Aug16How Small Group Training Can Boost Your Progress
When it comes to fitness training, commitment is often the biggest factor in determining our success. It’s easy to get started, but it’s harder to hold on. If you go at it alone, it’s a lot easier to fall off the fitness wagon, even more so if you have negative people surrounding you. On the other hand, having a supportive and like-minded network of people help push you to success (this doesn’t pertain to only fitness, either).
This makes sense, as it’s hard to stay motivated all by yourself. That’s a part of the reason people hire trainers; not only do they provide programs to reach your fitness goals, but a big reason people hire trainers is for the accountability. It’s harder to miss a workout when you know someone is waiting for you, or when you know that you’ve already paid for the session.
Even then, sometimes it can feel daunting or demotivating to continue to train alone (even if there’s a awesome trainer helping you). This is where small group training comes in.
Enter: Small Group Training
Working within a group helps for a number of reasons. For one, humans are social creatures. No matter if you’re introverted or extroverted, Libra or Gemini, or even born under a full moon – there is something inside you that makes you want to socialize and work with other people, in some shape or form.
Humans like being in groups. we are tribal in nature, because thousands of years ago that’s how we survived. We worked together to overcome the harsh environment, so our brains became wired to like group environments and reward group activity. Being a part of a group gives us a sense of identity, membership, belonging, and meaning (1). In a strong community, people help each other out, and do awesome things together.
Groups workouts decrease your stress levels.
There have been studies that show that working out in a group environment has left participants with lowered stress levels, as well as an increase in physical, emotional, and mental well-being (2). Why is this? Well, some scientists believe it has to do with the supportive nature of the group and the particular tasks at hand: people with similar goals (weight loss, muscle gain, etc.) come together to perform a hard workout, and they all do equally hard stuff. This motivates others in the group to push themselves harder, and the support from other group members gives an emotional and mental boost.
Group training keeps you committed, and can make you work harder.
Did I mention how training in a group keeps you motivated? When you’re surrounded by others that have similar goals, you’re going to be more likely to stick to the plan. Sometimes you might have a lousy day, and you may not feel like working out, but you know that the trainers and other clients will be there to push you. You also might feel like you’re missing out on the group activities.
You shouldn’t feel guilty, but rather motivated and invigorated to go and train. Know that comparing yourself to others isn’t healthy, but having some friendly competition that pushes you to work harder doesn’t hurt.
It’s more affordable, and has all the benefits of personal training and large group classes.
When it comes to training, there are usually a few options: personal training, small group training, and large group classes.
- personal training is great for more individualized attention, yet is much more costly.
- large group classes are pretty cheap, yet lack the attention that you might need to reach the best results.
- small group training lies somewhere in the middle; not too costly, still offers individualized attention since the group size is small, and offers the comaraderie that large group training has.
Small group training is really the best of both worlds; it has the benefits of both personal training and group training, while negating the cons that come with those other two options. At H4 we might be a little biased, but we truly do think that small group training is the way to go, in terms of safe training protocols, and clients getting the most bang for their buck; this is why it’s our bread & butter, because we stand behind it’s benefits.
Train Together, Improve Together
Who would’ve known that working out in a group has actual scientifically proven benefits? Small group training can improve physical, emotional, and mental well-being, motivate you to work harder, and has both the benefits of one-on-one and group classes. If you haven’t already, you should try out a small group training session. This could be the change that you’ve been looking for!
Sources
- Lambert, Nathaniel & Stillman, Tyler & Hicks, Joshua & Kamble, Shanmukh & Baumeister, Roy & Fincham, Frank. (2013). To Belong Is to Matter: Sense of Belonging Enhances Meaning in Life. Personality & social psychology bulletin. 39. 10.1177/0146167213499186.
- American Osteopathic Association. (2017, October 30). Group exercise improves quality of life, reduces stress far more than individual work outs. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 14, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171030092917.htm