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I am the only man who goes to Body Attack classes at my local gym.

Is this common ?

 

Seems to be a pretty common occurrence.  In general (esp in North America, can't say anything about the rest of the world), Fitness/Aerobic classes are regarded as "girly" and "not much of a challenge" (little do they know )and not many male participants attempt the classes.  Mostly from fear of looking foolish.

Being the only Male BA Instructors in my Region, I notice that my classes tend to get less male participants than my female counterparts. 

 

There are always more women in our classes then men too, but there isn't a lack of male participants... and we have quite a few male instructors as well... i guess it just depends where you are. but, yes, if you look at the big picture, there's a higher women to men ratio in a few of the programs.

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Carpe Diem

You know, I noticed that at the BA classes at the gym where I go, in Girona (Catalunya). Obviously, saying that this is common in Europe is a bit too much of a generalization, but ... in the last year and a half, since BA classes started at this gym, definitely more women than men (in the afternoon classes, out of 20 people there are usually... say, 4 men).

Have wondered why is that... I'm guessing there are more factors, but... it's a pity, cause it is a fantastic cardio exercise.

cheers,

M.

let's say girls are stronger than men.....and they  love an hard  class as attack...

 

I'm joking..probably'cos attack make you too slimer and generally men aren't interested  to put off wieght..but  to build muscles...  I think  that's why in my gym  body pump class is a male  class...!!!...

 

only combat is a mixed  class....

Believe it or not apart from the Instructor, I am the only man in that class too.

I can't believe that these intense classes help tone you up. The pylos help me with my Squash game, I can get to the ball, alot quicker than before.

Generally I agree my two Attack classes are all girls, but we are trying to get guys interested.

However where I used to teach there were more guys then girls who did it and they loved the challenge... and for that matter made the most noise. It all started out with one guy who loved it and along with me got other guys to try it.

Tris:

Is this common ?

 

I'm in the NE region of the US and would have to agree...group fitness here still carries that "mystique" of being an aerobics class. I am usually 1 or 2 guys in a BA class of 20 usually. And when teaching, alot of times I'm the only guy. Being 32, lean, and single....i'm not gonna complain too much...

markd:

And when teaching, alot of times I'm the only guy. Being 32, lean, and single....i'm not gonna complain too much...

Hey, you just convinced me to take up teaching

 

 

I don't do BA (it's not taught at the gym I'm at, unfortunately) but I do attend some aerofit  classes and bodyfit. Most of the time I'm the only guy out there (although lately some are joining the aerofit class as it is divided in half an hour of jumping around and half an hour of BP exercises.

 

With Combat it's the same, just a few guys and mostly women, but hey, just think about Eric Prydz with Call on me....

Very common.  I am a male instructor, and have tried and tried to get guys in and I am semi successful in getting guys to come and try a class, but they wont come again.   the problem is that men have the ego problem of not being able to handle looking awkward in the first class they do.  its a shame bc in everything, the first time you do anything, you are not going to be any good, (basketball, tennis, anything with coordination)

So I will get guys to come in and try Combat, Attack.... and I can see they getting frustrated bc they are not getting it right away.... and pretty soon they walk out or dont come back bc they are not willing to give it the 3-5 classes needed for the muscle memory to kick in. 

For some reason women do not have a problem with looking awkward at the first few classes, so they will stick with it and, behold!  they are awsome and love it.

Hi krafty!

I hit reply yet again because I wanted to say that I agree with you. totally. When I wrote the first post I didn't want to get into the whole "psychological effect" issue, because I didn't want something to come out wrong. But it is true that most men just don't dare do the BA class in order to avoid that awkwardness, that uncomfortable feeling that "everyone is watching you because you're doing it wrong".

It's a shame, really, because I think you get the best out of any one of Les Mills programmes (and, like krafty said, any other activity for that matter) when you have learned the choreo and mastered, more or less, the moves. At least it's been like that for me.

There are some men, particular fans of intense cardio workout, that always show up for a class, but to bring on new members... quite difficult.

M.

I've been to classes where there were more males than females for Yoga and Bodyblance (and Bodypump once many years ago).

Has anyone ever been to a Bodyattack class where there are more males than females? 

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Have a nice day Exercise log: http://www.wannabebigforums.com/showthread.php?t=90279

I've never been to any class where males outnumber females.  At my gym (in a London suburb) the largest proportion of males in any class seems to be around 15-20% - and that's on the occasions when, by chance, all the participating guys turn up at the same time!  There are about 6-7 guys who come to BodyAttack classes fairly regularly, compared with a hard core of 15-20 women.

The ratio for BodyCombat seems similar (I don't take BC myself but regularly watch the last couple of tracks through the window while I eagerly wait for them to finish so Step or Attack can start!)

BodyStep definitely has the highest F:M ratio, with only a couple of guys regularly braving BS - and often none at all in any given class.

I've tried to encourage the man in my life to give it a shot - and the amount I rave about my classes, particularly Attack, you'd think he'd be keen to find out what the fuss is about! - but he absolutely will not even consider it!  He just doesn't consider group exercise classes to be legitimately "manly" or something... it's hard to get him to really say what he doesn't like about the idea, but I definitely get the feeling there's a big dose of fear of making a fool of yourself in front of other people.

GameDamsel:

He just doesn't consider group exercise classes to be legitimately "manly" or something...

Yeah, that's what I sometime hear when buying new shoes for aerobics classes. I often respond I rather stand between 20 women than lifting weights with sweaty males around me