It’s important for fitness instructors to continue to motivate participants throughout a Group X class. While members’ motivation will likely ebb and flow during the class, instructors need to know how to pump up the room each time the energy falls. Recently, I started seeing significant effort from my spin class when I asked them to go as fast as they can, holding it for as long as they can within the 30 seconds.
Using that Group X motivational cue taught me that people sometimes will underestimate themselves and save energy when they have to keep up an exercise for too long.
Instead of going all out, they’ll hold back a bit to make sure they can last through the allotted timeframe. Once I gave them permission to stop early as long as they turned on those burners at the beginning, the effort level skyrocketed. So, I set out to see how I could build on this idea in my other classes.
In my strength and conditioning classes, I’m a rhythm instructor, which means I’ll cue the class to start an exercise on the beat and then will typically continue cueing without telling participants exactly how many repetitions we’re doing. So while most of them can typically guess when I’ll ask them to stop, there’s a lot of time in the middle where they’re going through the motions without an end in sight.
So, one Group X motivational cue I’ve used recently to help participants boost their effort is to instruct them to do eight more (or another small, specific number) perfectly.
When I say that, members’ ears perk up. They seem to refocus on the exercise and really give it an extra effort, knowing that the end is near, and that I want these last few repetitions to be extra good.
This is a pretty easy motivational cue to give in Group X classes. As you’re nearing the end to just about any exercise, just ask folks to do the last eight to the best of their ability. Then, you can list a few important cues to keep in mind to help them remember what perfect form looks like.
For more ideas on how to fuel the fire for your Group X class, check out the fitness motivation and cueing page.
