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A group workout or a workout alone

Some women like a quiet set with headphones. Some women like a room that moves together. Both can be real exercise. The question is what the group adds besides the sweat.

This note is for women at LaFemme Fitness & Salon Studio. We are a women only fitness and salon studio in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Classes are taught by women, for women. Every fitness level is welcome. The study below is one study. It is not a promise that every woman will feel the same way.

Who was in the study

In 2017, Dayna Yorks and colleagues published a study in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. They followed medical students for 12 weeks. Medical school is a high stress setting. These were not a random sample of women in Brooklyn. The article needs to say that up front.

Students chose their own group. This was not a random trial. Sixty nine people finished.

• 25 people took a group fitness class.
• 29 people exercised alone, or with no more than two partners.
• 15 people did not exercise on a regular plan. They were the control group.

The group class was 30 minutes, at least once a week. The class was a core and functional fitness class. The people who exercised alone could run, lift, or do another plan they already liked. They just could not train in a big class.

Every four weeks they filled out a stress survey. Each week they rated physical, mental, and emotional quality of life. The researchers compared the end of the 12 weeks with the start.

What changed

The journal reports a clear pattern. The group class was the only group with less perceived stress at week 12. That group also scored higher on physical, mental, and emotional quality of life.

The people who exercised alone, or with one or two partners, did not show a clear change in stress. They did show a gain in mental quality of life. The control group showed no clear change on these measures.

The American Osteopathic Association summary of the same study adds the size of those changes.

• About 26.2 percent less perceived stress in the group class.
• About 24.8 percent higher physical quality of life.
• About 12.6 percent higher mental quality of life.
• About 26 percent higher emotional quality of life.

The same summary says the solo exercisers worked out about twice as long. Even with more minutes, their only clear gain was mental quality of life, about 11 percent. The control group still showed no clear change.

Longer is not the same as better in this study. The group spent less time and moved more of the scores. That does not mean a solo workout is a waste. It means the class setting was tied to a wider change in this particular group of students.

What the study does not prove

Read the limits before you treat the percentages as a rule for every woman.

• The people were medical students, not a cross section of Crown Heights.
• They chose their group. People who like classes may have picked the class.
• The class group was 25 people. That is a small room, not a city.
• One class style was tested. It was not Zumba, and it was not a weight room.
• Twelve weeks is a season, not a lifetime.

The journal still found something useful. Stress fell in the class. It did not fall in the same way for people training mostly alone. Mood and body scores rose together in the class. A solo plan mostly lifted the mental score. Showing up with other people may be part of the effect. The study authors say the social part of a class should not be ignored.

How a women only class uses that idea

LaFemme Fitness & Salon Studio is built as a group room. You are not asked to invent the workout in your kitchen. A teacher leads. Other women are in the same block of time. That is the setting the study was looking at, even though the students were not our clients.

Our classes in Brooklyn:

• Zumba is cardio with music and a group.
• Power Dance keeps the pace up and the room together.
• Full Body Workout and Lower Body Weight Resistance Training are strength in a class, not a solo set.
• Pilates and Power Pilates are quieter, and you still train with other women.
• Upper Body Workout gives arms, chest, and back a shared hour.

You can still train alone on other days. A walk, a home set, or a quiet lift can sit next to class. The study does not say to drop solo work. It says the class added changes the solo plan did not show in that group.

A simple way to test it for yourself:

• Take one group class a week for a few weeks. The study used at least one 30 minute class.
• Notice stress, energy, and how your body feels. Do not chase the study percentages.
• Keep a solo session if you like it. Let the class be the extra, not the replacement.
• Stay after class for a minute. The social part is not an accident. It is part of why people come back.

Start at the studio

We are at 327 Kingston Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11234. The phone is 718-778-3800. Your first class is complimentary. New women can pick Zumba or Power Dance if they want music and a group. They can pick a strength class if they want weights with a teacher nearby.

The studio is also a salon. A manicure can follow a class. Fitness and self care live in the same place. That is the LaFemme idea. Move with other women. Then take care of yourself before you go back out to Crown Heights.

If you have been working out alone and the habit is fading, a class is a fair next step. You do not need to be fit before you walk in. The room is for every level. Call us, or use the form on the free class page. Tell us you want a group class. We will help you start.

More from the blog: Cardio or weight lifting. Building muscle after 40.