Does your class believe and act like they are one unit? Do you treat them like a team? Creating a team spirit among your participants can have tremendous effects on their commitment, effort, and desire to return to your class. Read on to learn how you can take advantage of your indoor cycle class so that they exert more effort and everyone has more fun.
Social Support: Often the most meaningful praise and encouragements comes from people who are in similar situations working towards similar goals. Encourage your participants to offer one another reassurance and companionship.
Proximity: People bond when they are near each other. Organize your indoor cycle class so that your participants are close enough together that when they look in the mirror, they see a team united.
Similarity: Although your participants have individual goals they want to achieve, it is important for you to set team goals in class. Your cyclists will become more of a unit and begin training harder when they have shared commitments, attitudes, aspirations, and goals.
The message is to bring your participants together in class so that they will feel missed if they don”™t come to class next time.
Call to Action: Next time you teach an indoor cycle class (or any group fitness class), focus on incorporating social support, proximity, and similarity. For example, if you have a small class in a large room, split the room in half and have your participants train on one side. If the bikes in your cycle class are typically arranged in a circle formation, rearrange the bikes so that you create a united team, much like you see a group of cyclists in a road race. Choose one song or component in your profile and think of a short-term goal the entire class can work towards. Lastly, allow your participants to encourage and praise their fellow cyclists.
Believe and Achieve,
Haley Perlus, Ph.D.
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Hello Dr. Haley,
It’s funny that you have this article here because I’ve tried this in several classes at different clubs with mixed results. At two of my clubs, my clients got into this team notion and I believe I got them to work in a more disciplined and controlled manner, as if they didn’t want to let their teammates down. In another class, the response was not as good where out of a class of 12 people, about 5 or 6 of the participants insisted on doing it “their own way”. I wouldn’t have minded if they told me they were using that particular class as a recovery class, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
So I’m going to take some of your suggestions and try to apply them. Any other suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the advice,
Sam
Hi Sam,
Thank you for your comments. To get right to the point, like every new strategy, it will take time for all of your participants to adapt. My advice is to CONSISTENTLY implement ONE team exercise per class. In other words, be subtle and constant. LIke every behavior change, it takes time for everyone to be on board.
Believe and Achieve,
Dr. Haley
I’m fortunate to be the instructor of an amazingly cohesive group of about 30 early-morning cycling students. They’re evenly split between genders, and they are of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. I’ve been with them for about three years, and some of them have become close friends through class. In addition to doing occasional team-focused drills in class, I’ve always made it a point to make connections between the students—if I hear that two people have a shared hobby or work in the same industry, for example, I point that out to both people. I also make sure to announce to the whole class when someone has met some kind of goal, whether it’s a fitness goal or not doesn’t matter. I’m very lucky that so many of the students have become buddies. I think of this every time I teach one of my other classes, where none of the students speak to each other, even though I use the same approaches with them. Sometimes there’s only so much you can do—and you just keep trying to build a team!
Hi Linda,
you made a very important point. After all is said and done, you can only control what you can control. Sure, there many techniques we can implement to strengthen our riders from the head down, but it is our participants that empower themselves to improve. We can only guide them in the right direction.