Connect Fitness

Connect Fitness Group fitness classes with a personal touch.

� Barre | Core | Strength | Hiit
� Online & in studio

17/06/2026

Same set-up. Different challenge. 👀

At first glance, a Chest Press and a Crush Press look pretty similar. You’re lying on your back, holding weights, and working your upper body.

But the way you move the weights changes what your muscles have to do.

👉 Chest Press
Think of this one as your strength-builder. Your elbows bend and straighten as you press the weights up. This allows you to lift heavier weights and build strength through your chest, and shoulders.

👉 Crush Press (Jane loves these!)
This one adds a twist. As you press the weights up, you squeeze them together as hard as you can. That constant tension keeps your chest muscles switched on and the close-grip and elbow tuck mean your triceps are working harder. You’ll often use a lighter weight than a chest press but don’t worry – you’ll still feel it!

Exercises don’t have to look dramatically different to challenge your body in completely different ways. Small changes in position, movement, or tension can create a whole new challenge, helping you get stronger, move better, and avoid plateaus.

Which one do you find the most challenging: Chest Press or Crush Press? Let us know below ⬇️

Same Position. Different Muscles. Different Results. 💪At first glance, a Bent Over Row and a Reverse Fly look very simil...
15/06/2026

Same Position. Different Muscles. Different Results. 💪

At first glance, a Bent Over Row and a Reverse Fly look very similar. You’re in the same hinged position, with your feet planted, core engaged and spine long.

But the magic is in the movement. ✨

👉 Bent Over Row
You bend your elbows and pull the weights towards your hips, working your lats and mid-back. This helps build pulling strength and supports good posture.

👉 Reverse Fly
Your arms open out to the sides like wings, targeting the rear shoulders and upper back. Because your arms stay almost straight, you’re working with a longer lever, so you’ll usually need a lighter weight.

Both exercises are valuable, but they challenge your body in different ways.

It’s a great reminder that fitness isn’t just about moving weights around—it’s about understanding how you move them and which muscles you’re training.

Next time you’re in class, notice the difference and see if you can feel the muscles working where they’re supposed to. 👌

Which do you find more challenging: Rows or Reverse Flys? Let us know below! ⬇️

Same Position. Different Muscles. Different Results. 💪At first glance, a Bent Over Row and a Reverse Fly look very simil...
14/06/2026

Same Position. Different Muscles. Different Results. 💪

At first glance, a Bent Over Row and a Reverse Fly look very similar. You’re in the same hinged position, with your feet planted, core engaged and spine long.

But the magic is in the movement. ✨

👉 Bent Over Row
You bend your elbows and pull the weights towards your hips, working your lats and mid-back. This helps build pulling strength and supports good posture.

👉 Reverse Fly
Your arms open out to the sides (yup like wings!), targeting the rear shoulders and upper back. Because your arms stay almost straight, you’re working with a longer lever, you’ll usually need a lighter weight.

Both exercises are valuable, but they challenge your body in different ways.

It’s a great reminder that fitness isn’t just about moving weights around—it’s about understanding how you move them and which muscles you’re training.

Next time you’re in class, notice the difference and see if you can feel the muscles working where they’re supposed to. 👌

Which do you find more challenging: Rows or Reverse Flys? Let us know below! ⬇️

RDL or Sumo Deadlift?Similar movement. Very different feel.The Romanian Deadlift (RDL) targets the hamstrings and glutes...
10/06/2026

RDL or Sumo Deadlift?
Similar movement. Very different feel.

The Romanian Deadlift (RDL) targets the hamstrings and glutes. The Sumo Deadlift uses your inner thighs (adductors), quads, glutes, and core.

Exercise isn’t just about copying shapes. The details matter - foot placement, knee flexion and the angle of your torso all play a part in getting these two exercises right.

At Connect Fitness, we coach the how and the why behind movements — helping you understand what you should be feeling and where.

Because confidence when you workout comes from understanding your body, not just following along.

StrengthStudio FunctionalFitness WomensFitnessUK

Some exercises look almost identical… but feel completely different. Take a Skull Crusher and a Lat Pullover.Both are do...
08/06/2026

Some exercises look almost identical… but feel completely different.

Take a Skull Crusher and a Lat Pullover.

Both are done lying on your mat.
Both use a dumbbells.
But one targets your triceps (skull crusher, of course), while the other works your back, chest and shoulders (yup the pullover).

Tiny changes in movement can completely change what your body is working. In a skull crusher you’ll keep your upper arms still as you bend your elbows and straighten your arms. In a pullover you’l move your bent arms behind you and pull them back.

That’s why good coaching matters. It’s not just what you do — but how you do it.

Our classes focus on movement quality, alignment and understanding your body so you get more from every exercise. 💪

FitnessOver40 Thamesdittonfitnessclasses

Express Barre & Express HIIT.Our two most popular On Demand classes, and for good reason. Short, sharp, full body workou...
06/06/2026

Express Barre & Express HIIT.

Our two most popular On Demand classes, and for good reason.

Short, sharp, full body workouts that can easily be squeezed into your day.

Express Barre, a 30 minute class with -
✨a quick fire warm up
✨combined upper and lower body barre moves to compress the workout time.
✨full body stretching interspersed throughout the class.
Small but mighty movements 💪🏻

Express HIIT, a 30 minute class with -
✨a 5 minute warm up
✨20 minutes of intervals with short work times and brief periods of rest. Sometimes just bodyweight, sometimes with dumbbells.
✨a 5 minute full body stretch.
Lively and invigorating, will leave you feeling invincible 💥

Express HIIT Thursdays 7am & Express Barre Fridays 9am. Both live online and On Demand.

What to expect in a Strength & Cardio class? Jane & Maddie help bring the energy to your S&C classes.You’ll find - ✨A 5-...
05/06/2026

What to expect in a Strength & Cardio class?

Jane & Maddie help bring the energy to your S&C classes.

You’ll find -

✨A 5-8 minute warm up to get blood flowing and heat to your muscles.

✨Blocks of exercises in timed intervals with structured work times followed by periods of rest.

✨Exercises are a good mix of strength based training using dumbbells, and bodyweight high impact moves to hit cardio zones. Low impact options are always provided if you don’t want to jump.

✨We use various formats such as Tabata (20 secs work 10 secs recovery), EMOMs (Every minute on the minute sequences), & AMRAPs (As many reps as possible).

✨A finisher, to end your class with a flourish 🙌

✨A full body stretch

These classes have lots of variety - never boring and are always a challenge for your mind, body and soul.

Friday 9:30am in studio or Sunday 10am online. Timetabled so you can end your week on a high💥

What to expect in a low impact strength class.You’ll see Maddie and Jane, our fabulous strength duo midweek, and on Satu...
03/06/2026

What to expect in a low impact strength class.

You’ll see Maddie and Jane, our fabulous strength duo midweek, and on Saturday mornings the whole CF team take turns to coach the 9am & 10am studio classes.

In each class you’ll find-

✨A 5-8 minute warm up to get blood flowing and heat to your muscles.

✨The main section is divided into blocks which vary greatly from upper, lower or full body mix. You’ll use a combo or bodyweight and dumbbells.
Exercises are usually timed, with work time between 30-60 seconds, followed by a short recovery time. You can expect to do each exercise 3 times to gain max muscle engagement.

✨You’ll also find AMRAPs where you perform a circuit of exercises on repeat for 3-5 minutes to add some endurance work.

✨A full body stretch.

There’s a multitude of strength training exercises, but as a general rule you’ll usually find a push, pull, hinge, squat, lunge & rotation movement (plus many more).

Wondering what these movements are? Come and try a free class.

Cara, Jeanette and Sally, our Barre experts. They each bring their own unique style to a Barre class whilst keeping the ...
01/06/2026

Cara, Jeanette and Sally, our Barre experts.
They each bring their own unique style to a Barre class whilst keeping the core Barre principles in place.

In each class you’ll find,
✨A short warm up.
✨An upper body set hitting deltoids, biceps, triceps and upper back muscles.
✨A thigh set targeting quads and inner & outer thigh (adductor & abductor) muscles
✨Glute and hamstring focused exercises, expect Barre classics like Pretzel and foldover.
✨Abs set targeting front abs, obliques and lower back muscles.
✨A final plank.
✨A full body stretch.

The Barre team draw on a multitude of Barre exercises that use bodyweight or light dumbbells, bands, straps or balls, and their clever use of tempo and musical rhythm keeps things fresh to keep you coming back for more.

As your instructors, we personally write all your own classes. Each week you’ll find a new class format, and our instruc...
31/05/2026

As your instructors, we personally write all your own classes.
Each week you’ll find a new class format, and our instructors rotate class days and times so there’s always a sprinkling of intrigue 😉. We like to keep exercise consistent enough for you to make progress but with variety to keep you interested and motivated.

So, whilst there are general principles that we follow to make each class a full body workout, suiting the genre of that class style, each instructor then adds their own spin on it. There are specific movements patterns that feature in each class to cover all muscle groups with variations in tempos, movement planes and timings to keep each workout fresh and interesting.

You can find a description of our classes and how they work your body in our website, class info section (Link in today’s stories).
And next week on social media we’ll be taking you through each class style and what to expect during those classes. Tune back in ……..

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