This is Adrienne. She has been obstacle training for about three years now and she is pretty good at it. There is only one thing that she could not quite get yet, that is linking the fidget spinners. The fidget spinners are hanging obstacles that spin 360 degrees in a circle like the hands on a clock. Adrienne was trying to lache, a two handed jump, from one fidget to the other in one continuous motion, linking. She has been working on this for what feels like months now. Every coach at the gym has been telling her to link the fidgets a different way and this motion was just not clicking for her. Adrienne is the only person in her group that cannot complete it and she is getting frustrated. Our group decides to take a break and move on to a balance obstacle and we work on that until the end of class. Now that class is over, Adrienne is back practicing the fidgets. Almost everyone else is up at the front of the gym talking to each other and everyone hears a scream. This was not a bad scream, it was a scream of excitement. Everyone looks over at the fidget spinners and we all see Adrienne up on the second fidget kicking her feet with excitement. She got it. Adrienne had linked the first fidget to the second fidget spinner. Everyone who is still at the gym is cheering with excitement for Adrienne.

This story would have been very different if Adrienne had completed this during open gym, free play, by herself. There would have been less people in the gym, most likely more kids compared to adults, and not as many coaches. The importance of group activity is undermined, especially in adults. The excitement in the gym that night was contagious. Even if someone that night did not know Adrienne super well, they were still cheering her on as if they have been friends since preschool.

Cheering others on is very important. That action alone can be the reason someone wants to exercise. According to researchers, N.M. Golaszewski et al. only about 43.5% of adults in the US get the daily recommended amount of exercise. That is less than half of the adult population not getting enough exercise. It is important to have a support group and be around people who make the athlete want to exercise. It is impossible to form a reliable support group if one works out alone. It just will not happen.

Another great example of exercising in groups is an activity called dead hangs. Dead hangs are an exercise that focuses on forearm and hand strength. This is a very important exercise for obstacle training because about 75% of obstacles rely on upper body strength. No one at the gym really enjoys doing dead hangs because it hurts their hands and one’s forearms pump out really fast. A coach might ask the group to do a minute of dead hangs, then take a minute break and repeat that cycle for a total of three times. For the minute that the athlete is actively hanging from the bar it feels like the longest minute of their life, and then they have to do it two more times after that. It is not an easy task. Luckily we do dead hangs in a group, so everyone talks to each other. Whether about their day at work, their kids, or a vacation they have planned over the summer, whatever it is they talk through it; and before we know it the minute is over. Everyone jumps off the bar and is almost confused on how the minute is already over. They all said it felt like less than a minute.

A researcher from Canada, Dr. Alex J. Benson claims that exercising in a group makes exercise “easier and more enjoyable”. Since exercise is easier in a group setting, working out in a group can make an athlete accomplish more difficult activities. That includes running faster, or lifting more weight and the task does not feel as challenging just because they are in a group.

Exercising in a group is very beneficial in the way that it creates a social environment. It makes people want to workout more often and for longer periods of time. It gets an athlete moving and out of the house, which is super important for adults especially older adults. Exercising within a group can make an athlete accomplish a more challenging activity or make them complete something that they thought they never could. It makes exercising more enjoyable and easier. Overall working out in a group setting is far more profitable than exercising alone.

Works Cited

Golaszewski, NM et al. “Group Exercise Membership Is Associated with Forms of Social Support, Exercise Identity, and Amount of Physical Activity.” International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, March 2022.

“Group Workouts Can Make You Fitter — If You Do It Right.” BBC Science Focus Magazine, 23 August 2023, https://www.sciencefocus.com/comment/group-workouts-fitter. Accessed 20 March 2026.