It's pretty simple why I love programs that involve team training.

Like Kipling said,

The law runneth forward and back,

The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

The power of the group give me power. It's really that simple.

The fact remains that I have never gotten myself into as good of shape as I have with the help of others. Whether I am working with a personal trainer one on one or if I'm in team training, being accountable and having properly designed workouts with adequate exertion, weight, intensity and rest take me way further than when I make things up as I go.

Yes, we can accomplish a lot with monkey-see-monkey-do, and there are plenty of materials online to get us started, but it's nothing like a class or program designed by a true fitness professional.

A set schedule is there, and I make a committment to it. When I'm left to my own devices there is no schedule. Even when I tell myself there is, if something more attractive pops up, the plan goes bye-bye because the accountability isn't there.

Those are two of the biggest aspects of using team training. The one that is even better, though, is the power that comes from the group.

In any team training classes I've taken, I've gotten to know the people who are in my group, and great workout relationships form. Some of them are competitive, and this can really elevate the fitness level of the group. When one person is pushing hard, and the competitive people next to them try to keep up, they go harder than they would have by themselves. This 'keep up' mentality often reveals that we have more power inside of us than we thought, or would have known how to bring out without team members that could push us harder.

Plus, when one or more members of the group are in better shape than the others, it doesn't seem to have a chilling effect on the rest. People don't seem to see someone who is a level above and think they will never approach that level. In fact, just the opposite seems to happen. They see someone accomplishing things they can't and see that these feats are indeed possible, and their brain starts to figure out how they can get there. Once we make it through one class or a week of classes, that's usually evidence enough to show us that we possess a lot of strength and stamina, plus more than enough spirit to overcome more physical obstacles than we thought we could, including keeping up with that person who just weeks ago seemed like they were on much higher fitness plane.

Plus, it's simply cheaper. The Tribe Team Training class that I am into is a fraction of the cost of a personal trainer, and brings me the same, and maybe even better, results.

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