Strength, Cardio, and More: Types of Group Classes to Transform Your Fitness

Did you know every group fitness class is designed for different fitness goals and skill levels? With so many types of group fitness classes out there, you’re sure to find one that fits your style—and every single one offers amazing benefits for your physical and mental health.

In the fitness world, especially at gyms, group fitness classes have become popular among gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts. They’re a great way to stay motivated, connect with others, and keep your workouts exciting.

We’re here to discuss diverse group fitness classes for gyms and fitness centers. Whether you’re into strength-building weight training, calming yoga, high-energy cycling, or even dance-based workouts, each class has something special to offer your fitness routine and overall well-being.

Types of Group Fitness Classes

Cardiovascular

(Belly, Butt, & Thighs Bootcamp, Barrel Bound and Chisel Classes)

Cardiovascular group fitness classes are designed to get you moving with intense cardio movements that push your limits and help you build endurance.

Whether running, jumping, or engaging in dynamic exercises, these classes build a great cardio workout that increases your heart rate and burns serious calories.

They’re perfect for anyone looking to manage their body weight while having fun in a high-energy environment.

But there’s more to these workouts than just weight loss—they also offer fantastic health benefits:

• Boost your immune system to help you stay strong.
• Improve your sleep, helping you rest and recover better.
• Help regulate blood sugar for balanced energy.
• Lower blood pressure, keeping your heart in top shape.

If you enjoy high-energy, intense cardio movements and want to get the most out of your fitness routine, don’t hesitate to dive into a cardiovascular class.

With options like Belly, Butt, & Thighs Bootcamp, Barrel Bound, or Chisel, you’ll get a great cardio workout while working on endurance and strength. It’s the perfect way to shed those extra pounds and feel amazing!

Why Try Belly, Butt & Thighs Bootcamp?

This class offers the perfect combination of intense, targeted strength training and drill-based cardio to get your heart pumping and those calories burning.

With a focus on your belly, butt, and thighs, you’ll work through a series of dynamic movements designed to help you shed fat, build muscle, and sculpt your curves.

Expect an intense, fast-paced workout that challenges your body from every angle. This fitness class has everything you need to transform those lower body assets, whether booty-burning squats, core-sculpting planks, or cardio drills to shake off that lactic acid.

If you’re ready to tone up, slim down, and feel empowered, Belly, Butt & Thighs Bootcamp is the way to go!

Why Try Chisel?

This class is designed to deliver maximum results by combining upper- and lower-body strength training into a streamlined, engaging workout.

Chisel is about building functional strength with exercises that challenge your muscles and improve your overall fitness.

Whether lifting, squatting, or lunging, this class will work on every major muscle group, helping you tone and strengthen in less time.

It’s a no-nonsense, results-driven workout focusing on making you stronger, leaner, and more confident with every rep. If you’re serious about reaching your strength goals, Chisel is the perfect fitness class to add to your routine!

Strength Training

(Chisel, Beach Workout- Arms & Abs Classes)

Free weights are essential to strength training, allowing you to lift and move objects without being attached to any equipment. This type of training utilizes dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, medicine balls, resistance bands, sandbags, and sandbells.

These tools are perfect for building and toning muscles, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, balancing blood sugar, improving hormone levels, and strengthening bones.

To make sure you’re using free weights properly, especially during challenging exercises, here are three easy tips:

1. Practice First: Start exercising without weights to get comfortable with the movement. This recommendation helps your body adapt before adding resistance.
2. Check Your Posture: After each rep, quickly assess your posture. Engage your core, keep your shoulders back, and maintain proper alignment. This suggestion will enhance your workout and minimize the chance of injury.
3. Maintain Control: Control each movement during your reps. If you use momentum instead of strength, it’s time to stop, as you’ve likely hit your limit.

15 Free-Weight Exercises to Try

Free weights offer a highly adaptable and effective way to train. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned lifter, adding these exercises to your routine can help target various muscle groups and enhance your results.

Organizations like the American Council on Exercise (ACE), Mayo Clinic, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the following 15 essential free-weight exercises to improve strength and stability:

• Push Press: A combination of squats and overhead presses that develops explosive power.
• Dumbbell Bench Press: Focuses on the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
• Goblet Squat: Targets the quads, glutes, and hamstrings.
• Single-Leg Deadlift: Enhances balance while strengthening the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back.
• Overhead Press: Works the shoulders and triceps.
• Dumbbell Row: Strengthens the upper back and biceps.
• Weighted Step-Ups: Improves leg strength and coordination.
• Kettlebell Swing: A high-energy cardio workout that engages the core, glutes, and hamstrings.
• Dumbbell Lunges: Builds leg strength and stability.
• Arnold Press: A shoulder press variation that targets the deltoids.
• Renegade Row: A challenging core exercise that works the back and shoulders.
• Turkish Get-Up: Enhances mobility and stability.
• Weighted Plank: Improves core strength.
• Dumbbell Flyes: Focuses on the chest, enhancing upper body strength.
• Farmer’s Walk: Strengthens grip, forearms, shoulders, and core.

Unlike many other gyms, Crunch Fitness makes group fitness a key part of its culture, and as many members as possible should experience our classes’ benefits, community support, and unmatched energy.

If you’re a member, try our no-commitment trial class pass. You’ll receive free fitness training, meet like-minded individuals, discover new and fun workouts, and boost your fitness journey.

Mind, Body, and Flexibility Group Fitness Class

(Hatha Flow, Fat Burning Pilates, and Yoga Body Sculpt Classes)

Mind-body workouts enhance mental, emotional, and physical well-being. These classes are perfect for individuals seeking to improve flexibility and establish a mind-body connection while taking a moment for themselves.

Yoga is an excellent choice for a more peaceful and calming workout environment. By merging mindfulness with movement, yoga offers group fitness classes that enhance muscle strength, flexibility, and coordination while delivering a soothing experience for both body and mind.

Even though yoga is generally a low-intensity group class, many find mindfulness and physical benefits incredibly rewarding. It’s a perfect balance of mental tranquility and physical fitness.

A quality yoga session will promote flexibility, guide you through proper techniques, and ensure you warm up and cool down before and after the session, creating an enjoyable and stimulating experience.

Yoga Classes Available

Yoga Body Sculpt

Yoga Body Sculpt is an energetic class that fuses traditional yoga poses with strength training to create a full-body workout. The class often includes weights, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and bursts of cardio, all while maintaining the mindful essence of yoga.

This high-energy workout builds strength and endurance, improves flexibility, and enhances balance.

Yoga Body Sculpt is perfect for those who push their limits beyond regular yoga. It incorporates elements that tone muscles and support cardiovascular health.

It’s a great choice for individuals who enjoy yoga’s mindfulness but also want a sweat-inducing, muscle-building workout. Combining yoga postures with strength and cardio keeps the class dynamic and motivating. This class suits various fitness levels and adds a fun twist to any fitness routine.

Hatha Flow

Hatha Flow is a gentle yet revitalizing yoga practice focused on fluid movements, deep breathing, and mindful awareness. During a class, gym-goers move through a sequence of poses (asanas) at a steady pace, concentrating on proper alignment and breath control.

This class is suitable for all levels. It offers modifications for beginners while encouraging seasoned yogis to deepen their practice.

Hatha Flow provides a well-rounded approach to improving strength, flexibility, and mental clarity without the intensity of more vigorous exercises.

It’s ideal for those who want a mindful, meditative workout that offers physical benefits. The calming movements and focus on breathwork help people relax and refresh, making it an excellent way to unwind while staying active.

Vinyasa Flow

Vinyasa yoga is a dynamic practice that delivers numerous physical and mental benefits. It builds strength, flexibility, and stamina while fostering mindfulness and concentration.

The continuous flow of movements, synchronized with rhythmic breathing, keeps participants fully engaged and energized.

Vinyasa yoga’s versatility makes it a popular choice for practitioners of all levels. Modifications allow beginners to enter the practice, while more experienced yogis can challenge themselves with advanced poses. The ever-changing sequences ensure variety, making each class feel fresh and exciting.

With its vibrant and energizing atmosphere, Vinyasa Flow stands out as a fun and effective fitness class, perfect for those looking to enhance both physical fitness and mental clarity.

Fat Burning Pilates

Fat-Burning Pilates at Crunch Fitness is designed to blend Pilates’s core-strengthening benefits with high-energy, fat-burning movements.

This dynamic class focuses on toning and sculpting the entire body while boosting cardiovascular endurance, making it an excellent choice for those looking to burn calories and build lean muscle.

With exercises targeting the abs, glutes, thighs, and arms, participants can expect an effective, full-body workout that engages stability and strength.

What sets Fat Burning Pilates apart is its combination of traditional Pilates techniques with cardio-based intervals. The class incorporates high-intensity bursts of movement, such as jumping jacks or mountain climbers, alongside core-centric Pilates exercises like leg lifts and planks.

This unique fusion elevates the heart rate while emphasizing control, precision, and form, creating the perfect balance between fat loss and muscle development. Whether you’re a Pilates veteran or new to this type of workout, the class offers modifications for all fitness levels.

High Intensity Interval Classes (HIIT)

(StrongHIIT and TabataHIIT Classes)

HIIT involves alternating between short periods of intense exercise and recovery phases or lower-intensity movements. This technique is incredibly effective for burning calories, improving cardiovascular fitness, and boosting overall conditioning.

The primary goal of HIIT is to increase your heart rate, and engaging in this exercise routine brings various benefits to your body, including:

• Increases strength.
• Promotes muscle tone.
• Burns a high percentage of fat.
• Maintains a healthy heart.
• Eases muscle stiffness.

Types of HIIT Classes

Examples:

• Tabata: A type of HIIT featuring 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated for 4 minutes.
• Circuit Training: A workout style that moves through different exercises targeting various muscle groups with minimal rest in between.
• StrongHIIT:  A strength class that pushes your limits. You’ll rotate through three rounds of pulling, pushing, and lifting, with the option to add weight or intensity each time.

At Crunch Fitness, the HIIT Zone allows you to take your routine to the next level with state-of-the-art equipment like resistance bands, battle ropes, kettlebells, and more, offering a wide range of high-intensity workout options.

Indoor Cycling Classes

(Rapid Ride and The Ride classes)

Indoor cycling classes are a fantastic way to burn fat, boost cardiovascular health, and improve muscle endurance. Your legs will undergo an intense workout, helping to tone and strengthen your lower body.

Some other benefits that come with indoor cycling classes include:

• Motivational support from the group.
• Similar results to outdoor riding.
• Low-impact exercise, which is gentle on your joints.
• Increased muscle endurance.
• Intense cardio workout.

By the end of the session, you’ll feel a surge of endorphins, leaving you with that satisfying post-workout high.

Examples:

• Spin Classes: Use varying resistance levels and cycling techniques to simulate outdoor riding.
• Rhythm Rides: Blend cycling with music to boost motivation and performance.
• HIIT the Road: Alternates between high-speed, high-resistance intervals and recovery periods for maximum calorie burn and cardiovascular gains.
• Heavy Mileage: A stamina-focused, long-distance ride that challenges endurance and helps build long-term stamina.

If you’re looking to try a new exercise experience, feel supported during your training, and enjoy a fantastic workout routine, then an Indoor Cycling class is the ideal option.

Specialty Classes 

(The ladder, Work the room, and 360-3x classes)

Specialty Fitness Classes are group training focusing on a specific fitness goal or unique interest. Examples of specialty classes include Boxing and Hot Yoga. While each specialty class offers different benefits to your body, there are some general advantages you will find:

• Expert guidance during your workout.
• Exposure to new training methods and techniques.
• A better understanding of your body and its capabilities.
• The opportunity to meet like-minded individuals with similar interests.

Specialty classes are an excellent choice to explore different training methods beyond what you’re already used to. If you are eager to experience diverse workouts, joining a specialty class is a great step.

Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Enrolling in a fitness class is an excellent choice if you’re ready to challenge yourself and step out of your comfort zone. Most group exercise classes adapt to people at all fitness levels, with a fitness personal trainer to guide and support you at every step.

Join Us!

Crunch promotes a culture of positivity, inclusivity, and fun with no judgments by providing an environment for all individuals regardless of their health and fitness goals. Find a Crunch gym near you to try our free trial membership, or join Crunch now. We’re here for you – at the gym or at home. Access the best live & on-demand workouts anytime, anywhere with Crunch+. Ready to get sweaty? Try hundreds of workouts for free! Start your free trial now!

FAQ:

Are Fitness Classes Included In My Gym Membership?

Depending on the fitness classes you are signed up for and the type of membership you purchase, you may have different levels of access to fitness classes. In most cases, gym classes are included in the membership.

Do I Need To Attend Classes Every Day?

No, it’s not necessary to attend fitness classes every day. You can create a schedule that suits your preferences and needs. Attend the classes whenever you want and based on your fitness goals.

Are Fitness Classes Guided?

Yes, fitness classes are typically guided by a trainer or instructor who will lead the class, demonstrate exercises, and provide proper instructions. They are there to assist you in performing exercises correctly and address any questions or concerns.

What Other Types of Classes Can I Find?

In addition to the classes mentioned, your fitness center offers a variety of other options, such as boot camp, barre, Zumba, weightlifting, and many others. The availability of classes may vary depending on the gym or fitness center you attend.