8 Reasons Group Fitness Classes are for YOU!

I used to be someone who did not like the idea of working out with a group. I was more of a loner type and did not want anyone looking at me - judging me - while I did something that was physically challenging. When I got into martial arts, I was kind of forced into a group atmosphere and while it was uncomfortable at first, I soon discovered that the pros drastically outweighed my reasons for hesitancy.

As I have said many times before: the best workout is the one you enjoy yet still challenges you. Even without a lot of fitness knowledge going in, a cursory search online can lead you to some physically-challenging workout routines. But will you be able to push yourself to rise to those challenges that should consistently escalate? And even if you can, will it be fun and exciting for you?

This is where the magic of group exercise classes come in. You have an opportunity to try something new, often with no commitment, that can change your life forever in multiple ways. Here are 8 great reasons why that is true:

1. You Need Some Instruction

This is a big one. You can read up on everything online now but when it comes to something physically challenging, skill-based or not, you are going to need some personal instruction on how to do it. Going on your own can result in injury, not learning the proper way to do the thing you're studying or at best, not being able to get much better after your first month or so.

So from there you've got 2 options: you can hire someone to teach you privately or a group fitness/small group training type of session. Private training will generally average anywhere from $40-$100/hour whereas group classes cost only a fraction, yet still give you access to the high level instruction of a trainer without the barrier to entry. (Note: Sometimes a friend or family member will have some experience or expertise here and will train you for free. Provided they know what they are doing, that could be great! But especially as it relates to boxing, I have seen some people who had trained with a friend that really shouldn't be training someone else. I've seen some good examples here too, but mostly bad.)

Any decent fitness studio will have coaches who know form, cues, and mechanics, as well as how to deliver that information in a room full of people, correcting improper form and giving you feedback. If you try out a group class where the coach does not do this, then you are probably in the wrong place!

2. Unless You Are One of the Remarkable 1%, Someone Else HAS to Push You

Very few of us can consistently push ourselves outside of that comfort zone during a workout. And the ones that can would probably still work that tiniest bit harder if someone else is telling them what to do. I have seen it time and time again on both ends. No matter how I try, now matter how determined and diligent I am, I will never work as hard alone as I would with even someone else in the room, let alone an actual trainer.

And even if that other person pushes you just the tiniest bit harder - like you skip that microsecond of rest you would take on your own - that tiny bit can make a HUGE difference. It's those microseconds we spend out of our comfort zone that lead to results. Plus, it's easy to get distracted on your own. I generally start thinking of other things, which can be great for activity like jogging, but having someone else driving me will keep me focused on what I am doing.

3. Planning Workouts 

One area where I believe less thinking is better is when it comes to planning workouts. Let an expert take care of this for you, designing the next 45 or so minutes of your life so all you have to do is show up and work.

Besides saving time and energy, this is better for your body. Unless you are fitness professional yourself, odds are that you don't have the prerequisite skills needed to create a workout program that is truly effective as possible, working everything in the way you want to. Again, there are plenty of workouts you can find online but also again, it may be harder than you think to tell the good from the bad. And none of it is personalized for you in any way.

4. Getting Bored

On a similar note, group fitness programs are a great option if you get bored easily working out on your own at the gym or following videos from home. A good instructor will mix things up, keeping it fresh, and focusing on creating a fun, enjoyable experience as well. Despite all I have said about challenging yourself and pushing yourself, my first goal when creating a class or individual program is to make it fun. It could be the most challenging workout in the world but if it's not fun, most people won't want to come back. Or in my case, it could also be the most perfectly instructional boxing lesson ever but if it's just cold, clinical and no fun, the average person isn't going to want to keep doing it. The "fun" part should relate to everything too - the workout itself, the instructor's personality, music, everything.

5. A Little bit of Competition May Be A Good Thing!

While I wouldn't necessarily think about being competitive at first - and it was part of the reason I was initially resistant to group fitness classes - a little bit of competition once you can get used to the workout may help you take that next step. It doesn't even have to be direct. If I am in a class and see someone else working hard, I will be motivated to try and match or exceed their intensity levels.

Then if you are more of a competitive type, even better! Many group fitness classes have some sort of technology that tracks elements of their workout. At my boxing club, we have sensors on the all the heavy bags, which detect how many punches someone throws, as well as the force delivered on each punch so we have some members who like push each other to score more points or at the very least, compete with themselves yesterday.

6. It's Good To Be Around Other People Too!

Once again, this as not necessarily my jam originally. It's not that I didn't like people, I just wasn't exactly a social butterfly. But even if I wasn't looking for buddies, it was still good/healthy for me to be around others and I think that is true for most of us. No person is an island. And while it might be a little out of your comfort zone, it is a great way to ease into being more socially comfortable. You don’t have to interact and if you do, there are time constraints (like class about to start)  that make the interaction less of a commitment. I found that particularly helpful and eventually realized that I wasn't a social butterfly but a social caterpillar, who eventually emerged from his chrysalis!

No matter what stage you might be in, meeting people can be especially difficult these days but as part of a class, you can really get to know other members over time as well as the coaching staff. Going through a challenging workout together can even be bonding.
And of course, even if you don't meet friends at your class, you can still workout with your friends. Sign up for a new class together. With family members too. Workouts are a fun, healthy way to connect with your favorite people.

7. There is a Support System in Place

Along those lines, having external motivation to stick to your routine is extremely helpful and a group setting can provide just the encouragement you need. There is some accountability that doesn't exist when you exercise on your own. I have seen this work successfully time and time again and even seen members reach out to others who have gone MIA.

8. Keeps You On Track To Meet The Minimum Fitness Recommendations

It might sound obvious, but group fitness classes are a great way for people to inch closer to the recommended minimum movement requirements set forth by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. They recommend that adults participate in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity and two or more resistance training sessions each week. Going to programmed, group exercise classes will check those boxes for you. Exercise functions like medicine and helps lower your risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease. 

There are certainly additional health benefits in going beyond the recommended amounts and that is where your specific goals come into play. Whatever group exercise option you pick, it should align with those goals. As much as I love boxing and think everybody should do it, if someone walked in and said their goal was to bulk up and build 40 pounds of muscle mass, I would say that boxing is not necessarily the right training for that goal. Whereas if someone came in and said they wanted to lose 40 pounds of fat while building some tone, lean muscle, then boxing is the best way to do that!

So if you've never done group exercise classes before, try one right now! Or if you have done them in the past but didn't have the best experience, then try a different kind of class. I can almost guarantee you won't regret it, whether it is something you choose to do long-term of not. You likely have nothing to lose and probably the most valuable thing to gain - your own health and fitness!

Do New Year's Resolutions Actually Work?

When was the last time you made a New Year's Resolution? How did it go? Did you stick to it? Does anyone stick to them?

There are plenty of statistics out there and none of them are particularly encouraging. Very people who make New Year's Resolutions feel any kind of success by the end of the year. Many go into it feeling confident and maybe even by the end of January they still feel on track but as the months go on, everything falls by the wayside.

Sounds pretty hopeless BUT you CAN be one of the success stories. I can almost guarantee it. It will require some work on your part though, and it all comes down to the planning and tracking stages.

 

S.M.A.R.T. GOALS

 

If you want to actually follow through with your resolutions, New Year's or otherwise, you have to be smart about your goals. Both in terms of considering them thoughtfully and the acronym – SMART, which stands for Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic and Time-Bound.

 

It really is important that you hit on each of those letters.

I could say that I want to be fit and healthy, which I do, but that is way to vague. I could say that I want to be the fittest and healthiest I've ever been, which is also true, but that is also vague, not particularly measurable and probably not that realistic as I get older.

How about this then: I want to lose 10 pounds by my next birthday on April 16th. It's very specific, easily measurable, definitely attainable and by making it time-bound, I have set the expectation and can start formulating a plan for success. Of course your goals may be more detailed than this but for the sake of brevity in my explanation, I will keep it simple and assure you that this system can work for anything.

I cannot stress enough how important SMART Goals are. It is not just one of those catchy acronyms. Most people fail because they don't understand this part. Common resolutions like, "Lose weight" or "Eat better" or "Get to bed earlier" are not an actionable goals. Certainly all good things but without those specific, SMART details, they are pretty much just wishes, not goals.

 

YOU NEED A PLAN!

So the next step is to figure out that plan for success. How am I going to accomplish this SMART goal and lose 10 pounds by April? Well, according to the calendar, there are 106 days between January 1st and my birthday. That's about 15 weeks, let's say. So I just need to lose a pound a week. What's that, you say? That my goal was for 10 pounds and if I lose pound a week for 15 weeks, that would be 15 pounds. True, but I believe in giving myself some slack. A week is a pretty short interval of time and the pounds may not come off in lockstep like that. I may lose 2 in one week, then not lose any for 2 weeks. I want to give myself a little more aggressive of a mini-goal to stay on track for the macro-goal and this is a pretty good cushion. Plus, that way, I don't freak out if I don't lose a pound in a week and feel like I am never going to hit my goal. This is another big reason people don't make it. There plan quickly seems unattainable and they give up. By allowing myself some extra slack, I can better stay composed throughout the process.

The harder part comes next. How am I going to lose a pound a week? Then very general rule-of-thumb is that 3500 calories equals a  pound so using that, I need to create a 500-calorie deficit per day.

So how can I create such a deficit? Diet and exercise! But again, that is too vague. I need to figure out how many calories I am taking in a day, on a regular day, and how many I generally burn through exercise. The exercise part is harder to track accurately but there are plenty of ways to get a decent approximation. Once I have the baseline figured out, I can start to think of ways of cutting down calories in and increasing calories out to hit that 500 number per day. I could go on and on about the different ways to do this - how much should come from eating and how much should come from exercise - but I will save that for another time. For now I will just say that whatever way I pick, it just needs to be sustainable and the one thing I would NOT recommend doing is cutting out breakfast. A lot of people do this but there are many statistics out there to show that skipping breakfast and weight loss do not work as well together as they might seem.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT

 

Okay! So I have my SMART Goal, I have a reasonable plan to achieve said goal so now I just need a way to track it, to stay accountable, and to get the support I need to help ensure success.

Tracking my particular goal of losing 10 pounds by my next birthday isn't too tough. I can use an app like MyFitnessPal to track all the meals I eat as well as exercise sessions I am doing to see if I'm hitting that 500/day mark. I can also use a scale to see that those calories are turning into pounds. The only tricky part with scales in particular is that weight is not necessarily lost in consistent chunks and the number can be very determined by when I weight myself. In this case, I will just plan to do it every Monday, first thing in the morning. But again, when it comes to weight loss, it is important that I don't get too bogged down by the numbers I am seeing on the scale. The weight may not come off at all for a few weeks but as long as I'm sticking to my calorie plan, I should be good.

Oftentimes though, it really pays to be accountable to not just yourself. I should tell other people about my goal. Why? Because that makes the whole thing more real. Now I feel a little bit of pressure, good pressure, to really stay on task. I don't want to ever have to tell them that I completely failed! Plus, by telling a spouse or roommate, they may not bring as many snacks into the house or maybe be encouraged to try and get healthier too.

Because there is also the good kind of support and accountability. You want your friends, family, co-workers etc. to encourage you. It really can help. Maybe they'll have some good advice for you too. Teamwork indeed does make the dream work.

ANTICIPATE ROAD BLOCKS AND CELEBRATE SUCCESS

If things like weather and illness and just general lifetime events will prevent you from sticking to your plan, make alternate plans for situations that you cannot avoid. Like if I know I have a wedding to go to in March and plan to eat and drink a lot, I should build this excess into my plan and tweak the days around it to compensate. Most importantly, do not let a missed day or two throw you completely off target. Once again, this is what happens to so many people, New Year's Resolutions or not. They get off to a good start, feel good, feel committed and the instant life gets in the way and messes with their schedule/plan, they can't recover. Instead, do your best to get back on track as quickly as possible, which should not be extremely difficult if you have set appropriate goals.

It is easier to stick to your plan when you feel good and successful. Try to find a new way to reward yourself when you meet your smaller goals. Maybe each month I stay on track, I give myself a little gift/reward of some kind. If the goal is fitness-related, get yourself a new clothing item or piece of equipment (like boxing gloves). Something that makes exercise feel better, more appealing. Even just feeling like you look better when you exercise will help. It makes the whole thing feel more serious, more committed.

Then finally, the only way your goals/resolutions are going to become reality is if you believe in them and most of all, believe in yourself. You can do this! Maybe you haven't had success in the past but you can always take control and turn it around. If you aren't sure how to do it, seek out professional help. The internet can be a great resource (like right now as you read this!) but every body really is different and you may need some more personal attention. As I've said many times before, you are worth it!!

Best Gift to Give the People You Love the Most?

I am an only child raised by a single mother who worked full-time and went to school for much of my childhood. This was in Los Angeles so when you factor in travel distance and traffic, I didn't see my mom a whole lot. Still though, that was better than my dad. He lived out of state, traveled a lot, was generally disinterested in me. Even with Christmas and Summer breaks, I could count the number of times I visited him on both hands. He and my mother split when I was 3 and 44 years later, I still barely know the guy.

That's the end of my sob story but I promise I am not telling you any of this to feel sorry for me. There is another point I am getting to here. I grew up fine, followed my passion for work, got married and when we had our first child, a boy, I decided I was going to do the opposite of what my parents did. I was going to be there for my son in all the ways my dad wasn't for me. And this is not unique. To some degree, the way we raise our kids is a referendum on our childhood. It is evolution at work! 

As I have mentioned in previous autobiographical posts, I was always an active person but it became more and more difficult to "find" the time to exercise and just generally, take care of myself as a parent now. Especially as my son got a little older, I couldn't reconcile taking an hour to go work out or spending every precious minute with him. I didn't want to be anything like my own dad. And there was nothing more important to me than him. So how could I possibly take inessential time for myself instead of my son?

My regular routine then became not-so-regular. And of course my health started to decline. I was overweight, out of shape, but there was a mental aspect there as well, even more significant than the physical. You hear people say this all the time, most of us nod our heads in agreement, but it really is true - your physical and mental health are very much intertwined. I was not happy being out of shape, I didn't feel good, and this adversely affected my ability to be the father I wanted to be. Plus I started to think about the future. Suddenly, having a child with plans for more meant that my long-term health more and more important. I was already going to be an older dad and wanted to live long enough to see my kids grow up, hopefully have kids of their own, and me being still spry enough to play with those potential grandkids.

Plus, regardless of physical health, I (and I think just about all of us) needed some Me Time. As many sacrifices we make, and should make, for our children, it cannot and should not be ALL about them. Just as we need a work-life balance, we need an us-family balance too. Not just for us but for them too. Taking care of yourself will help you better take care of others.

Again, this was stuff I had heard before, thought about before, but it was only now that I fully realized how true it was. The best gift we can give to the ones we love the most is our own health, mental and physical. So we can be there for them in the long-term and even the short-term. Taking an hour or however long a day for yourself to truly invest in yourself helps everyone who depends on you. YOUR health and wellness is a gift to THEM. You don't have a be a current parent either. Your own parents, family and friends all care about your health and wellness too!

It's one thing to know this and even believe it wholeheartedly but it is another thing to actually do it. I want you to ask yourself a question right this very second: What are you doing for own mental and physical health right now? For real? Every single one of us should ask ourselves this question frequently. And if we don't have a good answer or think we should have a better answer, now is the perfect time to start working towards one. No matter where you are on your holiday shopping right now, I can tell you that this is the best gift you are going to be able to give anyone who really cares about you.

Who Is the Greatest Boxing Coach of All Time?

Most people have, at some point in their lives, heard about the greatest boxers of all-time. Even someone who's never seen a fight before can generally recognize names like Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike Tyson. But unless you really study the sport, it's unlikely you'll be familiar with great coaches and trainers. They are not nearly as high-profile as their fighters, most certainly, and also get much less exposure than just about anyone who coaches a team sport. This does not mean, however, that coaching and training boxers is less significant than the role that say, a football coach.

Boxing competitively is a whole different emotional journey than any other non-combat sport. Oftentimes fighters put their complete and total trust in their coach. They had better, as they are also putting their lives on the line every time they step into that ring. As such, trainers have the opportunity to truly mold their fighters. Whether they become pros or not, the coach is a teacher, mentor, a sometimes father figure, and really guides the fighter along as their skills and boxing brains develop.

Here are those who are generally recognized to be the greatest boxing trainers of all time, by most accounts (including mine). Right now, the list is pretty old-school but modern trainers like Eddy Reynoso and SugarHill Steward may eventually earn their places in history as well.

Cus D'amato
Eddie Futch
Angelo Dundee
Freddie Roach
Ray Arcel

Lou Duva

Emanuel Steward

Teddy Atlas

Roger Mayweather

Interesting thing is that with exception of Roger Mayweather, none of these men competed at a high level, some with little ring experience at all. This is generally true in ALL sports. Take a look at any one - football, soccer, MMA, tennis, bocce ball, etc. - and check out who the experts consider the greatest coaches to be. Almost none were superstars in their own right. There is a reason for this. Being a great coach is an entirely different skill-set than being a great fighter or player. Sometimes these skills can even be somewhat contradictory. Many great athletes are born with natural physical ability that not everybody else has. Some things just come easier to them than others. This can make communication, motivation, instruction and sometimes even relatability tough when they coach others who are not as talented. I have known boxers who literally can't even describe how to throw an uppercut. Not that they describe poor technique, I mean can't really explain it all. They can certainly throw and show a good punch but the breakdown is less apparent to them as they have pretty much always been able to do it well.

Anyway, back to the original topic, who of these legendary trainers really THE best? For me, it's Cus D'amato but I am very biased. Not only did he train Mike Tyson (my favorite fighter) but also created a whole new style of boxing that Iron Mike was the perfect vehicle for. Together, they made the sport must-see TV for people like myself and after Cus passed away and Tyson later fired his protege, Kevin Rooney, Mike's skill-set declined significantly and he was never the same, mentally or physically. That famous loss to Buster Douglas would not have happened had he continued to work with Rooney and Tyson's full potential was never potentially realized. That is how important a trainer can be. A truly great basketball or football player can be great regardless of who coaches them. In boxing, I think this is far less common. The right trainer can make the difference between champion and also-ran.

As far as the opinion of those not as biased as I am, I think most would tell you that Angelo Dundee belongs at the top of the greatest trainer list, since he worked with both Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. Although it is Eddie Futch who has probably trained more great boxers than anyone else, including 4 of the 5 men to beat Ali. Plus, one of his disciples was Freddie Roach, who is himself also considered by many to be the greatest trainer of all time.. Then of course there are countless fighters trained by all of these men who never became famous but whose lives were positively impacted by the time spent together.

Besides being a great teacher, communicator, motivator and brilliant boxing mind, a big thing that any great coach in any sport on any level needs is to care. To care about those who they coach (as well as the sport itself). Not just in their success but in their development as athletes and people. This care will flow into everything else they teach and do. Doesn't have to be all warm and fuzzy either. I was fortunate enough to work with a great coach for several years who wasn't particularly nice at all. But he definitely cared about me getting better and his tactical mindset was something I really admired and wanted to emulate as best I could. He also inspired me to want to teach this as well, which why I am sitting here writing this in the first place!

How Can You Stay Fit Around the Holidays?

Can anyone actually do this? For some, it would officially qualify as a Christmas Miracle. How does one handle the challenges of being confronted by tons of delicious food, parties, travel, relatives and just generally crazy schedules?

Oftentimes, it simply leads to complete resignation, which causes people to give up all regular routines, self-discipline and otherwise manageable self-restraint related to health and fitness. I’ve certainly been there!

If this sounds familiar to you too, your first step is to change your mindset. Practicing sound nutrition, health and fitness habits is vital to life-long wellness. Healthy eating, effective physical activity and regular rest are practices that should become part of who you are and essential to your daily life, just like brushing your teeth or taking a shower. This shift in mindset sets the stage for greater self-empowerment and self-confidence, as well as a transition of control from external to internal.

The key is to recognize that you have the power to transform your life by applying key foundational behavioral principles. When you do that, you won’t get bogged down with seemingly endless challenging choices in every situation.

Here are a few tips to help avoid being derailed during the holidays:

Eating:

Anyone can tell you to eat healthy foods and instead of cookies, just eat celery. Those people are certainly correct but they are also jerks. Who is going to eat celery instead of a cookie? So what can you do? Well, for one, drink lots of water. Besides hydration just being key to survival, it might help you feel a little bit fuller, especially during a party where snacks are plentiful and if you happen to be drinking other things at one of these parties, it helps balance you out. For every alcoholic beverage, make sure you follow it with one full glass of water.

When it comes to food, definitely try to have fewer snacks and sweet treats in the house over the holidays, as you probably run into plenty of this stuff at parties and under the tree at Christmas. Or if you do have them, try to make a healthier alternative easier to grab (ie put a bag of almonds in front of the cookies). And hey, if you can resist some of the temptation and eat that celery, by all means, do it! And I will tip my cap to you.

Exercise:

Understand that your schedule may be thrown off and you may not be able to stay in your normal routine but you can maximize the opportunities that you do have for exercise. Try doing 2 boxing classes in a row! Or more!! You might think you can’t do it, you’re tired after 1 class, but I would bet you some Christmas Celery that you absolutely can do it and will feel very proud of yourself afterwards. Or push yourself a little harder in a class. For our club, try to get a higher Impact Wrap Score, really speed up during a burnout, do planks on your toes instead of your knees, keep your hands up during class, try to cut down on rests, do the active rest exercises, ANYTHING!

Also, something positive is better than nothing. Get away from an all-or-nothing mindset. If you don’t have time for a full workout, do 10 minutes of exercise and you’ll reap some positive benefits. Get down and do 5 push-ups at some point during your day. You can come late to a class here, leave early, or even stop in when a class isn’t going on to get some workout in if schedule really doesn’t allow.

Sleep:

The most underrated component of fitness. Getting regular, consistent sleep is essential to your physical and mental health. But just like everything else, this becomes harder to maintain when our schedules get thrown off by the holidays. At least though, it is a little easier to be stay disciplined with than eating. And you’ve just got to be disciplined! Get 7+ hours of sleep every night. Or at least go to bed at a time where that could actually happen. Be consistent about this bedtime. This isn’t just to keep you from feeling crabby in the morning. A better sleep will actually help you with weight loss, muscle gain, stamina, energy, you name it!