I Tried the World's Weirdest Group Fitness Class

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23-07-2025

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More and more guys are embracing group fitness. Why? Because group classes deliver science-backed muscle-building and cardio-enhancing tactics. Not sure how to get the most out of the new group fitness scene? We've got everything you need right here.
THIRTY SECONDS INTO split squats and my ankles, shins, and hips are lit up. Sweat's dripping, my balance is shot, and I'm locked in on one goal: don't wipe out in front of strangers. I'm wobbling on a surfboard—four stories above the streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side at Surfset Fitness.
I'm admittedly standoffish when it comes to trying fitness methods outside of my regular routine, which includes lifting weights, walking, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It's not a great look for a decades-long fitness journalist. So, in the spirit of professional curiosity (sparked by my knowledge that Men's Health was launching their Group Fitness Awards), I signed up for the strangest group class I could find. And that's how I ended up at an indoor surf class sandwiched between an Italian grocery store and an Aikido studio.
The surfing-inspired workout is a high-intensity group exercise class on a six-foot-long surfboard balanced atop three stability balls—aptly named the Rip SurferX. Surfset launched in 2011, founded by Sarah Ponn and Mike Hartwick, and scored a $300,000 deal from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank a year later.
At its peak, the duo expanded operations to 250 locations across 19 countries. But the company shuttered in 2021, according to Pitchbook. Today, its website redirects to Surfset New York City, owned by Aaron Thouvenin and Diana Garrett. Thouvein and Garrett are longtime Surfseters, first as students in 2011 and then as instructors two years later, before they opened their NYC location in 2014.
I opted into the hour-long Surf Intervals class, taught by Thouvenin himself. We started with a crash course on Surfset's signature move: the pop-up, a surfer transition from lying to standing. Once we had the basics down, Thouvenin kicked off the first of two four-round circuits.
Put simply, the workout is high-intensity interval training that utilizes your bodyweight plus the occasional sandbag. Each circuit blended lower-body, upper-body, and core work, all made exponentially harder by the unstable board, which feels like standing on a Bosu ball. For the first time in years, I felt like a true workout newb. I fell off three times (and seemed to be the only one in class who did), struggled through split squats, and spent half the single-leg balance tapping my foot to the board just to stay upright.
From the surfboard itself to the beachy décor to the exercise names (think 'Hot Sand' and the 'Starfish' crunch), the whole experience wades into gimmicky territory. But thanks to Thouvenin's infectious energy and the workout's legitimate difficulty, Surfset is a class worth trying.
As someone who logs every lift, tracks my weekly volume, and aims to add reps or weight each session, I've never loved group classes. Most feel like a sweatfest without rep counts, minimal structure, and no path to measurable progress. You burn calories, sure, but progressive overload usually goes out the window.
But Surfset grounds its abnormality in fundamentals. Every exercise is based on classics, like push-ups, squats, lunges, hip hinges, just performed on a less forgiving surface. While the class was timed (so tracking reps isn't realistic), Thouvenin offered my group variations for each move. What stood out was his framing, referring to them as 'options', not progressions or regressions. It was a subtle but effective reminder that effort matters most. For someone with a competitive streak, Thouvenin's messaging gave me the permission to stick with a few 'easier' options.
'Easy' is relative, though, because hardly anything about this workout was familiar. I didn't feel a single exercise where I was supposed to, exposing some of my weaknesses. During split squats, it wasn't my quads burning—it was my ankles and shins. Pop-ups lit up my neck more than my core. And during planks and push-ups, it was my shoulders and the sides of my hips, not my chest or abs, that were working overtime.
My experience reminded me that removing the blinders isn't just fun (and it was a lot of fun), it's useful, too. I've been training in a fitness vacuum of my own making for years. I hadn't tried anything new since starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu five years ago. I'm glad I finally did. I learned my balance is abysmal, and I was reminded just how motivating a great instructor and a room full of strangers can be. (You can't replicate that energy in your living room or your local gym.)
So if you're a fellow creature of habit and you've made it this far, take this as your sign: try something new. Push yourself. Not just with heavier weights or extra reps, but with something that makes you uncomfortable—maybe even a little embarrassed. Step on the metaphorical surfboard (or a real one).
Feel like a beginner again. It might just make you better.
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