Question: Does participating in “group” fitness classes actually help you keep your training momentum?
The answer, is…. apparently YES! New research suggests that group exercise unleashes a flood of chemicals in the brain, triggering the same responses that have made collective activities, from dancing and laughter to religion itself, such enduring aspects of human culture. For some people, working out with buddies could help turn fitness into a pleasant addiction. (….Hellooo CrossFit!)
In one issue of “Biology Letters”, researchers from Oxford’s Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology report on a study of their university’s famed rowing team. The rowing crew was divided into teams of six, each of which performed a series of identical workouts on rowing ergs. The only variable was whether the workouts were performed alone, or in teams with the six ergs synchronized by the crew’s coxswain.
After each workout, a blood-pressure cuff was tightened around one arm of each subject until he reported pain, an indirect method of measuring endorphin levels in the brain. Endorphins, the same chemicals that stimulate that awesome “runner’s high,” produce a mild opiate high and create a sense of well-being in addition to blocking pain. Sure enough, the rowers’ pain threshold was consistently twice as high after exercising with their teammates as compared to exercising alone, even though the intensity of the workouts was identical. (Have any of you felt these increased effects after a particularly difficult class at the Zone?)
So, where does this magic come from? The researchers suggest that these endorphin surges can likely be traced back to the evolutionary benefits of group bonding. Earlier studies have suggested that synchronized physical activity elevates mood and is associated with greater selflessness.
But synchronization is probably not the only factor involved, notes author Emma Cohen. “We also suspect that shared goals – ultimate goals, like winning the big race, and proximate goals, like endeavouring to row together in synch – are at least part of the trigger,” she said.
Endorphins are produced by virtually any vigorous physical activity, but group work appears to enhance the effect dramatically. In a series of studies stretching back more than a decade, University of Saskatchewan professor Kevin Spink has found those who feel a greater sense of “groupness” and cohesion within a fitness class are more punctual, have better attendance and even work harder. (I would say that our CrossFit box has some of the best attendance and punctuality records of all time, compared to your local Globo-gym!)
Exercising with partners or in groups has all sorts of benefits that have nothing to do with neuroscience, from the simple act of committing to meet up with your friends, to the pleasures of chatting before and after a WOD. But the endorphin findings help explain how exercise is transformed from a chore to a lifelong habit, and indeed a pleasure, for some people .
Could this be one of the main success secrets to the ‘Cult of CrossFit’? Somehow, I think so… What about you folks?
Today’s Workout
Buy-in: 400m jog, 10 inchworms, 10 ring rows (feet on ground)
WOD: “Super 8 Plus”
This wod has two parts, combine them both to get your overall score.
Part 1: Push Press 5 x 3 – aim for 85% of your current 1RM
Part 2: Super 8
Clock set to 8 minutes –
- Complete an 800m run, then AMRAP of:
- 8 double unders, 8 sumo deadlift high pulls (65/95), 8 barhop burpees
- total reps completed in the amrap is your score
Zone 2 – scale sdhp to 45/65
Zone 1 – scale as needed
Add your best weight for 3 in the push press to your rep total in the AMRAP for your daily score!
Cash-out: lacrosse ball trigger point/massage of: plantar fascia (bottom of foot – shoes off), calf, and butt
