[AStonesThrow]

I was unable to participate in team sports and eventually shunned any type of physical education, until I was nearly 50.

I found group classes preferable to just hitting the gym. At the gym, there was a bunch of machines and equipment; I didn't know what I was doing with them, so I relied heavily on personal trainers and worried a lot about proper form, and how to efficiently use time and effort to get some results. It took a while to define my goals and the means to those ends, and thus decide on which machines to use, from a bewildering array of choices. I also had social anxiety because of mixed gender and being older than most. There were TV monitors playing dumb shows to distract me even more. I fumbled just to account for my regimen, tally up reps/sets/times, and enter them into my app.

In a group class, there was a clearly-defined program and leader who could demonstrate all the moves and coach us through a routine. There was some equipment, but everyone was using it the same way, so I could take cues from others. The leader was able to suggest easy/challenging modifications according to our skill levels. The music was programmed by the leader and not a "one size fits all" high-energy radio station.

There was yoga and pilates, and a majority of women leading and taking the classes, but one or two men attending as well. One looked me in the eye and thanked me for coming, and I presumed it was a "minorities gotta stick together" statement.