34: 5 Strategies to Elevate Your Group Fitness Experience

In this illuminating episode of Group X Appeal, wellness experts Kimberly Spreen-Glick and Terry Shorter reveal how experiencing fitness with a group serves as the ultimate mind-body reset. Discover how intentional movement with community can transform not just your physical health, but your mental clarity, emotional balance, and sense of personal empowerment.

What You'll Learn:

✅ How setting a powerful intention before your workout amplifies results
✅ Why shifting from "I have to" to "I get to" transforms your entire fitness experience
✅ Practical breathwork techniques to anchor your mind during challenging movements
✅ The grounding method that instantly enhances mental presence and physical performance
✅ How to use movement as meditation for deeper body connection
✅ Post-workout reflection practices that reinforce positive emotional experiences

Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or just beginning your wellness journey, these actionable strategies will help you harness the profound connection between movement and mindfulness. Experience firsthand how the supportive energy of a group can create breakthroughs beyond the physical – leading to greater emotional balance and life-changing personal growth.

Keywords: mind-body connection, group fitness, movement, emotional balance, mental clarity, intention setting, breathwork, grounding, meditation, reflection, wellness over 40, community support, mindfulness in movement, fitness transformation, holistic health

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Questions or topic ideas? Email us @ groupxappeal@gmail.com

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Stay Connected with Kimberly:
- @kimberlyspreenglick on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
- email: kimberly@theinspiredlifeuniversity.com
- website: www.theinspiredlifeuniversity.com

Stay Connected with Terry:
- @terryshorter on Instagram & Facebook
- email: terry@rippedplanet.com
- website: www.rippedplanet.com

Transcript

You walk into class, stressed, tired, distracted, then the music starts and the movement begins. 45 minutes later, you're lighter, clearer, more alive. What just happened? That my friends is the mind body connection in motion. Group fitness is more than just burpees and bicep curls. It's a reset for your brain and your body, a release for your emotions, a reclamation of your power. Yeah. As the great Joseph Pilates once said,

It is the mind itself which builds the body. In today's episode, we'll explore how group movement doesn't just transform your physique, it transforms your perspective. So get ready to experience fitness as your secret weapon for mental clarity, emotional balance, and deep inner strength.

Kimberly/terry (01:21)
Welcome to Group X Appeal. I am Kimberly Spreen Glick here with Terry Shorter. And we are talking today about five easy to implement strategies to strengthen the mind body connection through movement. We'll specifically be referencing group fitness, cause that's kind of where we. That's what we do. That's what we do. It's what we do. That's where we And it's what love. And it's what lots of people do. And so. That's what hopefully what you're doing listener, right? I hope so. beloved listener. Some form of movement in a group scenario. Yeah.

community rocks. It absolutely does. So the first tip that I've got for you is to set an intention before you even move, set an intention before you go into the class or whatever it is that you plan on doing and think to yourself, how do I want to feel like what's my purpose for doing this? How do I want to feel by the end? Because if you can think about at the end of this 30 minutes, 45 minutes hour, how you want to be feeling

then just allow yourself to be so fully present that you can make the choices as you go that will best lead you to that moment where you get to the end and you look back and you're glad you came. mean, isn't that kind of the goal every time we move our bodies in any form of exercise is to get to the end and look back and be glad we did it, right? So setting an intention can help give you some clarity, some confidence and help kind of move you through the experience. And then one other tip that's been really helpful for me,

both when I am taking a class as a student, but also teaching a class, is before stepping in, saying to myself, I don't have to do this. I get to do this. Because at the end of the day, you don't have to do this. You could go run on a treadmill. You could go for a walk around the block. mean, there are other things you could be doing. You don't have to do this. You get to do this. So to be able to say that to ourselves kind of puts us in a state of appreciation so that when we

move into the class, it's in a more mindful way. Yeah, that's a, that's a huge paradigm shift saying that you get to rather than having to do it. Yeah. So put your mind at ease for sure. And, I'd have to say, ⁓ you can kind of take that same philosophy, that same idea and just about everything that you do, whether it's some people who may, you know, him and how about having to

go to work, they have to go to work. No, you get to go to work. You have a job. You have a job. even like going to the grocery store? hear people come in, I gotta go to the grocery store. I'm like, you get to buy food. Absolutely. get to go. can go and hunt for that if you wanted to. Or go and grow it and pick Or like not eat. There's that too. choice is yours. Yeah, so just that mindset makes a huge difference. I love it. It helps. So the second one is, and it's ⁓ kind of, it's connected and relates to

Kimberly shirt. If you're watching, you can see it clearly, but if you're not her shirt says, inhale, exhale love. So use your breath as a mental anchor. Yeah. Your breath is everything. Whether you're in your yoga class, whether you're in warrior two or some awesome pose that you're in, or whether you're doing a Tabata round during your ⁓ interval training, notice your breath. When your mind races, just bring it back to your breath. Inhale, calm.

Exhale any anxiety any stress let all that you know that those feelings that you don't want let those out Because really breath is going to allow you not just to get anchored in the moment but also it's going to allow you to reset and and kind of Kind of re-energized to that's what it does for me when I breathe ⁓ It's not just a calming kind of experience. It also kind of gets me energized again. It's powerful Yeah, it is very very powerful and underrated

Highly underrated. Highly, I think about the breath all the time, no matter what class I'm teaching. When I think about the fact that we breathe 15 to 20 times every minute of every day on average, but they live in the background. Like we don't really think about the breath. It's just there, even though it's so important, it's actually giving us life. How ironic is that, right? It's no big It gives us vitality. And so what you're suggesting is kind of bring it to the forefront of your experience, because if you can notice the breath and let that be where your attention is.

Kind of exactly the way you put it, it anchors you into the present moment. And that's kind of where your power is to get the most out of the experience anyway, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. So inhale, exhale, and love, baby. And love. Yes, don't forget the love part. That's the most important part. Right? Love yourself, love the community, love what you're doing, love the movement, love the fact that you have a body that allows you to do it. For sure. It's amazing. So third tip for you, feel your feet.

Feel your feet ahead and touch them now. you're driving, just stop the car. down, touch your feet. We're talking about getting grounded. Silly goose. But getting grounded, it's like, your feet on the ground. If you're inside, on the floor. If you're outside, maybe it's on the grass or on the sand or the pavement or whatever, but get grounded because when you're grounded in your body, it's just another way to bring your mind into the present moment. If you can kind of connect and then also engage your core because your core is your powerhouse.

And when you can engage from there and activate movement from the core, you're going to have, of course, more stability, more control. And it's just another way to be more in the moment because when you're more grounded physically in your body, that just simply crosses over to being more grounded mentally as well through your focus. So grounded through your feet, strong through your core, boom, presence, Magic. There we go. I love it.

And I don't, you know, it's so funny. I don't ground enough. I always, ⁓ I got my shoes on, you know, outside, wear socks, even indoors. have to like start getting your I just, it's a thing. It's just, I just put my socks on. If I go for a walk, like at the beach or a park, yeah, shoes have to come off. come off. They have to come off for sure. Can't do that then. Yeah. Yeah. So, but I gotta do it more often. It's been a while. All right. I challenge you. All right. Challenge accepted.

So the next tip would be turn your movement into meditation. ⁓ how? What does that mean? Well, any kind of movement can be your meditation, right? I go on 30 minute walks literally every single day, whether it's in the morning, first thing in the morning or in the evening during sunset. ⁓ I've got my headphones on and have music playing. So it's either music or like a Japanese lesson and let the music, if you're playing music in your headphones,

Allow the rhythm of the music plus repetition kind of carry you into flow and maybe you don't have 30 minutes. Maybe you have 10 minutes 10 minutes counts. ⁓ yeah, right. It absolutely counts. And before you know it, that 10 minutes turns into 15 minutes, 15 minutes turns into 20 and so on and so forth. So you don't have to think less. You just have to feel more and you know that movement and perhaps if you add the music with your with your movement and you find that meditative state,

⁓ notice any sensations, you know, I, like I said, grounding is going to be one of my things as soon as the weather warms up too, by the way, think I'm a fair weather Walker. ⁓ see. So fair weather grounder. I that's what it is. I've heard about people like you, fair weather grounders, you fair weather grounder. So, ⁓ yeah, but, ⁓ while you are focused on moving into meditation, again, notice the sensations underneath your feet.

Notice any muscle engagement in any of the other parts of your body. Notice the energy and be in your body, not in your head. Just allow your body to feel, just to notice. And I think that that in itself will strengthen the mind-body connection immediately. The music helps. Oh my gosh, it helps so much, for sure. And then the final tip we have for you, number five, is to really just reflect. Whether you've taken a class, gone for a walk, any kind of...

movement and honestly, whether it's alone or with a group, like we're a big proponent of moving and exercising with community because there's such power in that we're all in this together and we're stronger together. But regardless of what you do, reflect after. Cause if you can take a moment to just see how you feel after, whether it is 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 an hour, how are you feeling in your body? So it's maybe touch base with those sensations again. Did any emotions come up for you?

Are you feeling better than you felt, you know, an hour ago, if you just worked out for an hour. And another really good thing to remind yourself is this is a feeling that I want to have more often. hold onto that. Like this reflection that you do at the end of your movement can be that moment where you kind of bookmark it in your mind, in your memory, so that when the next day comes and it's time to do the thing.

and you're coming up with all the reasons why you can't or shouldn't. priorities come up. you don't feel like it or whatever. You can kind of check back to that bookmark and be like, yeah, but when I finished yesterday or the day before or whatever, it felt so good. Maybe it was a release. Maybe it shifted you mentally somehow brought you into a different mindset space, whatever it is, take note of that, reflect and take note of that book market. Anchor in. And yeah, anchor into that and recognize that that is something.

that is replicable. And so be sure to notice that so that you feel good about repeating that the next possible chance you have the opportunity to do so. And those are some really great feelings to, to replicate and feel again. that's, do you like how I said replicable? have to look that up. biggest word I've used all day. Listen,

That was a huge word that may cover you this entire week. try to impress him sometimes. impresses me all the time, especially replicable. Replicable. Even though I can't say implementable.

That's right. We still love you for that. Listen, you just inhale, exhale love. So, ⁓ yeah, when, when you could do that, you know, get that, get that post-class reflection, ⁓ that also, because you kind of get grounded in those good feelings, those good sensations, ⁓ you start building habits too, right? Cause your body wants more of those good feel good hormones, dopamine hits, right?

So it's a feeling of accomplishment, right? Absolutely. That's fuel for the journey right there. Absolutely. And if you, if you don't, for example, if you, if you've kind of taken that mental, that emotional, that physical inventory, if you don't feel anything at all, ⁓ that would be interesting. I think that'd be almost impossible. At least revel. Celebrate. Take a moment to celebrate just showing up. Yep. Right.

Absolutely. When all else fails. But it's going to be absolutely impossible not to get those feel good ⁓ sensations in your body for sure. So for you, have you ever experienced an emotional breakthrough mid-class, post-class, during any time, any part of the class? That's the question that we're posing to you. Yeah. Or maybe walked out feeling mentally transformed. Yeah. For you. Some kind of mindset shift. Yeah.

Are there any particular classes where you feel any of those things?

Gosh, the two that are currently part of my weekly routine that probably really impact me in that way would be yoga. Because yoga is such a journey, right? It's such a journey of strength and mobility and stability and flexibility, all the abilities. All the abilities. And we're constantly striking this balance of effort and ease.

And so much of it is about like trial and error. And it just, replicates life to me. so without even realizing it, like on my mat, sometimes I find myself kind of working through things because it's so, it's so complements what life is like outside of it. And then ⁓ I do teach at that BOSU class called FIT, functional integrated training and the empowerment.

that I tend to feel at the end of that class, I always feel this mental shift. And I look around and I ask for feedback, because I see it in others as well. Those who not only just feel stronger that day, having completed the workout, but who are getting stronger over time. And I'm noticing that. And it just, it's just such a cup filler for me, but I definitely feel empowered at the end of that class. I'm not sure I could do one more lunch.

But I'm very proud of all the ones that I just did. Good for you. And I'm feeling really strong and stable and all that fun stuff. How about you? I love it. Well, yoga for me too. Same thing. It's so dynamic. And when I say dynamic, not just in the movement, but the emotional dynamics that you experience. ⁓ It's even spiritually dynamic as well. it just covers so many different bases. And it does. It does reflect life.

the challenges and the celebration, the victories that you experience for sure. And the things that you need to work on, right away, as soon as you leave your mat, you know what you want to improve, what areas you want to improve in. That's true. Whether it's mindfulness or whether it's the physical portion of it, you definitely walk away knowing how you want to be better. Yeah. And then RIPT would be the more physically focused fitness class for me. It's very well-rounded.

The yas yas. Yes. Get out your yas yas. Exactly. Whatever those are. I'm gonna have to look that I walk by his ripped class every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I promise you they are getting yas yas out. It's true. I'm gonna have to figure out what yas yas are. We'll talk offline. because where I come from, yas yas might be a little different. Oh my.

So but for you, again, we want to know how and when and where you've experienced those emotional breakthrough experiences in your classes. We'd love to hear your story. Yeah, definitely. Right? I'd find it inspiring. So share. Let us know. And be sure to tag us on Group X Appeal, on social media, ⁓ here on YouTube if you're watching it as well.

please let us know down below in the comments. We love comments, even just a simple thumbs up. We'd love to know how you're moving with meaning that would mean the world to us. Most definitely. And by all means, share this episode with anyone that you move with. Maybe it's someone you go to class with or an instructor's class that you take or just ⁓ a friend, a neighbor, someone that could be inspired by the five tips we had to share today. Please do. Pay it forward. And reviews. yeah. We do read the reviews.

Please be sure to leave a review, whether it's on Spotify, whether it's on Apple, on YouTube. It just really helps more movement-minded folks find our show and connect with this incredible community that you're a part of. we appreciate it. We do. So that is it. You will not want to miss the next episode. We're going to be breaking open a series, a very special series. Yes, Moms Who Inspire. Yes. Heading into the month of May, which is, of course, the day.

the month that has mother's day. Mother's month is what I call it. Okay. You get the whole month. I will take it. You can have June. I appreciate that. Yeah. So be sure to catch episode number 35. It's the next one that's coming up. ⁓ but of course not until you watch this one completely and share this one completely with everybody, you know, and that's it. Love it. So as always, we thank you so much for joining us. We encourage you to make it a great day and why Kimberly? Because it is a great day to have. Yes, it is. I'm Terry. This is

Kimberly. And we're out. Much love.