Data-Backed Group Benefits
The camaraderie of tribal training provides significant mental and emotional benefits backed by data.
"When you work out with tribal members in group classes, you have fun, get to interact with like-minded people, work out, and achieve group and individual fitness goals,” says Ahmar Azam, CEO of the Pakistan-based TriFit chain. “As a result, the brain releases chemicals closely associated with happiness and emotional well-being: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.”
Creegan says: “Participating in a tribal, or what we call community-based, workout offers a unique range of benefits. Studies suggest that working out in a group can boost motivation, increase accountability, and provide emotional support. One cannot downplay the emotional benefit of pushing oneself within a group of others toward similar goals. In an Orangetheory class, these benefits are amplified by the encouragement of our certified coaches and the camaraderie of other members. The result is improved physical fitness, stronger mental resilience, and a deeper connection to the people around them.”
Drill deeper, and you’ll find that the social aspects and retention benefits of group training have long been quantified and are backed by data.
"What our findings show is that we really are social animals when it comes to working out,” relates Les Mills Head of Research Bryce Hastings. “When you maximize the group effect, this leads to a high level of what we’ve termed ‘groupness.’ And the higher the level of groupness, the more we see increases in a person’s enjoyment, satisfaction, and exertion.”
In Les Mills’ research, the groupness factor was also cited as an influence on member retention. Their data shows that group exercisers are 26% less likely to cancel memberships than gym-only members.
To Hastings’ point, de Werd references research dating as far back as 1984 that shows that “such feelings reflect a construct termed groupness, which is the extent to which members of a collective perceive that they belong to a group and rely on fellow members, as well as the degree to which members interact to form a social structure” (“Groups: Interaction and Performance,” Prentice-Hall, 1984; “Groupness and Adherence in Structured Exercise Settings,” Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2010).
"Participants in ‘true groups’ felt more intrinsically motivated to engage in high-intensity exercise,” note the authors of “Perceptions of Groupness During Fitness Classes Positively Predict Recalled Perceptions of Exertion, Enjoyment, and Affective Valence: An Intensive Longitudinal Investigation,” a 2016 piece in The National Library of Medicine.
In fact, the number-one reason for joining a club is socialization, defined as an opportunity to interact with other members, according to researchers Sean Mullen and Diane Whaley in the 2010 International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology article, “Age, Gender, and Fitness Club Membership: Factors Related to Initial Involvement and Sustained Participation.”
Group settings feel more authentic when they entail a collective identity, a shared sense of purpose, group structure, and interdependence among members, according to the 2017 Perspectives on Psychological Science article “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams.” Is there a more perfect characterization of a tribal group environment?
Most importantly, says de Werd, “Tribes build retention and are incredibly ‘sticky’ when the members do not want to disappoint the team or miss out on the fun. Tribes also attract others by creating FOMO (fear of missing out), they appeal to our innate desire to belong and feel part of something bigger than ourselves, and they provide the ultimate accountability where no one is anonymous.”