Sign Up For These Fun Classes to Help Achieve Your Fitness Goals

Source:  Lifestyle, Her World, 02 OCT 2018 © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

Fitness classes have come a long way in Singapore, with more than just various gyms offering equipment, classes and personal trainers. These days, you can do anything from martial arts inspired workouts to fun dance-oriented sessions or even exercise in a shopping mall.

Not only are these activities free, incorporating the recommended minimum 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity into your schedule each week is important to see health benefits such as better mental health, a lower risk of diabetes and stroke, and more. So grab your girlfriends, go shopping for the hottest athleisure outfits and sign up for one of these classes to achieve your fitness goals.

To begin your fitness journey, we’ve rounded out seven free higher intensity workout classes offered by the Health Promotion Board below:

We've all been taken in first by Korean dramas, then Korean pop music and, now, the next craze to hit our shores is a range of workouts inspired by K-pop.

You'll sweat out to the hottest Korean tunes for around an hour in KpopX fitness classes, where songs of various intensities are chosen to specifically help you to improve your stamina while burning those darned calories too. The workout consists of mostly arm and leg movements and is therefore suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels so bring a few workout buddies with you too. Sign up for a session under the Health Promotion Board's Sunrise In The City or Healthy Workplace Ecosystem – all the classes here are free!

If you want something more intense, K-kardio is a cardio dance workout that will get you pumped up to the most trendy Korean tunes. This fun workout incorporates other fitness and dance elements such as kickboxing, aerobics and hip-hop dancing. You'll also be doing the moves that the Korean bands do so take this chance to live out your pop star dreams. Search for a session under the Sunrise In The City or Community Physical Activity Programme.

Why do just one form of exercise when you can do three? Piloxing is a fusion of pilates, boxing and dance and you'll reap the benefits of all three with one combined workout. This delicious fitness rojak is a high-energy interval workout that gets your heart pumping while sculpting and lengthening your body through some pilates moves too. Your arms will thank you for the boxing moves and you'll certainly get a natural high from all that energy.

Search for a free piloxing session under the Sunrise In The City programme.

If you've been feeling guilty about the amount of time you've been spending at shopping malls, this is a programme that will make you feel better. HPB’s mall workouts offer free hour-long workouts at various malls near you and around Singapore that will get your heart rate up and your stress levels down. So find a mall that's convenient, grab your friends or family for a workout or simply bond with your community while improving your overall fitness level.  

Check out the programme here.

This workout combines the best of boxing and martial arts so here's your opportunity to bring out the warrior in you. You'll also have to get creative, as you have to imagine that you're actually fighting your opponents. But don't worry, it's not as violent or serious as it sounds. The workout includes punches, kicks and blocks and is a fun exercise class that could help you burn some serious calories in a session.

Try a free Fight Do session under the Healthy Workplace Ecosystem programme.

The name tells you (almost) everything you need to know about these workouts, as they are sessions that involve short intervals of high-intensity exercises. It's a very effective way to make you look and feel fit and its benefits include burning fat and building strength.

Besides Sunrise In The City, Health Promotion Board has a Quick HIIT programme as well, which you can check out the schedule via the Healthy 365 app.

This exercise has proved it has staying power as it's been popular for far more than a decade and is still winning over new fans each day. The basic premise of Zumba is that it mixes dance and aerobic movements, which are performed to energetic music. You'll get to try out moves from dances like salsa, samba, merengue and hip-hop, and exercises such as squats and lunges are part of the routine too. It's a really fun way to spend an hour and it's a very effective workout too.

Zumba is available under the Mall Workout, Community Physical Activity Programme, Sundays @ The Park and Sunrise In The City programmes. Book your session for free today.

If you're looking for a fitness class that'll benefit both your physical and mental health, this is the exercise for you. As its name suggests, yogalates is a mix of both yoga and pilates and the exercises and poses involved allow you to work within your own limits and push yourself as much as you want to. As you stretch your body, your joints will thank you for the effort. It also increases flexibility and endurance while toning your muscles.

Try a free yogalates class under the Healthy Workplace Ecosystem programme.