Body Shop: Fitness that’s functional: Group fitness classes keep workouts fun, interesting - Off Duty, Military Health and Fitness - Air Force Times

Body Shop: Fitness that’s functional: Group fitness classes keep workouts fun, interesting

Except for the military-inspired “boot camps” that seek to emulate basic training, the latest trends in fitness classes can give you unique cross-training opportunities to augment your basic PT.

Staying in shape may be the primary goal of such classes, but positive social interactions are a good fringe benefit.

“Quality fitness classes are popular with service members because they excel at performing in difficult group situations,” says Sarah Delamotte, a postdoctoral fellow in the Injury Prevention Research Laboratory at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.

“Classes offer novelty with structure, and are usually fun enough to make people forget they are working hard,” she says.

Basic spin, yoga and Pilates classes are still going strong at gyms across the country. But these days they’re being augmented by group activities, team sports, old-fashioned functional fitness and laugh-out-loud fun.

At the New York Social Sports Club, broomball, Ultimate Frisbee, inner tube water polo, flag football and kickball are all fun reasons to work up a sweat with friends.

In Colorado, Boulderites are staying in shape with cardio sculpting, ski conditioning classes, Zumba, Bosu & ball classes and total body intervals.

Deep-water workouts, kickboxing, cardio hip-hop, cardio step and sculpt and “Extreme FUNctional Training” are some of the offerings at Los Angeles Athletic Club.

The idea is not to skimp on physical training, but to stay motivated by switching up your cross-training routine with a fresh activity.

Check with gyms, health clubs, message boards and community centers to see what’s available near you.

To help avoid injury, Delamotte says you must listen to your body and choose classes with modifications and options based on your fitness and ability levels.

Shake it up

Jump outside your comfort zone and try a new activity to engage different muscles and rev your metabolism. You’ll find that many new trends combine familiar concepts in unique ways:

Find your old jump rope and try a class like Aerojump to boost cardio, slim down and get fit while jumping rope to music.

In Piloxing, celebrity trainer and former dancer Viveca Jensen combines Pilates and boxing to help devotees create strong and healthy bodies.

For closet ballerinas, Beauty and Beast are joined in Aerobarre, a blend of ballet and boxing that touts strengthening and toning results.

In addition to helping troops prevent injuries, Delamotte teaches Les Mills group fitness classes. She was drawn to the quality of the research-based programs, consistency of instructors and generous amounts of fresh workout material. Class offerings are varied, but include programs based on weightlifting, cardio and others, all set to high-energy music.

If you want something for the kid in you, grab a hula hoop — an hour of intense hooping can burn the same number of calories as an hour running on the treadmill. Click here to learn more.

Exercise for mind and body

When the idea of sweating out an hour of cardio has you bypassing the gym in favor of an hour on the couch with “American Idol,” it might be time to broaden your mind with a new yoga class, Nia or tai chi:

AcroYoga is a partner practice with elements of yoga, Thai massage and acrobatics that promotes the development of trust, playfulness and connectivity.

In SUP yoga, poses are performed on a paddleboard floating on flat water, offering deeper meditation and a stronger balance challenge.

Spin yoga combines yoga with riding a stationary bike. Classes can begin and end with yoga, with a spin session in the middle — or even include yoga adjustments midspin for a balanced head and heart workout.

Breakti joins break dancing and yoga with hip-hop and funk and gravity-defying “freeze” poses.

If that’s not enough, go further with BuddhaXtreme, which merges power vinyasa yoga, martial arts and break dancing in a flow through three tenets: foundation, core and urban warrior.

Caponyasa is a high-energy workout blending elements of the Brazilian martial art capoeira and vinyasa yoga in a hot room, similar to Bikram yoga.

To move beyond yoga, try Nia, a dance-inspired routine that draws from both martial arts and healing arts to work on your base, core and extremities. Each class consists of a unique combination of 52 moves, offered in three intensity levels to match your mood.

Tai chi is meditation in motion, with classes performing a series of exercise and stretching movements in a continuous flow. Tai chi was created in China for self-defense, but has evolved into a practice of more than 100 low-impact, stress-reducing movements.