Jan25The Benefits of Group Training: How Community Makes You Stronger
The benefits of exercise is long listed, but the message is clear: exercise is good for you. You can go to the gym, workout at home, or work with a coach. But what is the best option?
When we look at the science, we learn that the body reacts in interesting ways depending on the environment. Working out around others can boost your results – even more so when training in small groups. At H4, we seen this often, as we are a firsthand witness to our clients results. People grow stronger, get better results, and are more motivated when in a group (call it friendly competition). Let’s look at the reasons for this below.
How Group Training Makes You Stronger and Gets You Better Results
We’ve gone over this a bit in another blog post, but we’ll dive into more detail here. Group training – and especially our favorite, small group training – can boost one’s results. How is this? Well, working out with others promotes you to push yourself harder. We see how hard others are working, so we try to compete with them to stay on their level.
When we have another person to gauge our progress against, we can see if we are really giving something our all. This doesn’t mean that you should be judging others that you workout with, but instead look to others for motivation and inspiration.
Training With Others can Keep You Motivated and Committed
Training with others will often foster a community, one focused on health & fitness. When you don’t feel as motivated to get to the gym, knowing that others might be expecting you will give you a little boost that might be sorely needed. Whereas training solo requires a bit more motivation, and might be easier to put off.
The psychology of group training is interesting, as it seems we do so much better when in groups. This resource shows that exercising in a group setting improves adherence to a workout routine and motivation for exercise.
Finding Your Tribe
Probably the most important aspect of group training is finding a community that fosters growth and improves your life. This can be hard to come by, as there are multiple options but usually only a few ‘right fits’ for everyone. When you do find that group though, it is very much worth it.
We are social creatures by nature, and finding community that we can feel that we are a part of and are important to can enhance our emotional and mental health in so many ways. Finding the right community can:
- push your physical and mental growth further
- give you life-long friends
- provide you with much needed social interaction with others
The H4 community is a great example of a great tribe-like group. All of our clients and coaches come from different backgrounds with different lives, but they all come together working towards a healthier life.
If you’re not already working out with a partner, consider taking your next workout from a solo session to one with another person, whether it’s at H4 or on your own!