{"id":38716,"date":"2015-04-02T07:15:03","date_gmt":"2015-04-02T11:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=38716"},"modified":"2021-09-18T07:25:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T11:25:58","slug":"best-fitness-classes-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/best-fitness-classes-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Trainer Tips to Get More From Fitness Classes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fitness
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pedaling through spin class, pli\u00e9-ing at barre, swinging kettlebells<\/a> as part of a circuit series \u2014 no matter what your training method of choice, group fitness classes<\/a>\u00a0can\u00a0help you get in shape. Everything from the energetic atmosphere and instructor motivation to the personal accountability and boredom-busting routines make it easy to get hooked on the sweat. But how can you take it to the next level to really boost the muscle-building<\/a>, cardio-enhancing results? We gathered secrets from scientific studies and top instructors to uncover what amplifies success in the studio. Incorporate these strategies into your next class for an even fitter you.<\/p>\n

1. Invest in higher tech gear.<\/h3>\n

Before heading to the gym, make a simple swap: Ditch the cotton duds and slip into a poly blend that wicks moisture and helps regulate your body temp. Research published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research<\/em><\/a> found that women who wore a more functional polyester fabric when exercising improved their athletic performance, compared to when they worked out in cotton clothes.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Rank form over speed.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Speed and reps<\/a> don\u2019t necessarily equal a better outcome. \u201cThe key to building muscles and avoiding injury is making sure every body part is in the right place,\u201d says Jackie Dragone, director of barre<\/a> at New York City\u2019s Flex Studios<\/a>. Instructors often explain when foot or arm placement is off and give modifications, but it\u2019s important to ask questions if you\u2019re unsure. If speaking up during class isn\u2019t your style, Dragone suggests staying afterward so the teacher can show you precise alignment for your next visit.<\/p>\n

3. Practice good posture during cardio.<\/h3>\n

Being mindful of your body from head to toe isn\u2019t just important for strength moves, but cardio too. While rowing,<\/a> you don\u2019t want to go as fast as possible, using only your arms as leverage. \u201cRowing is a power motion, where 60 percent comes from your legs, 20 percent from your core and 20 percent from the upper body,\u201d says Cliff Randall, head coach of Orangetheory<\/a> in NYC.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>6 Rowing Machine Mistake (And How to Fix Them)<\/a><\/p>\n

As for trendy treadmill classes<\/a>, Randall says you want to shorten your stride on inclines and relax your hands and shoulders to conserve the energy needed to push you through your intervals. Plus leaning slightly forward at the hips takes some pressure off your ankles and knees, according to a study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise<\/em><\/a>, which can also cut injury risk.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fitness
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4. Stand up in spin.<\/h3>\n

Whether you\u2019re solely a SoulCycler, a FlyWheel fanatic or you prefer Peloton, you\u2019ll want to get your butt out of the saddle<\/a> whenever you have the option. When participants of a small study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research<\/em><\/a> were in the running position or standing climbing, they had higher cardiorespiratory responses (in other words, they reaped better endurance benefits), compared to sitting down. This was true even if they felt like they weren\u2019t working at their highest effort. So keep it up even if you\u2019re feeling tired.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>8 Ways to Learn to Love Spin Class<\/a><\/p>\n

5. HIIT your target heart rate.<\/h3>\n

Want to really get the most from your session? Strap on a heart rate monitor and crunch the numbers in real time. For an extremely efficient workout, you\u2019ll want to spend the majority of your time in the aerobic zone (70 to 80 percent of your max heart rate) and the remainder in the anaerobic zone (84 percent or higher of your max heart rate), says Randall. Spending 12 to 20 minutes of an hour-long workout in this higher range can help you\u00a0burn more calories after you\u2019ve stopped moving, which is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption<\/a> or EPOC (the concept behind\u00a0Orangetheory\u2019s butt-kicking fitness classes<\/a>).<\/p>\n

6. Lift a heavier load.<\/h3>\n

If you still believe heavier weights create a bulky body, it\u2019s time to wake up and smell the protein shake<\/a>. \u201cThis is simply not true,\u201d Randall explains. \u201cTo get toned, there are only two things you can do: lose fat or build muscle, and while you can\u2019t target fat loss<\/a> in specific areas of the body, you can<\/em> buildmuscle in specific spots.”<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a body that can push you through this…This is why you came. This is what you wanted.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Having more muscle means increased strength and you can burn more calories. If an exercise still feels easy by the last few reps, it\u2019s time to pick up a heavier set of dumbbells. (Yes, that might mean trading out those instructor-recommended five-pound weights, but if you\u2019re ready, go for it!)<\/p>\n

7. Go for the plyometric option.<\/h3>\n

Mixing strength training<\/a> and cardio ups your fitness level and sculpts sleek muscles in less time, Dragone says. If that last round of bodyweight squats wasn\u2019t challenging enough, add a jump to your squats, or try speedy split squats instead of regular lunges. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to get more bang for your buck because it increases your heart rate, which leads to a higher calorie burn<\/a>,\u201d she explains. Plus, alternating full range of motion exercises and smaller isometric ones (often done in barre<\/a>), works major muscle groups as well as the tiny, harder-to-reach fibers so you get toned all over.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>4 Fat-Burning Barre Exercises You Can Do at Home<\/a><\/p>\n

8. Squeeze out the final reps.<\/h3>\n

You know those last few moves you do to complete a sequence? The ones that leave you shaking or feeling like your arms are jelly? Those are the reps that change your body<\/a>. Instead of giving up, take a cue from Dragone\u2019s positivity and talk yourself through it. \u201cI often remind my classes to be grateful,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have a body that can push you through this and, unless you have an injury or feel that something is wrong, you\u2019re benefiting from it. This is why you came. This is what you wanted.\u201d Keep repeating that when your muscles scream for rest.<\/p>\n

9. Have a blast!<\/h3>\n

Dreading exercise means it\u2019ll probably fall off your to-do list and lead to zero results. Find something you enjoy so you continue to go back<\/a>, says Randall. In fact, two 2014 studies from the Cornell Food & Brand Lab<\/a> found that picturing your workout as fun or a deserved break resulted in eating less later, whereas thinking of it as hard work often led to food splurges afterward. Carry your commitment to fitness beyond those four studio walls and you\u2019ll see big pay-offs in other areas of your life as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Group fitness classes will get you in shape, but how can you take that a bit farther? These small tweaks in your workout class will produce big results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":38717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6,14],"tags":[56,58,341,353,160],"class_list":["post-38716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","category-strength-training","tag-group-fitness","tag-hacks","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2weight-training","tag-trainer"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}