It’s been 25 years since I first stepped into group fitness! I was 17 years old and never looked back. Throughout the last 25 years group fitness has been my mode of working out. You would rarely find me working out on the gym floor. So let’s talk about it.

I started with a step class in Oregon and fell in love with a lifting/barbell class and then kickboxing. I feel like kickboxing is what got my in really good shape and I loved the energy it gave me. Those were my loves for the first couple years of working out. I never had a health or weight loss story. I just simply fell in love with moving as I was a cheerleader and dancer in high school and I needed an outlet to continue that once I graduated. I loved moving to music and I simply loved it! I didn’t realize at that time what it was doing for my mental health though. So let’s talk about it.

First of all, I want you to get out of your head that YOU are enough! Over the years and lately as I get ready to launch my own on demand fitness workouts I have survey ladies and asked them what motivates them to workout? To my surprise, many ladies say they feel uncomfortable going to a fitness class. They are afraid they won’t know what to do, how to do it and how they will look. Listen up. That is why there IS group fitness! Everyone in there wants to be motivated, encouraged, learn how to work out with great music, high energy and space to grow and become.

When I had my first child, group fitness became even more valuable mentally because I decided to retire from my school counseling profession. Therefore I was at home and needed more of an outlet to get out of the house as I am not a homebody. It was so good for me and my daughter to get out of the house everyday. I went to a great gym that had one of the best childcare so she was well cared for and had a social outlet as well. Being a military wife, I eventually moved and I had no access to a childcare with gym for a couple years and had two more kids while in that position. This was really hard. I worked out at home often but it wasn’t my favorite. I have worked out at home and in a gym and my favorite it with others in a group fitness space.

It’s a place to find your freaking fabulous and have fun while doing it. With practice everything becomes better. You find your fabulous by failing, learning and figuring out WHO you truly are! Who you are called to become. Fitness is a metaphor for life. It’s a time to see how you can fight for it, how you can fight for your best you! Inside this post, I’ll share with you some of my favorite type of group fitness practices and how you can get in the best shape of your life by participating.

Cycle: There are a couple different kind of cycle classes and it’s important to realize each class and instructor are different. So if you didn’t like one, try more. There is the RMP cycle class. That’s going to be focused on numbers. If you are a number person and want to track your progress through numbers then this is for you. My personal favorite is the “Ride to the Beat, “party on a bike” class. One of my favorite studios in Phoenix is The Madison. This studio focuses on the party on a bike class. It’s like going to the nightclub but on a bike! You can find different formats of cycle everywhere. On demand, in gyms, or boutique studios like The Madison.

Body Pump: This is a workout designed by Les Mills in New Zealand. It’s uses a barbell for equipment and it’s focus is to create muscle fatigue by using lighter weights and higher reps, otherwise called the rep affect. I never get tired of it and it works…every single time. It tones, shapes your muscles gets your heart pumping and if you do it consistently it gets “easier” but never easy. It’s choreographed to music and taught on the beat. I do this 2-3 times a week. You don’t want to do this type of workout more than 3 times a week. This is how I got into teaching group fitness. I fell in love with Body Pump. This workout is on demand as well as at some gyms. A gym has to buy the licensing to have it at their club. If you start on demand and don’t want to get the barbell right away just use dumbbells. Check out the on demand option here.

Rebounder/Trampoline: This is one of my favorite exercise equipment. It creates a heart pumping cardio workout without crushing the joints. I incorporate the trampoline into a HIIT workout, strength intervals and choreographed fitness. These are hard to find a place to actually work out with them in a studio or gym so make sure to check out my up and coming on demand workouts that incorporate the rebounder here.

Barre: Barre is a pretty diverse workout. You can walk into a class titled “Barre” and experience so many different teachings, techniques and styles. I am so glad I keep an open mind because I met a master queen instructor in the last year who has taught me so much about group fitness especially Barre Fusion. I call it Barre Fit. It’s more like a dance, shake your booty, strength cardio fun. Traditional Barre is based off ballet style moves and choreographed to fitness like workout. It uses a ballet bar like below and focus on small leg moves. Think dance form in low impact like releve, plie, and positions. I’ve experienced all different types of barre. Just keep trying different instructors and classes to see what fits your style.

Hot Yoga: I am a hot yoga gal. I don’t care for regular quiet yoga. I need loud music with energy and music pumping. There’s tons of different types of hot yoga. I prefer True Hot Yoga in Phoenix the best. I recently got hired at Lifetime Fitness a group fitness leader and I have been taking all their classes to see what I may want to teach. I love Lifetime’s Warrior yoga class. Super high energy, heated with great music. I’m pretty picky when it comes to how I spend my time working out and I want it to be worth my time of showing up. I need loud music and high energy even in my yoga classes. Try a hot yoga class to get you sweating.

HIIT: High Intensity Interval Training is basically a shorter time frame with serious work. You’re going to work harder in a shorter amount of time and you will get the after affect of burning more fat/calories with your body because it’s still working/recovering. There are many different names for HIIT you will just need to check the description of the class you are going to. HIIT can be integrated into any forms of a workout . It’s basically a name for more intense workout with shorter times.

Music is an important part of any class. When taking a class notice how the energy is in the room for yourself as well as the group when the music is on beat to the workout. It makes a huge difference.

When you move your body you feel great and when you find something that helps you move your body, that’s when you know you are on your way to finding your fabulous! Try one of these workouts, you never know you may just fall in love with a new habit.