The citizens of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County have emphasized the importance of exercise so much that the rest of the country pokes fun at us for being “self obsessed Angelenos.”

Despite the teasing, exercise is extremely important for the way we look and even more so for the way we feel. Satisfied with the way exercise makes them feel, many people have transitioned to group exercise to enhance all of the benefits of solo exercise. 

Keeping yourself healthy is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and for our families. Exercise is one of the most effective ways of doing so. It’s been proven that going on brisk walks several times a week lowers your chances of developing heart disease and can improve how you feel.

More intense exercises like running or pilates can deliver even more benefits. Some of which include improved mental health, a decrease in risk of heart disease, and added confidence. Exercise is a great way to improve the way you look and feel, but exercising in a group environment can enhance these benefits even more.

One of the best things that can happen to you when you take a group exercise class is making a couple of friends. Thankfully, the camaraderie is classes like this is usually high, so making friends comes easy. The amazing thing about having friends in the same workout class is that you start to look forward to working out instead of dreading it. More importantly, friends add an element of competition.

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Friendly competitions in group exercise classes are the most fun way of working out. Competing to see who can burn the most calories, lose more weight, gain more muscle, or whatever other competition you can think of helps everyone involved see exercise as fun instead of as painful. These competitions also help you to workout more intensely, increasing the health benefits that exercise can have.

On days where you are being pushed to your physical limit or where you don’t have enough energy, group classes can offer an element that solo exercise cannot: encouragement. When your peers see that you are struggling, they will help you believe in yourself by adding words of encouragement. By believing in you even when you don’t believe in yourself, your peers are helping you push yourself to reach goals you didn’t even think were possible to reach.

The best part of group exercise is the effect that all of this fun has on you. By having fun in a group class, the level of endorphins — the chemical in your brain that stimulates happiness and pleasure — that flow into your bloodstream in increased, overriding the burning feeling that working out can give you. Working out by yourself also helps endorphins to flow, but being in a group setting causes more of them to start flowing and helps you not only ignore the pain, but feel better about yourself and about working out.

Group exercise classes help you to not only look better, but feel better as well. To try out a fun group exercise experience, visit Movement of Pilates and try out one of their group classes.

Based in Santa Clarita, Movement of Pilates can help you feel stronger and more fit while keeping bulky muscles off of you. In fact, pilates helps you to tone the muscles you already have instead of adding to them. Visit Movement of Pilates to try out the exercise form that millions of people are raving about. Don’t forget to bring a friend to experience the benefits of group exercise!

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