The Gym Has Classes, So Obviously I’m Going 🏋

I have a question for you: Does the possibility of taking a class at the gym actually make you more likely to go to the gym? Because I have discovered that there is a very specific kind of optimism that happens when you are looking at a gym's class schedule. You see a class called Strength & Sculpt on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., and suddenly you can picture yourself becoming a completely different person. You are going to put on your cute workout clothes, grab your water bottle, walk into that class with confidence, and absolutely crush it. This is it. This is the beginning of your fitness era.

Then Tuesday rolls around, and suddenly 6:00 p.m. seems extremely inconvenient. Maybe Wednesday would be better. Or perhaps Saturday morning. Saturday morning sounds productive. You could go to the class, get your workout done, come home, shower, and have the entire rest of the day ahead of you. Of course, Saturday morning arrives and you realize that 9:00 a.m. is basically the middle of the night.

This is where gym classes get interesting. Sometimes I think the class schedule is more motivating than the actual exercise. Just knowing that the gym offers classes makes the membership seem more appealing. You start imagining yourself attending yoga, strength training, cycling, Pilates, or whatever other class happens to catch your attention. You don't even have to know what half of these classes involve. You just see the name and think, "Oh, I could do that." And suddenly you are mentally rearranging your entire life around a class you haven't even attended yet.

I've also noticed that there is something reassuring about knowing a class is there. If I walk into a gym and have to figure out what I'm going to do on my own, I can immediately come up with approximately 47 reasons why I should probably just walk on a treadmill for ten minutes and call it a day. But give me a class with an instructor telling me what to do, and suddenly I have a plan. That's a completely different situation.

The real question, though, is whether the classes actually get us through the gym doors. Have you ever joined a gym because they had great classes? Did you actually take the classes, or did you mostly enjoy knowing that you could take them? Because I suspect there are a lot of us who have paid for the possibility of becoming a person who goes to fitness classes.

And honestly, there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes the class really is the thing that gets you there. Having a scheduled time, an instructor, music, and other people around can make exercising feel less like something you have to invent yourself. You show up, someone tells you what to do, and you go home. That sounds pretty good to me.

But I'm also curious about the other side of it. Maybe you don't care about classes at all. Maybe you would rather walk on a treadmill, use the machines, lift some weights, or just wander around the gym pretending you know exactly what you're doing. Or maybe you are like me and the class schedule itself is part of the temptation.

Because apparently I don't need to be motivated to exercise. I just need someone to put a class on the calendar and make me believe that this time I'm definitely going to become a person who goes. 😂

So tell me: Do gym classes actually motivate you to go to the gym, or do you just like having the option? And if you have ever joined a gym specifically because of the classes, I really want to know... did you actually go? 😂