Synergy And Energy Result From Group Exercise

By Nancy K. Crevier

Group exercise programs create an environment in which participants and instructors feed off of each other’s energy. This sense of community and friendly competition is what has made group activities like aerobics, Jazzercise, stationery bicycle spinning, and Zumba dance popular over the years. More recently, CrossFit and Les Mills Body programs have been capturing the attention of gym members nationwide, as people seek to vary their exercise experience.

Deb and Tim Sullivan of Newtown are CrossFit converts. One of the many things they love about their gym, CrossFit 203, located at 16 Beaver Brook Road in Danbury, is that Melissa Reed, who along with husband Kirk, owns the gym, is also a physical therapist.

“I have all kinds of injuries and Deb has a rod in her spine, so it is great to have a place to go where we know that Melissa can modify the workout and we can stay active, without getting hurt,” said Mr Sullivan. He joined CrossFit 203 last May, after seeing the great results in a friend who belonged to the gym.

“I’ve never been in better shape,” he said.

“Tim looked so good after just a couple of months and was so excited about CrossFit, that I joined in August,” said Ms Sullivan. Her own doctor had suggested she include some weight-bearing exercises, beyond the running she does, to combat low bone density.

“Since joining, my levels are off the charts. Once you start, it’s an addictive mindset. It’s very motivational,” she said.

What the Sullivans, as well as several other Newtown and area residents, have discovered in CrossFit is a regime that gets them fit through constantly changing exercise programs that are not only challenging, but fun, too. They enjoy the camaraderie that has formed between the regular members. The Sullivans were surprised to discover that another couple, Lauren and Frank Milano, lived right around the corner from them.

The class always begins with a warm-up, from rowing on machines to running laps to the more unusual — pushing prowlers, a weighted pushing sled, up and down the driveway outside the gym. The intense portion of each hourlong class may last only six minutes, or it may take 30 minutes to run through. Each gym member keeps individual records, to track progress. The rest of the hour is devoted to other routines devised by Ms Reed.

The CrossFit 203 gym is an affiliate of worldwide CrossFit, said Ms Reed. A lifelong athlete who grew up in New Milford, she discovered CrossFit in 2007 and quickly realized why people raved about the program.

“I’ve done all kinds of fitness programs, and this is the only thing I’ve seen results with, so far as strengthening and overall fitness,” Ms Reed said. She trained and became a certified CrossFit trainer, and she and her husband opened their Danbury site in November of 2010, where it has been very well received.

Banishing Boredom

“People do get bored doing the same workout all the time. CrossFit is a functional sort of fitness,” she explained. “It’s about moving your body the way you were meant to move,” she said. And bored is one thing that CrossFit fans will never be, she added.

“We may do one workout only twice a year, so the body is always adapting. Each daily program is planned, and has a purpose, though,” Ms Reed said.

The class can involve weight training, gymnastics, a core workout, running, pull-ups, or lifting dead weights. A class might also include activities outside the norm of most gyms, too.

“Sometimes we flip tires,” she said, pointing out the huge 350-pound truck tire at one side of the gym, “or we might hit the tires with sledge hammers. We have wall balls that we throw to marks on the wall, and we use the prowlers, or we lift kettle bells.” Large boxes for stepping on and off of are utilized, and with all of the exercises, Ms Reed provides detailed instruction and coaches individuals as they go through a routine.

CrossFit is ideal for people of all ages and skill levels, said Ms Reed. Members at CrossFit 203 range between 18 and 68 years of age. Some people have never belonged to a gym or exercised regularly, and others are experienced athletes. On Sundays, the gym offers a Masters Class, for athletes over the age of 45.

Unlike many group fitness programs, CrossFit appeals not only to women, but also to men. Several other couples besides the Sullivans make up the CrossFit 203 “family,” and unlike many other group exercise classes, CrossFit tends to be equally balanced between the number of men and women.

“It’s a great way to spend time with your spouse. It’s something you can do together and gives you something new to talk about,” said Ms Reed.

“We never know what the class will be. I like the surprise of the workout,” added Ms Sullivan.

Getting Excited About Fitness

The Newtown Youth Academy at 4 Primrose Street at Fairfield Hills introduced Les Mills Body Pump a year ago, and Club NewFit, 23 Commerce Road, launched Les Mills Body Pump and Body Flow classes in January.

The Les Mills Body programs began in New Zealand in 1991, said Penny Tavar, owner of Club NewFit, with the hopes of encouraging more men to become involved in aerobic exercise. Since then, the programs have spread to more than 70 countries.

“I was aware of the Les Mills Body Pump and Body Flow programs,” said Ms Tavar, and decided to launch them with the new year — new programs to keep people excited about fitness. She had also observed that a lot of her over-45 clientele were not getting enough strength training. The Body Pump and Body Flow classes seemed a good way to involve more people in strength training, which has the benefits of decreasing risk of osteoporosis, reducing diabetes risk and risk of cardiovascular disease, and lowering high blood pressure.

The Les Mills Body Pump class is a barbell class that offers total body fitness by using low weight loads and up to 800 repetition movements in an hourlong class. The nice thing about Body Pump, she said, is that it targets all of the major muscle groups in one workout, burning up to 600 calories.

Ms Tavar is hopeful, too, that more men will join Body Pump and Body Flow.

“There is a little stigma among men about taking group classes. They seem to think that group classes are for women,” she said. With Body Pump, she wants to convey the understanding “that you don’t have to be pumping iron with heavy, heavy weights to achieve results.”

“Group fitness is a great way to offer strength training, and it’s fun,” she said. All of the Body Pump and Body Flow instructors have undergone intensive training, and continue to do so. A new routine is learned quarterly, so neither instructor nor student gets stuck in a rut.

Body Flow is a choreographed routine of yoga, tai chi, and Pilates movements to improve flexibility, core strength, and cardiovascular function. The routines bring up the heart rate higher than would occur in just a Pilates or yoga class, said Ms Tavar. “And again, you have that feeling of energy from the group. When people go it alone, they don’t take it to the next level,” she said.

Resistance Exercise

Personal trainer and president of One To One Fitness, Inc, Kevin Cleary instructs a class that is not part of the normal Club NewFit membership, but which appeals to yet another group of clientele, Ms Tavar said.

TRX, which stands for Total body Resistance eXercise, was designed by a Navy Seal, said Mr Cleary. Using strapping and carabiners (metal loops with a sprung gate, used in rope-type activities) that are anchored to the gym ceiling (or any other stable point), a person’s own body weight provides the resistance to increase core stability, balance, and flexibility — and once more, provide it in a package that is as much play as it is work.

Mr Cleary uses TRX to instruct individuals and small groups, as well as larger groups at the seven classes he instructs at the gym each week.

Boredom can be the kiss of death, so it is vital to offer different programs to fit different needs, said Ms Tavar. Being involved in an exercise program that a person enjoys can help exercising become a lifestyle, she said.

Les Mills Body Pump has been around for a while, said Cody Foss, fitness manager and director of personal training at Newtown Youth Academy. But by applying the basic concepts of strength training to a group setting, more people can learn about it, rather than in a one-on-one personal training situation.

“Information is starting to reach the masses, which previously was only being provided by qualified trainers or higher level group fitness instructors,” said Mr Foss. “Companies are utilizing successful fitness strategies and training techniques and franchising them,” he said, with detailed instruction provided to trainers in how to implement the programs.

He sees advantages and disadvantages to the high repetition Body Pump program. “Yes, you do a lot of reps,” he said, “but in the surest sense of strength training, you need to vary the weights and the repetition scheme.”

Where he really thinks trends are taking the country by storm are the event workouts and races like Ragnar Relay, Tough Mudder, and Warrior Dash, all examples of one-of-a-kind, challenging endurance contest workouts. A recent four-station Boot Camp at NYA drew 90 members who used the indoor track, spinning, and Body Pump in one “supercharged workout,” said Mr Foss.

“At NYA, our goal is to stay ahead of trends by following the trends in science vs the next well-marketed fitness craze. Once you understand the science,” said Mr Foss, “you can then create motivating, inspiring, attainable programs that people will come back for.”

But, he added, the connective energy of a group with the same goals, who are accountable to each other and themselves to perform, cannot be discounted. “It’s hard to maintain interest,” he admitted. At the end of the day, he said, basic principles combined with a balanced wellness approach create results.