The Group Fitness Coach

“A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.”

– Ara Parasheghian

A coach is an individual who is involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or individual (Wikipedia).   Successful coaches can become as, or even better-known than athletes as they are often seen on television or heard on radio programs and, therefore, become the “face” associated with the team (Wikipedia).  Coaches have often had successful athletic careers in the sport they coach and are passionate, educated and experienced individuals at the sport they represent.  When I look at the most successful Group Fitness instructors around it is because they coach rather than instruct their classes.  Group fitness has evolved!  It is no longer about bouncing around a studio in lycra, and the instructor is not there for people to merely mimic moves or ‘perform’ for the audience at his/her feet.  The fitness industry has become more educated and just as personal trainers have to cater to individual needs – whether it be fitness goals or rehabilitative requirements, the Group Fitness Leader must not only step up to meet individual needs, they must adapt their skills to address multiple personalities and requirements.

                If you think back to the origins of Group Fitness during the Baby Boomer era it is not a pretty sight – there was Lycra, headbands and leg warmers, instructors didn’t need any qualifications aside from their ability to press play on a cassette player and string some random athletic moves together.  Moves weren’t based on any sports kinesiology, merely on feel (I think it was Jane Fonda who told us if you sit on the floor and walk forward and backwards with your butt cheeks you would lose weight off this area!).  Then the dance influence started to feed through and aerobic choreography got complicated!  Suddenly we were turning and moving to all directions of the room, and there were multiple moves given their own special name that you apparently had to remember and the aerobics instructor would have their back to you (a necessity if there was any hope of you facing the required direction!).  It probably wasn’t until the late 1990’s that instructors realised ‘hey, we are here for our class members!’ and so many of us turned around to face our participants.  Progress, yes!  True connection…. Possibly not…  Many instructors believed that being there ‘for’ the class meant ‘entertaining them.’  So we became performers – showing off our natural talent and flare for musical interpretation!  Group fitness went from the fad that packs a room, to the energetic dancers training room, to the ‘all about me show’ that you were allowed to move to.  No wonder aerobics class numbers were dwindling! 

           Thank you to the late 1990’s – 2000’s for the concept of Group Fitness!  Many people join sporting teams for the camaraderie and the high you feel competing with other active individuals; group fitness has bottled that and made it an optional daily occurrence; you can box for fitness and fun, cycle alongside your mates, out-do your fellow classmates in a plank challenge offered in an abdominal or core training class and jump higher than ever before in a plyometric based high-impact workout.  It was Les Mills that really latched onto this idea of bringing sporting camaraderie into the gym and the aerobic studio; RPM allows you to ride along with your mates to inspiring music, you can build strength and endurance in such programs as Pump and CxWorx, find empowerment and discipline with Body Combat and Body Balance and do explosive plyometric training for fitness and power with Attack and Step.  Although there are still some niche programs such as Jam and Sh’bam that allow for the fun aspect of dancing around the Group Fitness Studio, this is no longer what the studio represents.  Research has been done and education has been given.  The Group Fitness studio is now a goal orientated place to enter where you can be coached to change your posture, your fitness level and your life!  All of this you can do alongside your friends.

                There are many aspects that make a good coach; knowledge, interaction, connection, the personal touch and accentuating the positive (The Group Fitness Coach – Peggy J. Gregor).  Good coaches are educated on their sport; they speak and direct teams according to their education in the game and their experience on the field.  This is the case with the Group Fitness arena.  The best cycle instructors understand the mechanics of cycling and have spent time on the road.  They understand that music provides a cadence that helps set a pace to challenge fitness results and they know to structure a class based on an authentic road ride, drills that challenge you and make any rider more bike fit and coach perfect cycle posture for energy efficient riding and safe technique.  Pilates and Yoga professionals spend years perfecting their disciplines through constant (and usually expensive!) education courses so that they understand human kinetics to educate the general public on postural balance and core strength.  A true ‘yogi’ practices their discipline daily as well as coaches it because they live and want to share the values of the program, they don’t merely instruct ‘flexibility.’  The Group Fitness coach understands that pressing play and feeling the music isn’t enough.  Group Fitness is a good forum to educate the public on better fitness and a more balanced life.

                A coach realises that talking at his/her team doesn’t get results- interaction and individual connection is required for all team members to reach their common goal.  A personal trainer may have a variety of personalities in his/her client base and approach each individual differently according to their needs, imagine the Group Fitness arena!  All those personality types requiring motivation!  The ‘aerobics instructor’ may have encouraged groups to mimic moves, the Group Fitness Instructor may have performed to his/her group, the Group Fitness Coach adapts his/her teaching to be inclusive and suit a variety of personalities and needs.  The shy wallflower in the back corner may need assurance that all will be well and they are in a safe, friendly environment while the gung-ho gym-junkie front and centre may need a list of challenges barked at them and an energy level set above and beyond.  A true coach finds common ground for everyone by addressing each person at some point, choosing moments in the class to suit individual needs and taking everyone on their common journey; to achieve fitness results.

                The personal touch is when a coach goes above and beyond; they remember names, details and build not just rapport but relationships with individuals in the group fitness arena.  They may come to class early and leave a little later just to talk to class participants and answer questions.  The coach aims not just to build a successful class but to build a fitness community.  This is when the Group Fitness coach becomes most valuable to health clubs; they become more in tune to member needs and develop member loyalty because of the fitness community they have created.

               Good coaches accentuate the positive (The Group Fitness Coach – Peggy J. Gregor).  An important part of exercise prescription is perfecting technique; however, nit-pickers who constantly dwell on technique faults do not run successful classes.  It is a hard line between acknowledging successes and wanting someone to perform better by perfecting technique, but a good coach will find the middle ground between encouragement and improvement.  I have been to classes where instructors have prided themselves on being the technique ‘Nazi.’  I have never seen a reaction of gratitude to this teaching style.  No one wants to endure a session on what they are doing wrong from start to end.  We gain motivation to improve by hearing about what we are doing right and ‘now here is how we can do better’.   A good coach realises, connects, commends and then offers improvement.  A good sports coach recognises strengths and weaknesses in a team of players, so must the Group Fitness Leader.

                For all of us who entered the Group Fitness arena to move to the music we are in for a pleasant surprise!  In the hands of a good Group Fitness Coach we are going to leave the studio more educated and self-aware than when we entered the room, we are going to feel as though our needs have been met and that we have become a part of a fitness community.  The shift from 'aerobics classes' to group fitness training has revolutionised the industry; we don't just mimic and move to music, we learn about the training, focus on technique and bettering ourselves and do it with our friends, much like how a sports team trains. Sporting camaraderie can be found in the group fitness arena as we gradually connect and relate to those participating around us.  Group Fitness is now about an experience and personal development; a good Group Fitness Leader will make sure that we leave the studio feeling good about what we've been a part of and what has been accomplished.