Why you need them, and what to look for when choosing a class

It seems as though every corner of Melbourne has got a health or fitness studio popping up, offering some form of hyped-up fitness phenomenon. And the pictures all look ‘amazing’ right?! Sweaty bodies, tight active wear, perfect physiques and the golden smile. It’s all part of their pristine marketing campaign to facilitate huge numbers of willing and ambitious people in to their small but busy studios. Why? Perhaps in hopes of achieving the media influenced, socially-accepted ideal body that’s continually pushed down our throats by mainstream marketing. It’s enough to make you reconsider even starting to exercise, and unfortunately Pilates (particularly reformer Pilates) is right in the mix with the best of them…

However, they aren’t all like that. Some of them actually even know what they’re talking about!

Why are are group fitness classes successful?

Group classes of any format are a fantastic way for providing structured exercise to larger numbers of people, who need a little extra motivation. And they can be hugely beneficial for facilitating repeat visits per week, while remaining cost effective for those who don’t want to attend regular private or semi-private sessions at a premium cost. And there are a million different versions of group classes you can attend these days; Pilates, Reformer Pilates, Piloxing, boxing, Yoga, Bikram yoga, Hot yoga, hot Pilates, Animal flow, ZUU, dance classes etc etc, the list goes on… And the beauty of having so many options, is that if you try enough, at some point you’re going to find the right instructor for you, who is teaching the right kind of information you need, at just the right pace for you.

But it can be a real mine-field to navigate in order to find the right class, and often you’ll end up working your way through the introductory packages of every studio in town in search of that ideal class. So surely, there must be a better way to navigate the system, and streamline where to attend classes? Well, we’ve listed a few ideas below to help you find the right class for you.

What do you actually enjoy?

Before you can work with someone else, you need to know the answer to the main question first - what is it that I actually enjoy doing? If you can identify what that is, half the battle is over. We often get people coming in for sessions with no idea what they’re actually looking for, which makes it pretty hard to give them what they want. Sometimes they discover something they really enjoy, or at least think they do for a while and eventually they realise they actually really miss their old Crossfit workouts. But if you can spend a bit of time thinking about:

• what your goals are - weight loss, flexibility, stamina, muscle tone…

• the kind of environment you enjoy - hip-hop music, heavy weights, tranquil harmonies…

• the kind of people you like being around while exercising - the lads, the 20-somethings, the boomers…

• the attitude of the practitioner - army drill sergeant vs peaceful Buddhist monk vs fitness bunny…

• the kinds of movements you like doing - isolated muscles, full body flowing movements, repetitive and sweat inducing…

then you’ll have some fantastic points of reference to open with when speaking to a studio about their offerings., and how best you match up with that.

If you find something you like, find out where or how they trained

It’s not a guarantee, but often if one practitioner is delivering a certain way, there will be others like them. They may be working in the same studio, or have recommendations for other studios that are better suited to your requirements. Also, ask how extensively they are trained - for example, although physiotherapists may be University qualified for rehabilitation of injuries and health conditions, don’t actually have to have any certified Pilates movement training. So a lot of allied health professionals will attend a weekend course or two, but very few actually meet the government standard for Pilates Practitioners of a Diploma level qualification, which takes around 18-24 months to complete. This is the case for many different aspects across the health and wellness industry. Instead of looking for a PT who may have only done 6-12 weeks of training, perhaps look for a Strength and Conditioning coach who has to reach internationally recognised standards which take several years to complete. Instead of a Yoga teacher doing 200hr training, maybe aim for someone who has done the full 800 hour training. See what I’m getting at? This is not to say that they haven’t progressed past their initial training, but it’s speeds up the process of up-skilling if you’ve already started 2-3 years a head of your standard fitness professional.

Shop around

Often people are happy to settle for something purely because it suits their location, or their free time, or their budget. And these are all valid reasons to attend a session, but often there is that extra something you get out of finding just the right place for you that can’t be valued quite so easily Things like the community you get to know, and the relationships you develop within the studio, that might take a little extra work but add so much more value to your sessions. And it’s because of these sorts of reasons that you’ll keep going back to that studio long after you’ve moved or changed jobs, for example.

Premium or Discount mode

It’s always good to ask some questions around what the studios model is that they subscribe too. Generally speaking, If they have anymore than 12 people in a class, it falls in to the category of a discount model. In this case, you can expect larger class sizes, a lower price point, less individualised attention and more of an expectation that you’ll figure it out as you go. And this is great if you have no injuries, and are just looking for an easily accessed session without too many of the extras, which is the case for many people, which is why this model has been wildly successful in many of the main city centres across the world.

At the other end of the spectrum, anything with around 10 or less people in a class is heading towards a premium service. Expect more individualised attention, more experienced practitioners with higher education, more of a community feel, a few extra additions in the studio (showers, toiletries etc), and a price point to match. And this great for those who have decided they want more value from their sessions and aren’t afraid to invest a bit more to get it. This sort of studio is generally tailored to those with a bit more disposable income, and as such are situated in more affluent areas, or major through fairs between working hubs and affluent homes.

So what about Movementality?

At Movementality, we offer a premium model:

• we have Diploma qualified practitioners, which takes around 2 years of training rather than 6 weeks, or no training; or they have been teaching for 5+ years minimum and have actively progressed their skill set

• we cap our session size to a maximum of 4 clients

• and we focus on the feel-good factor, rather than the sweat and scream side of the industry.

We actively promote and have managed to develop a strong community feel, and most people do a mixture of services within our business. It’s an awesome space that we’re really proud of, and although we aren’t the prettiest or coolest kids on the block, we’re doing some pretty awesome things for our clients who show up every week and want to have an awesome time.