2020 has been the year of the quarantine and with it came at home workouts. As we have been getting back into the gym we keep hearing the same statements from our members, like "I didn't realize how much I was sandbagging at home", "it was so hard for me to be consistent", "I just can't push myself very hard by myself", or some variation of this. We know the power of the class and why we base everything we do around it, but this would be a good time to give four of the many reasons we love group training.
1. Hands on Coaching
The first reason is obvious to most people but it is important to mention it. Having a professional coach watching you workout every days is a huge benefit. Coaches make sure you are moving safely and efficiently. Coaches help you determine proper weights, movements, reps, modifications, etc. Coaches motivate you, entertain you, and make workout out fun. We want our coaches to be guides for our members and to help them get to wherever they want to be with their health and fitness. When you are constantly working out by yourself it can be very easy to pick up bad movement patterns, to make bad decisions on weights, reps, movements, and/or pick wrong workouts. You also always might have the thought in the back of your mind of whether you are doing a movement right or whether you picked the right weight. Working out under the watchful eye of a professional coach takes all of these variables out of the equation. You don't have to worry about all of that because our coaches worry about that for you. All you have to do is focus on your own personal effort.
2. Perceived Exertion
In his book "How Bad Do You Want It? Mastering the Psychology of Mind Over Muscle", Matt Fitzgerald examines a study done on perceived exertion. Basically, perceived exertion is how hard you feel like you are pushing yourself. In this study athletes performed an exercise alone and rated how hard they felt like they were exerting themselves. They then, on a different day, performed the same exercise but with other people doing the same thing next to them. Across the board all of the athletes rated their perceived exertion lower when performing the exercise next to others, even though they were going at the same pace. They also, in another study, were able to push themselves to a faster pace for a longer period of time when they were training with others than by themselves.
So what does this mean for us. It's simple. When you train with others you can push yourself harder than you can when you train by yourself. When you are training by yourself you can focus on how bad it hurts, think about how much you don't want to be doing this, think about whether you should even be working out, or a million other things. When you are working out in a group, however, you tend to think about the person next to you. They are only a few reps ahead of you and you might be able to catch them! Or maybe just having someone next to you doing the same thing as you can help to take your mind off the pain. Whatever the case is we all know how much better of a workout we get with others around than when we are by ourselves. There's a reason the best people in the sport of CrossFit all train together as much as they can. They realize how much benefit they get out of it. This is something that the people who have been working out alone quickly realize when they get back into class, enough so that they almost across the board mention it after their first workout back.
3. Accountability
Accountability can come from a lot of ways. It can come from your buddy who is making sure you come to the same class as him. It can come from your coach who checks in on you when you miss a few days. It can come from your workout partner who is calling your out for not getting full range of motion. Or it can just come from being a part of the group and wanting to keep up with them during the workout, causing you to push harder. There are a lot of forms of accountability that come with the group class and they are all good. With this year it has been really easy to isolate ourselves in our homes and get out of the community that will hold us accountable. Getting into the group setting is a great first step into getting back in community and being vulnerable.
4. Shared Suffering
We all have experienced the power of doing a hard workout with a group of people. At the end of the workout we all feel a little bit closer to each other. This is why sports teams are typically so close. Shared suffering through two a day practice or early morning conditioning practice brings teammates closer together. This applies to the group classes as well. If you constantly go through hard workouts with a group of people then you will develop a very close bond with them. This is one of the reasons we can truly call our members family. We all suffer together, even though we are in different locations and different class times. Knowing that someone else went through the tough workout that you went through makes you feel just a little bit closer to them.
We truly believe in the power of the group class, which is why all of our programs start with the class. The class is the best way we have found for people to make fast, consistent, life changing progress. These are just four of the many benefits of training in the group setting. If you have been training at home for months now then we encourage you to start to dip your toe back into the water. We know how powerful it can be.