Group Fitness = a Fitness Community

 “Throughout our lives we long to love ourselves more deeply and to feel connected with others. Instead, we often contract, fear intimacy, and suffer a bewildering sense of separation. We crave love, and yet we are lonely. Our delusion of being separate from one another, of being apart from all that is around us, gives rise to all of this pain.” -Sharon Salzberg.

You see it in movies and you hear it in songs.  Rejection is hard and people like to feel like they belong to something.  When we build relationships with anyone, whether it is a colleague, a lover or someone you entrust an errand to, you try to find a common language, an emotional interest and a bond that is going to strengthen the connection and lead to a happy result.  Being a part of something gives us value and inspires us to commit.  That is why a fitness class can build a fitness community.

A study conducted by Eric D. Wesselmann of Purdue University et.al. wanted to know just how small a cue could help someone feel connected (“Being Ignored Hurts, Even By a Stranger” – Medicalxpress.com).  In this study, a research assistant walked along a well-populated path, passed a subject and either met that person’s eyes, met that person’s eyes and smiled or looked in the direction of the person’s eyes but passed them “looking at them as if they were air” (Eric D. Wesselmann – Purdue University).  These subjects were immediately interviewed to see how they felt.  The study showed that people who had received eye contact from the research assistant, with or without a smile, felt less disconnected than those who had been ignored (“The Need to Feel Connected” – Neil Wagner – The Atlantic). 

When people say that they are unhappy or that they don’t like something it is usually because they don’t feel a part of it, or they do not understand it.  As a Group Fitness Manager I have found that negative attitudes towards classes come from feelings of isolation; people feel self-conscious, they sense that the regular group know how a class runs, moves and feels and they don’t feel a part of it, or they are singled out because an instructor or a member has noticed they aren’t moving like the rest of the group and the attention makes them feel isolated.  If Group Fitness is inclusive, there is an opportunity to build a fitness community.  Often when someone is new to something they make mistakes and ask a lot of questions.  Successful communities are built on the philosophy that there are no stupid questions.  Often if we play it nice, we inspire a feeling of comfort.  Saying “you’re in my spot!!!!” or “you’re going the wrong way!!!!” isn’t so welcoming…. and if we don't welcome new members how will the community grow?!

To build a community takes sensitivity and observation.  A community can’t be built on exclusion or pin-pointing individuals so that they feel singled out and isolated, yet a common interest must be found!  That is why well-structured classes are the key to building a fitness community.  I look at non-technical dance classes like Sh’bam and realise that by taking the casual approach to how the moves are performed and concentrating on the social aspect of class, people forget the self-conscious feeling of being uncoordinated and just keep moving!  I realise that the reason people prefer to do Pump rather than go into the gym and resistance train is that they can nod approval at their friend and just keep working through a song, and the fatigue they feel is somehow secondary to the experience.  A good instructor obviously taps into this, and can sift through the positive and negative of mass group training to create this sense of community. 

As a Group Fitness leader (for more years than I care to mention!), I have seen a lot of things; I have seen body transformations, coordination improvements, fitness increases and strength improvements.  There has been no greater change as the sense of community built in classes.  People build relationships, find friends… some even find partners!  I strongly believe that we all want to strive for improvement by seeking value from those near and dear to us.  If those we train alongside make us fitter and stronger, is this not a relationship worth cultivating???  Does this sense of belonging not want us to experience it on a regular basis???  Do we not feel like we are a part of something worthwhile???  This is the very thing to make us fitter, better people.  Not only that, we continue to train and stay fit because the training environment makes us happy and we want to be a part of it.  

The Body Doesn’t Forget

“We must become acquainted with our emotional household: we must see our feelings as they actually are, not as we assume they are. This breaks their hypnotic and damaging hold on us”

-Vernon Howard

                Our society demands self-control; ‘perfection’ is our ultimate pursuit and we strive for it with our appearance, with our relationships and with our careers.  We join gyms to work our bodies in the pursuit of maintaining our shape and becoming more fit or beautiful, we run our children here and there in the hope that they will be happy and love us and we are busy at work or in our relationships because we think that time spent is time valued.  Showing emotions or feeling is something often associated with weakness; it shows a lack of control or a vulnerable side to us.  Strength is often depicted as being made of stone.   And when you think about it, the people whom we often admire for beings strong are those who have faced a traumatic event, put on a brave face and soldiered on!  The feeling and the pain isn’t there so, therefore, this must be strength!  When did being made of stone become so admirable???

                When we are young we are full of feelings.  We cry when we hurt, feel fear or pain and we “are sensitive and react immediately and directly to our social and physical environment” (“The World of Feelings and Emotions” – Walter Last).  However, it is very early that we are taught that this is unacceptable; parents are told that by letting a child cry through the night it will teach the child to sleep better.  Often what happens is that the lesson appears to be learnt; the crying stops, the sense of abandonment doesn’t.  When we feel abandoned and afraid we often hold our breath, contract our diaphragm and close through our chest.  A closed chest, contracted diaphragm and held breath are often associated with respiratory problems such as asthma.  We learn certain conditions due to how we train our muscles to respond.

We don’t often associate emotions with the body.  Even scientists would have us believe that they are in our head.  Yet there have been many yoga instructors, massage therapists and psychologists that have reported patients or subjects that, when they physically moved in certain positions, it brought fourth emotions and sometimes tears.  Paul Ingraham (BIO) writes of a lady who asked him why is when she tilts her head back she starts crying? (“Body Memory and Body Work” – Paul Ingraham), while performing a shiatsu, a friend of mine pressed on the abdomen of a client and produced tears and many associates I know who teach yoga have been told to expect and respect crying during meditation.  Why is it that, despite not having expressed the emotion, we feel it when we are touched or positioned into a certain posture?

                When we expect pain, for instance, someone sticking a needle into us, our natural reaction is to tense our muscles and hold our breath.  Emotions often inspire pain, therefore, when we feel emotions, there is a physical reaction; we feel guilt and so our blood vessels constrict, our blood pressure drops as does our muscle tone (“Body Memory and Body Work” – Paul Ingraham), we feel anger so our body temperature rises, our shoulders become tense and our skin becomes more coloured, when we feel nervous we feel our hands become cold and fidgety, we become cold, pail and nervous and we feel a nauseous or sinking feeling in our abdomen.  So what happens when we want to be ‘strong’ and suppress our emotions???  According to psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich, our body stores this and our emotions become “carved in flesh” (“Body Memory and Body Work” – Paul Ingraham).  Our anger gets stored in our shoulders, our nervousness gets stored in our gut and our guilt gets stored in our lower back.  Older adults talk about the aches and pains they feel in their body.  Perhaps this is where all the lost emotions went.

                                It has been proven that negative thoughts suppressed show themselves in other ways; unexpressed negativity has been proven to develop cancerous tumours and other health disorders (“Body Memory and Body Work” – Paul Ingraham).   Findings show that cancer is frequently diagnosed about a year after a traumatic event such as losing a spouse, mental depression has proven to have many negative effects on our immune system, our digestive juices are inhabited when we are stressed and asthma attacks may be triggered by fear or apprehension (“The World of Feelings and Emotions”: - Walter Last). Our tendency to hold our emotions back, be everything for everyone and to be a soldier for whatever task is at hand can cause us bad health.  If there ever was anything to cause us weakness and not strength, it is to put our physical health at risk and lessen our chances at longevity. 

                When I consider the posture of successful men; Kerry Packer, Rupert Murdoch and see slumped shoulders and a protruding chin, I think “is this not the weight of the world on these men’s shoulders”???  The face still and tearless may tell us strength, but the body tells us more.  Take the late Kerry Packer for instance; over developed trapezius (neck) muscles probably due to stress, he suffered from as many as eight heart attacks in 1990 and was reported to have kidney issues in the year 2000’s until he eventually died of kidney failure in 2005 at age 68 (Wikipedia).  Despite us showing a brave face, our body responds to what we feel, and if we feel it over and over again our body distorts us into who we really are.  Oscar Wilde was right.  We can be beautiful and immaculate on the surface but our true-self, through our body, paints the portrait of who we really are.  Our Dorian Grey is ugly!  If we were what we felt, the picture would be beautiful. 

Dispelling Myths In Fitness Training

“Myth is an attempt to narrate a whole human experience, of which the purpose is too deep, going too deep in the blood and soul, for mental explanation or description.” – DH Lawrence.

Myths were something used in ancient times to explain why things happened.  There was no scientific technology for people to research facts and form educated opinions on why things are as they are… so stories were created and passed on through generations; Gods and Goddesses were credited for weather changes and natural disasters, tragedies and misfortunes were explained through creative and fictitious stories; monsters were invented, creatures were given life and victims became legends.  Even though most of us now don’t believe that a thunderstorm means we angered the God Zeus, or a boating accident is due to a Siren calling from the rocks, we still try to invent explanations when we don’t have the answers.  But why is it when the answers are at our fingertips, we can’t let go of the myth?

                Although sports date back to ancient times, the Fitness Industry is a relatively new one; Fitness clubs didn’t really become popular until the 80’s and becoming a qualified trainer wasn’t a requirement until the1990’s.  Prior to this, anyone who could move to music could take an Aerobics Class and anyone who could lift a weight and feel a muscle could train someone else to build strength.  As a result, just as those ancient folk before us did, those of us who didn’t know created a theory or story based on emotion and sensation.  According to Jane Fonda if you lie on your side and kick your leg up in the air it will tone your leg muscles (hey, they burn after 200 reps so! naturally it’s working!), and then she had us walking on our butt cheeks to burn fat from our arse (hey, I think the carpet burn alone did it!), and then someone told us that if you do sit-ups every day fat instantly disappears from the stomach area!…. There are endless examples; if I don’t feel sore after the workout I haven’t worked! If I don’t train weights today all my muscles will shrink overnight and I will become a weakling!  I am female and I lifted a weight! I’ll be huge by the morning!   The word is out there and we felt the sensation.  Of course it’s true!

                As the Fitness Industry becomes bigger and more competitive, the more educated the fitness population gets.  There is a lot of scientific research out there that proves that ‘feeling the burn’ isn’t the easy equation to seeing results.   Muscle soreness indicates muscle trauma and is believed to result from inflammation and microscopic tears in the elastic tissues surrounding muscle fibres.  Soreness is often a sign that we have not yet adapted to the training, not an indication of whether we have worked out or not.  Shock creates trauma, not necessarily growth.  There is scientific evidence to prove that a female doesn’t have enough testosterone to produce bulk and that recovery is an important stage of muscle growth.  The information is out there and yet we cling to the feeling!  We crave the ‘burn’ because it is physical and psychological evidence that we have experienced physical activity so we do small actions like bicep curls, or calf raises, or pulse sit-ups because we feel the burn more easily!  We do not consider the fact that bigger movements such as squats and dead lifts engage more muscles, work more of our body and, therefore, burn more calories and develop more muscle.  We hold onto the feeling and tell ourselves that it is not working or we won’t get results if that feeling isn’t there.

                I thought the idea of a convenient lifestyle was modern but now I realise it was ingrained within us from early generations; stories are easier than facts, answers are easier than questions, explanations are easier than knowledge.  If you look at the modern world it is all about convenience; cars to get you places faster, mobile phones to get you communicating instantly, drive-through for quicker eating, coffee drive-through for that caffeine hit without  the patience of waiting…  it is no wonder that so many myths become part of our lifestyle!  The made up explanation is so much easier to obtain and because it is often emotionally charged and delivered with vigour, we are hooked on the thought; we accept it and pass it on willingly.  It is easier to pass the word and see it go off like wildfire than to pass a book or essay and consider it.

                Sometimes it is the face of the message that doesn’t get the message across.  The 2% body fat girl without an ounce of muscle on her cannot tell the 100+kg body builder that biceps alone may not get his arms bigger, just as the muscle bound hulk cannot go to the 50% body fat woman and say, “Hey, weight training makes you leaner!”  How the message is delivered affects the lesson despite the research and the facts.  In this case perhaps proving that there are many educated voices proving the same points will hold more weight.

                How does one disprove any myth???  Myths work so well because they come from our emotions and our feelings; we feel the physical sensation (‘the burn’ or pain), we connect that with the emotional experience (‘results’ or ‘the lesson’) and then we summarise the result.  We often switch off to this idea of really knowing what works because the answer takes us away from what is more pleasurable; we want to believe that lying on our side and kicking our leg in the air means we exercised today and maybe we don’t like weights or cardio training because they take us from our comfort zones.  It is easier to take on board the myth that tells us what we want to hear.  What if we actually had to learn about our body and ourselves to achieve our real desires? This would mean work!   We would then have to research and be educated, get the information out there and then hope we role model what we are talking about. The answers are out there.  We only have to let go of our emotions and dismiss the myth to reap the rewards. 

The Group Fitness Coach

“A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.”

– Ara Parasheghian

A coach is an individual who is involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or individual (Wikipedia).   Successful coaches can become as, or even better-known than athletes as they are often seen on television or heard on radio programs and, therefore, become the “face” associated with the team (Wikipedia).  Coaches have often had successful athletic careers in the sport they coach and are passionate, educated and experienced individuals at the sport they represent.  When I look at the most successful Group Fitness instructors around it is because they coach rather than instruct their classes.  Group fitness has evolved!  It is no longer about bouncing around a studio in lycra, and the instructor is not there for people to merely mimic moves or ‘perform’ for the audience at his/her feet.  The fitness industry has become more educated and just as personal trainers have to cater to individual needs – whether it be fitness goals or rehabilitative requirements, the Group Fitness Leader must not only step up to meet individual needs, they must adapt their skills to address multiple personalities and requirements.

                If you think back to the origins of Group Fitness during the Baby Boomer era it is not a pretty sight – there was Lycra, headbands and leg warmers, instructors didn’t need any qualifications aside from their ability to press play on a cassette player and string some random athletic moves together.  Moves weren’t based on any sports kinesiology, merely on feel (I think it was Jane Fonda who told us if you sit on the floor and walk forward and backwards with your butt cheeks you would lose weight off this area!).  Then the dance influence started to feed through and aerobic choreography got complicated!  Suddenly we were turning and moving to all directions of the room, and there were multiple moves given their own special name that you apparently had to remember and the aerobics instructor would have their back to you (a necessity if there was any hope of you facing the required direction!).  It probably wasn’t until the late 1990’s that instructors realised ‘hey, we are here for our class members!’ and so many of us turned around to face our participants.  Progress, yes!  True connection…. Possibly not…  Many instructors believed that being there ‘for’ the class meant ‘entertaining them.’  So we became performers – showing off our natural talent and flare for musical interpretation!  Group fitness went from the fad that packs a room, to the energetic dancers training room, to the ‘all about me show’ that you were allowed to move to.  No wonder aerobics class numbers were dwindling! 

           Thank you to the late 1990’s – 2000’s for the concept of Group Fitness!  Many people join sporting teams for the camaraderie and the high you feel competing with other active individuals; group fitness has bottled that and made it an optional daily occurrence; you can box for fitness and fun, cycle alongside your mates, out-do your fellow classmates in a plank challenge offered in an abdominal or core training class and jump higher than ever before in a plyometric based high-impact workout.  It was Les Mills that really latched onto this idea of bringing sporting camaraderie into the gym and the aerobic studio; RPM allows you to ride along with your mates to inspiring music, you can build strength and endurance in such programs as Pump and CxWorx, find empowerment and discipline with Body Combat and Body Balance and do explosive plyometric training for fitness and power with Attack and Step.  Although there are still some niche programs such as Jam and Sh’bam that allow for the fun aspect of dancing around the Group Fitness Studio, this is no longer what the studio represents.  Research has been done and education has been given.  The Group Fitness studio is now a goal orientated place to enter where you can be coached to change your posture, your fitness level and your life!  All of this you can do alongside your friends.

                There are many aspects that make a good coach; knowledge, interaction, connection, the personal touch and accentuating the positive (The Group Fitness Coach – Peggy J. Gregor).  Good coaches are educated on their sport; they speak and direct teams according to their education in the game and their experience on the field.  This is the case with the Group Fitness arena.  The best cycle instructors understand the mechanics of cycling and have spent time on the road.  They understand that music provides a cadence that helps set a pace to challenge fitness results and they know to structure a class based on an authentic road ride, drills that challenge you and make any rider more bike fit and coach perfect cycle posture for energy efficient riding and safe technique.  Pilates and Yoga professionals spend years perfecting their disciplines through constant (and usually expensive!) education courses so that they understand human kinetics to educate the general public on postural balance and core strength.  A true ‘yogi’ practices their discipline daily as well as coaches it because they live and want to share the values of the program, they don’t merely instruct ‘flexibility.’  The Group Fitness coach understands that pressing play and feeling the music isn’t enough.  Group Fitness is a good forum to educate the public on better fitness and a more balanced life.

                A coach realises that talking at his/her team doesn’t get results- interaction and individual connection is required for all team members to reach their common goal.  A personal trainer may have a variety of personalities in his/her client base and approach each individual differently according to their needs, imagine the Group Fitness arena!  All those personality types requiring motivation!  The ‘aerobics instructor’ may have encouraged groups to mimic moves, the Group Fitness Instructor may have performed to his/her group, the Group Fitness Coach adapts his/her teaching to be inclusive and suit a variety of personalities and needs.  The shy wallflower in the back corner may need assurance that all will be well and they are in a safe, friendly environment while the gung-ho gym-junkie front and centre may need a list of challenges barked at them and an energy level set above and beyond.  A true coach finds common ground for everyone by addressing each person at some point, choosing moments in the class to suit individual needs and taking everyone on their common journey; to achieve fitness results.

                The personal touch is when a coach goes above and beyond; they remember names, details and build not just rapport but relationships with individuals in the group fitness arena.  They may come to class early and leave a little later just to talk to class participants and answer questions.  The coach aims not just to build a successful class but to build a fitness community.  This is when the Group Fitness coach becomes most valuable to health clubs; they become more in tune to member needs and develop member loyalty because of the fitness community they have created.

               Good coaches accentuate the positive (The Group Fitness Coach – Peggy J. Gregor).  An important part of exercise prescription is perfecting technique; however, nit-pickers who constantly dwell on technique faults do not run successful classes.  It is a hard line between acknowledging successes and wanting someone to perform better by perfecting technique, but a good coach will find the middle ground between encouragement and improvement.  I have been to classes where instructors have prided themselves on being the technique ‘Nazi.’  I have never seen a reaction of gratitude to this teaching style.  No one wants to endure a session on what they are doing wrong from start to end.  We gain motivation to improve by hearing about what we are doing right and ‘now here is how we can do better’.   A good coach realises, connects, commends and then offers improvement.  A good sports coach recognises strengths and weaknesses in a team of players, so must the Group Fitness Leader.

                For all of us who entered the Group Fitness arena to move to the music we are in for a pleasant surprise!  In the hands of a good Group Fitness Coach we are going to leave the studio more educated and self-aware than when we entered the room, we are going to feel as though our needs have been met and that we have become a part of a fitness community.  The shift from 'aerobics classes' to group fitness training has revolutionised the industry; we don't just mimic and move to music, we learn about the training, focus on technique and bettering ourselves and do it with our friends, much like how a sports team trains. Sporting camaraderie can be found in the group fitness arena as we gradually connect and relate to those participating around us.  Group Fitness is now about an experience and personal development; a good Group Fitness Leader will make sure that we leave the studio feeling good about what we've been a part of and what has been accomplished. 

In Pursuit of Evolution; The Adrenaline Addict v’s the Mind, Body and Spirit Seeker.

“Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance” - Brian Tracy.

There is a new popular addiction; but unlike most other addictions this addict is often praised for their frantic energy and non-stop activity…   There are many adrenaline addicts that walk among us; we see them tapping their feet in long supermarket cues or speeding up to catch the orange light at intersections, most of them can’t go a day without the drama of completing several daily tasks with a sense of urgency!  However, just like most addicts there are health repercussions in living in a state of being constantly ‘on’.   Some of these involve health risks associated with most stress disorders – ulcers, heart attacks… but the emotional effect of being a human-doer rather than a human being is far greater.  When the true definition of wellness has been proven to stem from a balance of mind, body and spirit, the adrenaline addict falls off the wagon to finding true happiness.

Epinephrine or adrenaline is a hormone and a neurotransmitter (Wikipedea).  Adrenaline increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system (Wikipedea).  Without adrenaline we wouldn’t be alerted to grab a child's hand at the curb when a car races by, we wouldn’t feel energy when facing certain challenges such as a big presentation at work or a stressful conflict and we wouldn’t get a cushion effect when we receive bad news (“Hurry up and Be Still: Freedom From Adrenaline Dependence- William Gaultiere, Ph. D.).  However, the problem with modern living and our busy lifestyles is we crave this constant state of urgency where we view every daily stress as an emergency; we multi-task to save time, stimulate ourselves with caffeine (an adrenaline stimulant), we cut sleep hours to get more done and then we grind our teeth through our sleep dreaming about tasks forgotten!  The sense of urgency inspires a manic energy that keeps us going to such an extreme that we never switch off!  Panic becomes the new initiative and the stress becomes an admired relentless energy.

Many business people depend on adrenaline to get through their 50-hour work week (“Hurry up and be Still: Freedom from Adrenaline Dependence- William Gaultiere, Ph. D.), and many people get hooked on adrenaline because it feels good to feel energised.  However, like other compulsive behaviours several symptoms surface that suggest a less than fulfilled life.  When adrenaline addicts slow down they are not happy so when they do relax they can experience actual withdrawal symptoms such as; a compulsion to get busy or be more stimulated by noise and activity, emptiness, boredom or depression, feelings of guilt about being idle, irritability or loss of temper, worrying about work that needs to be done, fidgetiness or restlessness, utter exhaustion (“Hurry up and Be Still: Freedom From Adrenaline Dependence- William Gaultiere, Ph. D.).  As well as the emotional symptoms, the body can suffer from things such as anxiety, rapid heartbeats, headaches, backaches, gastric diseases and sleep problems, not to mention dramatic stress related illnesses such as viruses, ulcers, heart disease and cancer  (“Hurry up and Be Still: Freedom From Adrenaline Dependence- William Gaultiere, Ph. D.). 

An adrenaline addict could be seen as a human-doing, not a human-being.  The definition of a state of wellness is balancing our mind, body and spirit.  Wellness can be described as the state that combines health and happiness (Wikipedia) and focusses on minimizing the effects of physical stress which causes nervous system irritation, chemical stress which causes body toxicity and mental stress which can induce hormonal changes in the adrenal glands.  Wellness programs allow individuals to take increased responsibility for their health behaviours; whether this be to alleviated stress through meditation or conflict workshops, to combat obesity by taking up a physical regime or by combatting other habits that affect health such as smoking or alcohol addiction through counselling or a step program.  Wellness is about finding a sense of balance and the following factors are said to contribute; living in a clean environment, eating organic food, regularly engaging in physical exercises, balance in career; family and relationships and developing a sense of spirit by cultivating religious beliefs or personal philosophies.  There are many dimensions that create a human being; by cultivating all of them we create a state of contentment.

We live in a fast-paced world where we have learned to admire individuals that show an abundance of energy.  We have possibly offered these individuals career promotions, responsibilities and ‘opportunities’ way beyond human capabilities… but that is just it… what we have asked has been way beyond what a human-being is capable.  There are only so many hours in the day, and only so many aspects of our lives can receive our full attention… and then we feel guilty for not being everything to everyone!  An adrenaline addict is not a superhuman-being.  It is an individual addicted to the energy that panic prevails.  A truly well individual is someone who recognises that sometimes you have to switch off, let go and enjoy peace of mind.  It is a gifted, happy individual that can give space and recognize it, appreciate peace and seek it, seek knowledge and manifest it, be true to all aspects of life without giving in to the fast-paced urgent pull that leads us to be solely consumed by work or family responsibilities.  Balance is the key.

Your Fitness Performance and Weight Loss Enhancer = Sleep

“Sleep is the best meditation” – The Dalai Lama

                Experienced exercisers know that furthering our fitness results involves constant reviews and changes:  We review our food intake, our approach to training and re-assess our goals.  There are many theories on what enhances athletic performance and fitness results; high intensity training, resistance training, a more efficient metabolism through diet and exercise, carb loading, carb cutting! More protein for lean muscle growth… often sleep is not a part of the equation…  However, recent research has found that sleep is a big factor when it comes to improved fitness, weight loss and athletic performance. 

                Recent research by Cheri Mah at Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory at Stanford University shows that athletes who focused on extending their sleep time to 10 hours per night increased their athletic performance (“To Improve Fitness, Try Sleep” – Tara Parker-Pope).  This small study involved five members of the Stanford Women’s Tennis Team.  For the first two weeks the athletes maintained their normal training and sleeping schedules; they took part in sprinting and hitting drills to measure their performance.  Then the players were told to extend their sleep to 10 hours per night for five to six weeks.   The outcome of this was that the athletes performed better on all drills; sprinting times dropped on average from 19.12 seconds to 17.56, hitting accuracy (measured by valid serves) improved to 15.61 serves up from 12.6 and a hitting depth drill improved to 15.45 hits up from 10.85.

                Katherine Hopson, who writhes the “On Fitness” column for the T.S. News and World report also mirrors this outcome in her training (“To Improve Fitness, Try Sleep” – Tara Parker-Pope); “I expected my first run back in Brooklyn to be a death march.  Instead, I felt the best and went the fastest that I have in weeks.  One possible explanation came to mind: I erased my chronic sleep debt on vacation, thanks to sleeping in as long as I wanted in the mornings and napping most afternoons, which made me extremely well rested when I took that run”.  Katherine hung up the running shoes and focus on ‘sleep-loading.’

                The two most basic states to sleep are REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep (“States of Consciousness” – Dennis Coon).  NREM sleep helps us recover from fatigue built up during the day.  Often when people exercise at high intensity or exert themselves physically to extremes, this state of sleep increases.  NREM sleep is a deeper stage of sleep where your body recuperates and during this stage of sleep, your pituitary gland secretes more muscle growth hormones than during your waking hours (“Why Sleep Is Key for Weight Loss” – www.fitday .com).  NREM sleep dominates the first third of our night’s sleep and for high intensity training individuals it can take up to 25-35% of the night.

                REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) is a time of high emotion; the eyelids move rapidly, the heart beats irregularly and blood pressure and breathing waiver.  This is the dreaming phase of sleep and totals about on average per cent, 90 minutes per night (just like a feature movie!).  Just as a physically exerted person experiences more NREM sleep to allow physical recovery, an emotionally exerted person experiences more REM sleep to alleviate emotional stress due to its link with dreaming (“States of Consciousness” – Dennis Coon). People suffering dramatic emotional stress such as a death in the family, trouble at work, marital conflicts or other emotionally arousing stressors are said to experience increased REM or dreaming phases of sleep.

                                Sleep affects several hormones in the human body.  Two hormones that play an important role in stimulating and suppressing your appetite are leptin and ghrelin (“Why Sleep Is Key for Weight Loss” – www.fitday .com).  Leptin is produced by your body’s fat cells and is responsible for suppressing hunger and Ghrelin is released by your stomach and stimulates your appetite.  Lack of sleep can lower the levels of leptin in your body and can heighten the levels of ghrelin, encouraging you to eat more.  Also, lack of sleep affects Cortisol levels.  Irregular or shortened sleep heightens cortisol levels in your blood and lowers metabolism as cortisol stimulates breaking down protein into glucose.  Lack of sleep stimulates weight gaining hormones whereas regular sleep and recovery stimulates metabolism and appetite suppressors. 

                Sleeping is part of the body’s healing process; growth hormones are released to stimulate muscle repair and gain, cortisol levels lower to boost metabolism, we have also been proven to concentrate better and perform better when we are rested.  Yet we are also eager to sacrifice time spent resting!  Many of us view sleep as time standing still! So we compromise it to study, work, train, give to our families, loved ones and friends and then wonder why we have such little left!  The pleasure in what we have gained for this sacrificed is often lost by the terrible fatigue we feel.  Why is sleep seen as such a selfish moment when it makes us such better versions of ourselves?

Masculine/Feminine & the Revolution of Group Fitness Training

I don't deny the origins of Group Fitness.  Aerobics originated in the 80's with such role models as Jane Fonda.  Lycra leotards and headbands were worn and the instructors often yelled out things like "woo hoo!"  Classes were often called things like "Jazzercise," and "Tone and Stretch" and "Cardio Funk" and 98% of people taking the classes were women!  No wonder aerobics is perceived as feminine!  Unfortunately, as we move into the era of "Group Fitness Training" this image of "Aerobics" has stuck!  Someone who spends all their time in the free weights area still pictures a bunch of girls in the group fitness studio jumping around and dancing dressed in lycra just like the cardio junkie sees the free weights area as full of 'meat heads' who grunt and check out their biceps in the mirror. 

However, the fitness industry has become more educated!  Just as resistance training has evoled from its body building associations and become something more individuals aspire to do because of the much needed strength and metabolic benefits and the functional aspects of the training, group fitness has evolved from its feminine origins.

In a recent New York Times article, fitness program directors were quoted as saying that they know gym members stay longer when they're involved in group classes.  Classes offer a social aspect that individual gym users often don't experience.  There is interaction and connection- it is a shared experience.  Such organizations as Les Mills and Zumba Fitness have taken the fitness world by storm all because they understand that the social benefits of exercise and the 'fun factor' keeps people coming back!  The very essence of Sh'Bam (one of Les Mills latest successes!) according to program director Racael Cohen is "you are out with a group of friends on a  Friday night and simply leading them into a fun time of dance; so infectiously fun (all that sweating and smiling!) and they just can't help joining in".

According to Barry Van Over, vice president of Premier Martial Arts, "Men like the social aspects of a co-ed class, but most will shun a class that risks making them appear anti-masculine'.  Drey Tybus, a New Your City publicist echoes these thoughts; "since the group exercise studio is not "man's territory," neither are the typical movements you find in these classes.  Fumbling around trying to learn stuff is hard and it's not any easier when there's a cute girl next to you who's looking at you with eyes that say, 'Hey dopey, what don't you get here?  When he blows the whistle, you jump!" ("Oh Man" - Carrie Myers Smith).  A lack of self-confidence and physical inferiority are not qualitites we associate with masculininty!

There are some classes that contain movements typically associated with femininity.  Although it is different in some cultures, the Australian male wouldn't be typically associated with some of the hip wiggling and butt shaking that might take place in a Zumba class.  However, this is not typical of Group Fitness anymore!  Less Mills International has been successful because of its different take on Group Fitness.  They have taken typical sporting activities and thurned them into Group Fintess  Programs.  Acoording to Less Mills International founder Phillip Mills in the 1990's "Aerobics, which has bubbled away in a niche through the 80's, became the Group Fitness revolution.  Suddenly you could ride your bike in a social environment with inspiring music and a great instructor to motivate you.  The same thing happened with weight-training, martial arts, yoga, dance classes and a host of other activities."  Les Mills also makes a point of using strong, athletic male role models to promote its programs.  As a result, not only has it brought more males to the Group Fitness studio, it has inspired many to become instructors.  They use words like "Power" and "Strenght" to promote their programs, instructors us set, pre-choreographed aerobics workouts.  They also aim to use "genderless music;" there is a mix of rock and latest music for more general appeal.

Studio classes are no longer called 'Aerobics!' the focus is on group training.  There are classes like Zumba that involve dancing around the aerobics room, but there are so many other options; Thump Boxing, cycle, Tabata circuits, Boot Camp, and even classes promotion core strenght and fucntional training such as Pilates and CxWorx.  Group fitness has replaced the fun and camaraderie that was previously created by traditional sporting activities.  The instructor coaches and motivates the group to success and you achieve your fitness goals in a social way with friends and music that is infectious!  The group, the coach and the music motivates you to a whole new energy level!