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New Year, New Way of Thinking About Movement

I recently decided to take an introductory class at a cult…I mean group fitness studio…and I want to share my experience as it is new years resolution season. First, it is important to note that I am a registered dietitian as well as a certified personal trainer. I have been in the industry for eight years now and have watched trendy group fitness studios spread faster than a multi-level marketing scheme. You might be thinking, isn’t that a good thing? Or, don’t you want people to be more active? Or, don’t you mean pyramid scheme? The answer is maybe, yes, and tomato tomahto, right? To elaborate, here are the pros and cons of my experience at a group fitness studio that rhymes with: blorenge theory.

Pros

1. I had an appointment to go to and a financial incentive not to cancel unless I really needed to.
   Having some accountability and support from a trainer, physical therapist, or group can be
   helpful when it just feels impossible to make time for ourselves. It’s a more tangible thing for which we can block out our calendars.
2. Being in a social setting. It seemed like some of the veteran clients had formed a real-life social
   network with their peers and instructors.
3. Cost savings. Group fitness is a good way to keep the cost of training manageable. As the saying
   goes, you get what you pay for. No, you’re not going to get any individualized workouts that
   target your specific goals. Some group fitness instructors do a great job of demonstrating
   exercise modifications, but this did not seem to be the case at this particular studio.

Cons

1. The numbers. I cannot emphasize this enough: you do not need to have constant numerical
   feedback to determine what your body needs. Here were all the numbers I was instructed to
   monitor during my 60 minute workout: heart rate, calories, watts, meters, miles, reps, speed,
   incline, and time. This type of data-driven exercise is a great way to disconnect from the
   sensations of your body that intuitively tell you what you need.
2. The exclusivity. It is very clear to which demographic this gym was catering. Thin, 20-something,
   cis-female or cis-male, already fit, consumers of Lululemon. Obviously this demographic should
   100% have access to affordable group fitness, but shouldn’t other groups too? I wouldn’t be
   pointing this out if there were other studios that catered to other demographics, but that just
   doesn’t exist in our diet cultured world. And it’s not because people over the age of 29 years old
   don’t exercise. It’s not that midsize or fat folks aren’t interested in group fitness. And it certainly
   isn’t because you need to wear a certain brand to be serious about movement. It is a disservice
   of the fitness industry and it has propelled me to want to start my own class that is more inclusive.
3. It was somehow both exclusive and crowded at the same time. They packed 30-40 people into
   one class. It is very clear that they are squeezing as much profit as possible from every square
   inch of that studio.
4. The high focus on weight loss. At the end of the workout the instructor let us know how many
   calories we burned collectively during the class. I then received an unprovoked email
   summarizing how many calories I had burned. I wasn’t asked if I wanted that information and wasn’t given the chance to opt out. Had I been in early eating disorder recovery, this could have led to a spiral.

Needless to say, I will not be going back to that group fitness studio. If you have had similar experiences within the world of cult fitness, let’s see if we can’t do better together.

Elisa Salvat offers both personalized and group fitness classes that break away from from toxic diet and gym culture. She honors and prioritizes her personal philosophy of body acceptance, positivity, intuitive eating, and mindfulness within these services.