AUBURN – Biceps. Triceps. Back. Shoulders. Legs. Abs.

No single muscle group can escape Group Power, a low-impact high-energy hour of power designed to tone muscles and develop strength.

Though punishing, it is – in a word – fun.

Group Power is easy to define, but can be hard to do. People unafraid to sweat in public gather together in a room, set up a “step,” a barbell and weights. Then, when the music starts, they lift and lunge to the beat while hoisting weighted discs mounted on a barbell. Slow, fast and faster. You work as hard as you want to and, because of silent peer pressure, harder than you might if lifting alone. Much harder.

The group setting at the Auburn/Lewiston YMCA provides little cover to rest. This is all-in, full-out squatting, lunging, pressing and curling.

There is, for the first-timer, a manageable learning curve to get familiar with the equipment and the routine. The intensity level is self-controlled, depending on how much weight you choose to mount on the bar and how deeply you care to lunge and squat.

On the day I participated, instructors Tish Caldwell and Doug McFarland were tremendously helpful and supportive. They managed, while yelling out directions and demonstrating lifts, to remain all smiles. Group Power is brand new to Maine, according to Caldwell, and hinges on the “we’re all in this together” mentality that fosters a feeling of success. Sounds like a sales pitch, but it’s true.

The regulars offered me encouragement and assured me this activity transformed their fitness and sculpted their bodies. “People see results in this class,” McFarland promises. He should know. He’s sculpted.

This activity doesn’t take as much coordination as dance aerobics, which is how I managed to get through it, but it does take stability and some base fitness to plow through the hour. But, once done, I had a sense of profound satisfaction in the effort. And, while my muscles complained, it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t lace on my running shoes the following day and pound out a couple of outdoor miles.