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Well, of late, I’ve had most of our classes conducted at a 45-degree diagonal angle to the front mirror. Why? I’ve noticed that it’s the best way to have students visually capture the way that they position their low back and hips relative to one another — a key movement to watch for in many movements, particularly those involving power from the hips/legs.

Because most of the programs are designed for 2 sets, we are able to face the right of the room on one set, and the left of the room on the other set, so as not be predominantly turned toward one side.

Some may argue the soundness of keeping your cervical spine (neck) turned while performing group fitness exercises. However, I always recommend that once the students feel they have the movement pattern down, they can proceed with the exercises facing straight ahead.

My favorite result from this “rule change” is that students are no longer complaining of feeling exercises too much “in their low back”. It is very rewarding to find a solution to this all-too-common problem of class participants not really knowing how to position themselves properly, no matter how well you describe the movement or cue the exercise.

I’m all for solutions that work, unconventional as they may be. So for all of you “visual learners” out there, try this little trick out, and see if it makes a big difference for you, the same way it has for a lot of others. Good luck, and keep on exercising!

Truthfully, the are no “rules” when it comes to participating in a group fitness class, but very typically, students think that:

• They are expected to keep up with the pace of the class.
• The class should “look good” from the outside, i.e. synchronized and perfect.
• They need to stay until the end of the class, otherwise they are being rude and disrespectful.

Well, these aren’t my rules, and I personally don’t believe that students need to abide by them. In fact, I usually remind the class of the following:

1. Do the movements at your own pace. We start each exercise with the basic version before moving on to an intermediate or advanced level. Pick the level or version that feels safest and most applicable to you. This is your time to work out for yourself, and I am here to lead and guide. My goal is to be able to offer you options that will keep you properly challenged, and wanting to come back for more, versus “breaking” you and forcing you to be at the level of the rest of the class.

By the way, that said, I do encourage that you keep moving. Skip a rep or two, perhaps even do the movements with shorter ranges of motion, or without weight — this way you are at least learning the movement patterns and training your body toward cardiovascular endurance.

2. Forget about how the class looks from the outside, and forget about needing to be in sync with everyone else. All of us, at some point or another, have had to start as a new student in class, and there is no need to feel pressured into being synchronized with the rest.

Now I know this might irk or annoy those who are motivated and encouraged by the synchronistic energy of a group class, but I do firmly believe that setting people free from this pressure will keep them encouraged to do better and come back. Again, we’ve all been the “newbies” in a class, and it does behoove us to be accommodating to those who are looking to improve their health and fitness.

3. I realize that in this day and age of everyone having extremely busy schedules, some people can never stay through the whole class or sometimes need to leave early. You, as a class participant, can leave early if you need to. There are various valid reasons for this, and I don’t even mind if the reason is because you’re just not digging the class at all.

In my book, as long as you abide by common courtesies, such as letting the instructor know beforehand, or saying “thank you” and waving before you leave the room, or even placing yourself toward the back of the room so as not to disrupt the rest of the class, you should feel comfortable in having to end the class early for yourself.

With that, I hope you feel more motivated to give group classes a try; they’re there to give you a workout option on top of the strength floor that perhaps, has you bored and disinterested. Give group fitness a try!