December 9, 2025
Fitness classes can build some strength, but most aren’t designed to maximize it. This guide shows you what classes do well, where they fall short, and how to adjust your week so you actually get stronger without living in the gym.
Most general fitness classes improve strength endurance, not maximum strength.
To truly get stronger, you need progressive overload on key lifts and enough recovery.
You can keep your favorite classes and add 2–3 short focused strength sessions to fill the gaps.
Tracking load, reps, and movements is the simplest way to turn random workouts into a strength plan.
This article breaks down the strengths and limitations of common fitness class types (HIIT, strength circuits, spin, yoga, Pilates, functional training) using principles from strength and conditioning: progressive overload, intensity, movement patterns, volume, and recovery. The list then outlines practical strategies to fill each gap with minimal extra time, so you can keep the classes you enjoy while still making measurable strength gains.
If you rely only on classes, you might feel exhausted but not significantly stronger. Understanding what classes give you—and what they don’t—lets you train smarter, protect your joints, and see progress in everyday strength, sports, and body composition.
Most bootcamps, HIIT, and circuit classes use moderate weights and lots of reps with short rest. This is excellent for strength endurance: the ability to produce force repeatedly over time. You’ll feel more capable in longer efforts, everyday tasks, and sports. Your heart, lungs, and muscles learn to tolerate fatigue.
Great for
Good instructors cue better squats, lunges, pushups, rows, and core exercises. For beginners, this coaching is hugely valuable: it reduces injury risk and builds confidence with equipment. Even if loads are light, just learning how to move well sets you up for heavier, more targeted strength work later.
Great for
To get significantly stronger, your muscles and nervous system need a gradual increase in challenge: heavier weights, more total load, or harder variations over time. Class formats are designed for groups, so weights, rep schemes, and exercises often change frequently and aren’t tracked. Without systematic progression, your body adapts initially, then plateaus.
Great for
Real strength is developed with higher loads (roughly 70–90% of your 1-rep max) for lower reps and longer rests. Most classes favor lighter weights, faster tempo, and minimal rest to keep the heart rate up and the energy high. This is great conditioning but rarely enough mechanical tension to push pure strength higher, especially in stronger or more trained individuals.
Great for
“Get stronger” is vague. Do you want to: lift heavier specific numbers (e.g., squat your bodyweight), feel stronger in daily life, improve performance in a sport, or maintain strength while losing fat? The more specific and performance-based your goal, the more likely you’ll need targeted strength work in addition to classes.
Great for
Re-test every 6–8 weeks. Examples: how many strict pushups can you do, what’s the heaviest goblet squat you can manage for 5 reps with good form, how long can you hold a side plank, how many bodyweight split squats per leg. If these numbers aren’t improving, your current mix isn’t enough for strength progress.
Great for
For real leg and hip strength, you need progressively heavier squats, deadlifts, split squats, and hip hinges. Classes often use light kettlebells or bodyweight, with high reps. That’s fine early on, but to keep getting stronger, you’ll eventually need heavier loads and longer rest than the class structure allows.
Great for
Pulling movements like rows, pullups, and pulldowns are crucial for back strength, posture, and shoulder health. Many classes under-dose these because they require more equipment and are harder to coach in a crowd. Over time, this can create imbalances with chest-dominant work like pushups and presses.
Great for
For most people, two 30–45 minute strength sessions are enough to significantly improve strength while keeping your favorite classes. Anchor each session around 3–4 big moves (e.g., squat, hinge, push, pull) and track the weights and reps. Aim to add a little load, one more rep, or an extra set over time.
Great for
Example twice-weekly structure: Session A: squat or split squat, horizontal press (pushup/bench), horizontal row, core. Session B: deadlift or hip hinge, vertical press, vertical pull/lat pulldown, core/anti-rotation. Keep 2–4 hard sets of 5–10 reps per exercise, resting 1.5–3 minutes between sets.
Great for
Gaps: heavy strength, recovery. Keep 2–3 HIIT classes per week and add 1–2 lower-intensity strength sessions with heavier weights and longer rest. Avoid doing HIIT every day; your body needs lower-stress days to actually adapt and grow stronger.
Great for
Gaps: progression and load. These are closest to strength training, but loads and movements change often. Pick 2–3 lifts you see frequently (e.g., squat, row, overhead press) and work on progressing those in separate strength sessions so you can go heavier and more controlled than the class allows.
Great for
Fitness classes are excellent engines for consistency, conditioning, and basic movement skill, but by design they trade away individualization and heavy loading—two pillars of serious strength development.
You don’t need to abandon classes to get stronger; you need a minimal, focused layer of progressive strength work and smarter weekly structure so that your body can adapt instead of just surviving constant intensity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, at the very beginning almost any challenging movement will make you stronger. For the first few months, consistent classes can build noticeable strength, especially if you were previously sedentary. As you adapt, progress slows, and that’s when adding targeted strength sessions and tracking load becomes important to keep improving.
Most people see solid strength gains with 2 focused strength sessions per week in addition to 2–3 classes. If your classes are very intense, start with 1 extra strength day for 4–6 weeks, see how you recover, then consider adding a second session if you feel good and are sleeping well.
You can build impressive strength with dumbbells, kettlebells, and bands, especially if you’re beginner to intermediate. The key is progressive overload—using heavier resistance or harder variations over time. Barbells become more useful as you get stronger because they allow very heavy, stable loading and smaller weight jumps.
It’s not inherently bad, but it’s more demanding. If you combine them, do strength work first while you’re fresh, then take the class. Keep the total volume reasonable and ensure the next day is lighter or a rest day. If you’re frequently exhausted or sore, separate them onto different days or reduce intensity somewhere.
Most people feel differences in stability and control within 2–3 weeks of focused strength work. Measurable changes in how much weight you can lift often show up in 4–8 weeks. Larger improvements in muscle size and daily-life strength typically build over 3–6 months of consistent, progressive training and adequate recovery.
Fitness classes can absolutely be part of getting stronger—but on their own, they rarely maximize strength. Clarify your goal, keep the classes you enjoy, and add 1–3 short, focused strength sessions each week where you track and progress key lifts. With a bit of structure, you’ll feel stronger, more resilient, and still look forward to your workouts.
Track meals via photos, get adaptive workouts, and act on smart nudges personalised for your goals.
AI meal logging with photo and voice
Adaptive workouts that respond to your progress
Insights, nudges, and weekly reviews on autopilot
Set class times, social energy, and a motivating coach make it easier to show up regularly. Consistency is the foundation of any strength progress. For many people, the structure of classes is what keeps them moving week after week, which is far better than an ideal program you never follow.
Great for
Yoga, Pilates, mobility and functional classes build joint control, balance, and body awareness. These are crucial for safe heavy lifting and athletic movement. They often train smaller stabilizing muscles that get neglected in traditional lifting-only programs.
Great for
In a class, one coach manages many people. It’s hard to fine-tune load, reps, and exercise selection for each person’s needs, injury history, and goals. You might be using weights that are too light to stimulate strength or too heavy to maintain good form—just because that’s what’s on the rack or what the group grabbed.
Great for
Class designs often overemphasize certain patterns—like squats, lunges, and pushups—because they’re easy to coach with minimal equipment. Heavy pulling (e.g., deadlifts, heavy rows), vertical pushing (overhead presses), and specific hamstring or upper-back work can be undertrained. Over time, this imbalance can limit strength and increase joint stress.
Great for
Classes are scheduled, not programmed around your stress, sleep, or soreness. It’s easy to stack intense classes back-to-back and never fully recover. Without planned easier days and true rest, your strength gains stall, and nagging aches accumulate. Strength isn’t built in the workout; it’s built between workouts.
Great for
Write down last week: how many classes, what type, and how hard each felt. If everything is high-intensity and random, with no sessions focused on progressively heavier strength work, you’re likely building fitness but leaving serious strength gains on the table.
Great for
Persistent knee, shoulder, or lower-back discomfort, especially with no clear injury, can signal that you’re repeating the same class patterns without enough strength in the right muscles. Targeted strength can often reduce pain by improving joint support and overall capacity.
Great for
Classes often use the same set of dumbbells or barbells for most participants. That might be challenging now but won’t be in six months. For stronger chests, shoulders, and triceps, you need planned increases in load or harder variations, which rarely gets tracked in a class environment.
Great for
Strength work benefits from controlled tempo (especially in the lowering phase) and set rest intervals tailored to the goal. Classes prioritize flow and heart rate, leading to rushed reps and shortened rest. That reduces how heavy you can go and how much quality tension you get on the muscle.
Great for
Real strength plans zoom out: some weeks are heavier, some are lighter; exercises evolve; deload weeks are planned. Classes are typically designed week-to-week, not as 12–16 week progressive cycles. That’s fine for general fitness but limits peak strength potential.
Great for
If you take 3–4 intense classes per week, try: Mon – strength, Tue – class, Wed – rest or light mobility, Thu – strength, Fri – class, Sat – optional lighter class or walk, Sun – rest. Avoid stacking heavy strength and maximal HIIT on the same day, especially at the beginning.
Great for
When your class includes strength blocks, treat them as chances to practice technique and slightly heavier loads (if safe and allowed). Choose weights that challenge you in the 6–10 rep range with good form for strength blocks instead of automatically grabbing the same light dumbbells every time.
Great for
Record a few key lifts in a notes app: exercise, weight, reps, and date. Progress might look like 2x/week squats slowly climbing from 20 kg for 8 reps to 40 kg for 8 reps over months. The act of tracking turns random effort into a plan and helps you see that you’re actually getting stronger.
Great for
Gaps: nearly all resistance training. Cardio classes are great for heart health and endurance but do little for strength on their own. Aim for at least 2 dedicated strength sessions per week focusing on full-body resistance training, especially for legs, back, and core.
Great for
Gaps: external load and maximal strength. These classes excel at mobility, control, and endurance-based strength, especially for the core. To convert that control into higher force production, add 2 strength sessions with external resistance (dumbbells, barbells, or bands), focusing on heavy squats, hinges, pushes, and pulls.
Great for
Gaps: heavier basic lifting and periodization. These classes may use sleds, kettlebells, and bodyweight in athletic ways, which is great. To keep progressing, anchor your training with a few key barbell or dumbbell lifts that you progressively load over months, and treat the classes as conditioning and skill practice.
Great for
