing! I probably enjoy kickboxing in a group setting the most just because I don’t often get the opportunity to punch things (luckily lol) and sometimes it just feels nice to let any pent-up aggression or feelings out on the bag! It’s like cheap therapy!
I love love love Body Pump. I remember the first time I went, I had a canoe trip the next day and my quads were so sore I could barely get out of the canoe once I sat down!
I am also a huge fan of spin. My dad (adorable) teaches spin class back home and I love going to it.
Lunch looks good…a little ketchup or even almond butter would have gone a long way 🙂 Favorite is spin followed closely by kettle bells! Haven’t one I don’t like yet to be honest!!!
I really love Zumba, Jazzercise, Yoga. I have a love/hate relationship with body pump haha. I really don’t love hatha hot yoga and boot camp.
I LOVE group workout classes, but unfortunately don’t have access to them at my college. We have a GREAT gym, just not the variety of classes that I have at my gym back in my hometown.
I’m sure Ryan won’t need much convincing! Hope your dinner is delicious 🙂
I am completely OBSESSED with Soul Cycle, and also love Exhale Core Fusion classes!
I love yoga and spin class. When I spin, I like to find someone who is driven and is going to push hard because it is extra motivation for me!
I love R.I.P.P.E.D. classes! They incorporate strength and cardio and have great music to sweat along to.
You are preaching to the choir with me. I LOVE group fitness classes. I teach three Les Mills programs currently: BODYPUMP, CXWORX and BODYATTACK several times a week in San Francisco. BODYPUMP was the first group fitness class that ever got me to touch a barbell, and now, years later, I’m an advanced instructor, so yes, I agree that classes encourage people to try new things. There’s nothing like feeding off the energy of a full room to get your moving and working hard in a class.
i’ve been trying pop physique and have mixed emotions. i enjoy the barre/weights workout to mix in with my running but the instructor situation is an issue. i have one that i love and one that i don’t, at all. i’ve twice now signed up for the one only to discover they’ve switched that day. so agro, not a good mindset to begin a class.
Does ballet and modern dance class count?! 🙂 I’m also a huge fan of bootcamp classes— the exercises, the music, and the energy are all amazing!
I’ve always wanted to try BodyPump too. You’re always raving about it, so I can’t wait to try it one day!
I really do love Body Pump class…even though it is very similar each time, I always feel like I get in a good workout. I also really love kickboxing…especially on a stressful day. 🙂
As far as favorite group classes, I am partial to anything with good music and feels more like dance than actual exercise 😛
And I am SUPER jealous of anyone who ate 4Rivers today!!!
I LOVE power hours at Title Boxing Club! Have you ever had the chance to try a class? My favorite group exercise by far- and I get to feel pretty BA.
I love almost all the Les Mills group classes except spin. For some reason I really don’t enjoy spin classes probably cuz I feel it in my legs weeks later haha
I have to say I LOVE THIS POST! Group fitness is the besttttttt! SO agree 🙂 Which you already knew. haha.
I of course love BodyPump best! I teach it and love it. I also love teaching CXWORX and GRIT. Les Mills just knows how to do group fitness, and that is that!
I don’t love yoga…. I want to, but I just can’t do it for an hour!
boot camp and yoga classes are my fav! least fav? hmm probably zumba but that’s just because i can’t dance and have zero rhythm haha
I really enjoy the yoga classes at my gym. The instructors are great and one of them will ask at the beginning of class if there’s anything in particular anyone wants to do that day. Every once in a while I’ll say arm balances since I love them so much.
To a lesser degree, I enjoy the noon bootcamp class on Tuesdays. It used to be in the running for my favorite, but since the beginning of the year we have had a new instructor that I don’t gel with as much as I did the old one. Plus it’s the same exact setup and format every single week, whereas before it was always different week to week.
Yoga classes and spinning!
I have just started going to PureBarre and its a great group class! Very intense in such a different way than weight lifting stuff!
-AJ
OccasionallyAJ.com
Hey Julie!
I was wondering, when and if you freelance(d), do you freelance regularly for a certain place or do you just keep it down to devoting your freelance time to one company? I have just started working as a freelance writer and was wondering your thoughts! I was a journalism major in college 🙂
Have a wonderful day!
I think crossfit is somehow my favorite and most hated exercise class. Some days I’m that annoying “YAY CROSSFIT!” person. But sometimes I just want a workout and not a reminder that I suck at certain things …
I have to say that lunch looks pretty delicious! I had a salad but wasn’t really feeling it – we really need to do some grocery shopping in our house!
I love BodyPump! Have you ever tried BodyStep?! It definitely requires quite a bit of coordination, but it is so fun and an amazing workout!
That’s the primary reason I go to CrossFit, or even workout classes. I don’t like to think. I just like to “do”. Know what I mean?
I’ve been regularly attending body pump and I love it! It’s the first group class I’ve attended in over 10 years – think I’m going to try some others soon 🙂
Body Pump is the greatest class of all time. but for a perfect mix of workout/relaxation/life contemplation, yoga hands down.
that lunch looks delicious! can’t believe you weren’t feeling it once you sat down with it. hate when that happens 🙁
Just started Hott Barre and loving it!!
I love Zumba and Pilates group fitness classes!
I haven’t taken too many group classes, but I love the boot camp one that my gym does! And your lunch made me drool. It looks exactly like what I want right now.
hail to the power of group exercise and Zumba Fitness!
Woooohoooo for BodyPump! I’m a huge fan of group exercise too!
Body pump and Body Flow all the way!!
I have always been super intimidated by spin classes and have now gone to three classes and I think I might love it 😉
Cycle is my favorite! I’m not a huge fan of group exercise for some reason, but there’s just something about spin that I love.
I love CrossFit! Everyone at the gym will encourage each other… and there’s just something about suffering through the end of a killer workout with other people, misery loves company 😉
I love spin, body pump/any pump class; not a huge fan of zumba but will still do it!
Morning! Do you ever add a topping such as butter to your sweat potatoes? I love the things, but they can become a little blah to me if I eat them plan.
Plane*
PLAIN!!!! hahaha
I used to take a kettle bells small group training class, the figure 8’s (weaving the kettle bell in and out of your legs) is a good work out! I currently do kick boxing and it’s my favorite group exercise class, the energy is ridiculous and such a stress reliever to punch that heavy bag!
Barre, Zumba, and spin are my favorite group exercise classes. I love the energy!
I miss group exercise so much!! We aren’t members at a gym now that offers classes, but we are moving soon and there is a gym I already plan on joining that offers classes. 🙂 I’m so excited!
I grew up in Gainesville, and my parents still live there. I was actually just home this past weekend to visit, and we went to 4Rivers. You should definitely go tonight! 🙂
Spin! Seriously the energy fuels me! As a group fitness instructor I totally agree, it is truly inspiring and amazing what a group can achieve while working together!
Spin and yoga! I like boot camp classes too, but my gym doesn’t offer any when I’m not working 🙁
I absolutely HATE Zumba. I think it’s boring and a really crappy workout.
I agree with you – group fitness classes are the best. I teach (and love it) bodypump!! Random question for you – when you make sweet potatoes – do you make them in the oven or microwave?
Hi Julie!
Body Pump was the first group fitness class I ever took and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately the gym that had that class closed and I was forced to find something else. Nothing seemed to compare to body pump until I gave crossfit a try, and I am absolutely obsessed with it! I recommend it to everyone! Its a tough workout, but everyone is in it together and once we’re all through it is extremely rewarding to realize what we accomplished!
I LOVE step aerobics, Body Combat, Kickboxing, Insanity and Turbo Kick. I teach Insanity and TK at two gyms currently. Group exercise is absolutely loads of fun and always a killer workout. I find myself motivated to push harder when others are working out around me.
I always seem to push myself harder in a group exercise format. LOVE the idea of the healthy kids day! I think it’s so important to show kids that being healthy can be fun and delicious!
I totally agree! Group workout classes are the best way to motivate yourself to give it your all AND stay for the entire time. Let’s be honest, it’s so much easier to quit a workout halfway through when you’re going it alone! My fav classes are step and resistance training.
I absolutely love me some BODYPUMP! The more packed the class is the better. I’ve been going for several months and I still find it challenging 🙂
I am a spin class evangelist! There’s is nothing quite like the rush this class gives me. love it!