I already talked about Sats Cross Training but now that I’ve seen more of the class I feel that I have a few more things to say about it.

It seems the instructor sort of fine-tuned the exercise selection over time so that some of the exercises which I initially felt were sort of redundant were replaced by better and more challenging once during the second week. At first I was worried that the exercises would keep changing every single week (similarly to how the “Workout of the Day” (WOD) over at crossfit.com works). But it turned out that most of the exercises stayed the same over the past four weeks which I think is a good thing.

Thanks to these changes, I think the exercise selection during the past three weeks has been better than what I previously described. There is still in my opinion a bit of an overemphasis on triceps and the combination of pushups, burpees and “planks” tend to wear down my shoulder joints to the point of ruining any pressing I might want to do in the weight room on the following day, but this is quite typical of group training in general. Planks and pushups are very easy to add to a routine from the the instructors point of view as everyone is familiar with them, and for some reason people seem to like these exercises. Personally I think if you can hold a plank for more than 30 seconds, it might be better to just add resistance to the exercise than to increase the time spent in the plank position as it is very tough on the lower back and especially the shoulders when you stay in that position for an extended period of time.

One of the main issues I have with the class is that since everything is done on time, form breakdown is inevitable. You could obviously try to slow down the pace so that your form doesn’t fail, but it is difficult to do so in that psyched up environment. Obviously bad form and cheating isn’t uncommon in the aerobics classroom. However, when you have the kind of class where everyone is facing the mirrors, at least you might feel slightly more motivated to try harder as it means that a lot more people, including the instructor, will notice if you cheat. This is one of the reasons why I like standing in the front row in these classes. It’s a form of “accountability”. You put yourself in the “spotlight” and by doing so you challenge yourself to perform at a higher level than you might normally do, and you make yourself “accountable” to everyone who might see you cheat. Put in simpler words, men perform better when there are attractive women around to whom they want to make a good impression. And I’m obviously no exception. :-P

Part of what makes a group training class fun is that the exercises are done to a known choreography, where each repetition is done to a certain tempo. Learning the choreography is usually pretty easy and once you get to the point where you hardly even think about the choreography, it also becomes easier to perform the exercises with good form. The flow of the music also helps you power thru the movements so you can push yourself harder. And while it may feel somewhat awkward as a man to do some of the more dance/aerobics style moves in some classes, it is actually a lot more fun than the grind of mindless repetitions upon repetitions you find in Cross Training class. Even spinning and body pump is more fun than cross tranining in this aspect, simply because the grind in these classes is, at least to some degree, in tune with the music and you do things togheter as a group rather than individually. Sure you do have a partner and the instructor checks up on you from time to time, but it just doesn’t add up to the same level in my opinion.

So it’s safe to say I’m not a big fan of the class. There are other classes which are more “fun” in my opinion and that is essentially what it all boils down to in the end.