The Positives and Negatives of Group Training
The Positives and Negatives of Group Training
Group training has it’s benefits, but also often overlooked negatives as well
By Marco Augusto
Group training is without doubt the most common and popular types of training offerred to people in today's industry.
From pump class, to Crossfit, and large franchises like FitBody Bootcamp, F45, Airlocker and even you classic PT doing outdoor bootcamps.
All of these offerings involve big groups of people training together, mostly doing the same things.
And this is a great model of course.
The more people exercises, means more people getting healthier.
It also means all of these coaches and facilities can make some money to keep going.
But is group training all it's cracked up to be?
here are some positives and negatives of group training so you can decide if it's right for you:
The Positives
Community
The best thing about group training is without doubt the community formed by training, pushing and sweating with like minded individuals.
The connection created between people is the best thing about group training, and can lead to lifelong friendships being formed.
It has become almost like going to church - the one time people catch up to share a common and deep experience.
Fun Atmosphere
Training by yourself is pretty fun - well it is for me.
But most people actually find more joy in training with other people, especially if it's with people you know (and many people you'll get to know anyway).
In this way, something that can sometimes be serious like training, can become quite light hearted as you makes jokes (in between the small amounts of pain) and enjoy each other's company.
And a great way to be more consistent and excited to do something, is to make it more fun!
Pushed Further
It could be argued that being pushed further is the biggest benefit of group training, but while community has minimal downside, as we'll see below, being pushed further can have some negatives. But when other's around us motivate, inspire and cheer us on as we train, we can push towards new limits we never knew we could achieve.
Not only are we inspired by those who are further down the track than we are, but those same people will often shout and encourage as we personally drive for a new personal best, or are just having one of those days when everything is a little harder than usual.
Training by yourself means you need to rely on yourself for motivation always.
Training with others means we can sometimes get help with that motivation.
The Negatives
No Specific Coaching
When you're in a class of 20 or 30, all of a sudden your specific goals have to somewhat be put aside for other people.
That's not to say the training won't help you reach your goals at all, but each of us have our own particular strengths and weaknesses and if the program and coach(es) don't address your weaknesses, long term results are unlikely to be achieved.
It's also hard for a coach to give 100% attention to you when you're struggling on something, when there are another 19 people who also need motivation and attention.
Less Accountability
It's hard for a coach to keep you accountable when there are 20 or more people in the group, and you're one of sometimes 80 to 150 clients.
As soon as a client base gets too big, most coaches aren't going to care if you turn up or not; it's on you to turn up.
The problem is that most people need to be kept accountable AND almost everyone will lose motivation eventually.
Furthermore, pricing for many people isn't an issue for many people anymore.
I've personally had clients paying me $80/week for group classes, and still miss weeks at a time, even though I'm messaging them on a regular basis.
You Can Go Into Cruise Control
When you're in a large group, you can fly beneath the radar.
That might be what you're keen on, but it also means we won't reach our goals.
Hiding in a large group might be exactly what you don't need.
As mentioned above, you can use the group as motivation, or knowing you're one of 20 means there's less chance you'll get noticed and pushed hard.
If you're looking to achieve your goals, this might be a bad way to go about it.
Here at PEAK, I actually like to combine the positives of both one on one training and group training, by keeping our group training limited to 8 people; this helps clients to train in a community, but allows a greater feeling of one on one and helps to focus to specific needs and exercise progressions and regressions as required.
The semi private training I created means clients follow their own program, designed around their goals, but they train at the same time as others.
They can meet new people and get that motivation.
And they also get a good amount of my attention because they are one of 8 people maximum at any one time.
Check out more about semi private training I offer at PEAK by clicking here.
Until next time,
Marco Augusto
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