Classes or Gym Workouts, What's Better?

1/9/2016

With such a variety of workouts and classes to try it's hard to know what's best and how much of each you should be doing. Gym workouts allow you to do whatever you want personal to your goals and aims whereas classes give you a generalised workout with others to usually raise heart rate and work full body. So what is better? Let's find out the pros and cons of both.

Classes

As someone who teaches particular classes, I know the benefits, but I also know why they can be bad! Here are the pros and cons below!

Pros: Teamwork, confidence booster, planned session for you, music, consistent workout level, easy to get motivated.

Cons: Can slack if you want, you can get comfortable, not enough progressions, not personal to you, doesn't really take injuries into account as it is a set routine.

Workouts

I'm personally more of a workout guy, but again there's are always pro and cons!

Pros: specific to all your personal needs, can add progressions whenever needed, works at your own fitness levels, can keep track of what you did and how much.

Cons: Not always easy to plan a good session, sometimes hard to stay motivated, confused which exercises are good, can slack off if you want to, can be made too easy.

The Verdict

They both have pros and cons but the verdict is pretty obvious, IT'S UP TO YOU! If you like classes and prefer doing them, go for it! If you feel good that you have to be there at a certain day and time with people you know or regularly see, great atmosphere and Coke out feeling ruined, fantastic! If you love being in your own zone, training to your music with your own plan which is in direct correlation to what you want then crack on! If you do a mixture of the two you have the best of both worlds! No one can say what's better, if someone hates classes how can they be better than a workout? And if someone has no clue about anything in the gym, a class will be much more beneficial for them!

So When Should You Change?

Taking all this into account, you have to go with a few things to determine if you're doing too much of one or the other. Are you comfortable? Wether In a class or gym workout you always need to push your boundaries to continue progressing, if you're comfortable maybe you should switch it up! Do you enjoy it? Are you just doing a workout because you're used to to doing it? If so, try a class you like the sound of! You have to go with what you honestly and personally feel, only you know these things and should act on them if you want to keep your mind and body guessing and progressing.

Summary

In my opinion, if you're not 100% a lover of one or the other, a mixture of the two is going to be the best way to get your. Key working in a variety of ways, whilst keeping the equipment, exercises and environment fresh. Whatever ratio works for you wether it be 2 classes 3 gym session or visa versa, as long as you enjoy it, you're challenged, and you see progress keep it up! Either classes or workouts are better, it's all down to personal opinion to what you feel you're working best with.

Keep Training Mean, Stay Lean.