Group fitness training is traditionally a venue for cardiovascular workouts. Jazzercise, Taebo and step aerobics are just three popular examples of this kind of group training. However, you can just as easily make a group exercise session about strength training. It's simply a matter of which exercises you choose to employ.
Yoga
Yoga is an exercise method that focuses on body strength and flexibility. As a strength exercise, it uses the practitioner's own body weight to provide the resistance necessary to strengthen muscle fibers. There are hundreds of yoga postures to choose from. When leading a yoga class to build muscle, choose postures with a strength focus, rather than flexibility or balance. Some classic yoga postures that focus on strength include crow, plank and downward facing dog.
Dumb Bell Lab
Build strength in a group fitness environment by having each participant hold dumbbells as they follow you through a series of strength building exercises. The dumbbells provide the resistance for the exercise routine. Focus on routines that use high repetitions at lower weights, since it will be hard for you to effectively spot every participant at once. Using the same basic principals, use resistance bands or kettle bells as alternatives to dumbbells.
Calisthenics
Borrow a page from military physical training. During some training sessions, soldiers assemble in groups and simply run through a series of calisthenic exercises. Like yoga, these exercises use body weight for resistance. Push-ups, sit-ups, squat jumps and burpees are popular calisthenic options. When running through calisthenics, get better results by rotating through sets of different exercises. Rather than doing 100 each of four exercises, for example, do four sets of 25 each. This allows for a brief rest period that lets participants keep at it longer.
Circuit Training
In a circuit training session, each participant does a different exercise. One might be working with free weights, while another does push-ups and a third practices a yoga posture. After a set time -- fitness coach Ben Cohn recommends one or two minutes -- all participants rotate to a new station. By the end of the workout, everybody in class will have done each exercise at least once, and possibly two to three times. An advantage of circuit training is that you can put the group through a wider variety of exercises. A disadvantage is that it can lack some of the enjoyable camaraderie of a more unified workout.
References
- Ben Cohn; Fitness Coach; Hillsboro, OR
- "Brawn"; Stuart McRobert; 1989
- Kerry Collette; Group Fitness Instructor; Hillsboro, OR
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