Combatting the Weirdness of Gyms

One of the most frustrating facts about group dynamics is that group complexity often plays out where the group acts against its best interest. Ever deplaned a commercial airliner? Brutal. Ever tried to mind your business in the lane next to the exit lane in traffic? Endless line cutters. 

Most people despise gym dynamics. 

Almost universally, people report that they “don’t like gyms” or find that how people behave in gyms isn’t becoming. What’s odd is that even the people who are acting that way would report that they would like a nice gym environment. So, what gives? 

Most people benefit from a clear pathway to the behavior we all want. Making the implicit explicit is often the best permission slip to be and act the way we all would want.

We want to be led. 

We actually tell our prospective students that most people don’t like gyms and this gym is different. We say it’s different because our students come here to learn and therefore there isn’t a context or need to be exclusionary or weird or competitive or standoffish. And, it’s refreshing. 

Now, whether or not they are relieved hearing this because it’s what they want or it is informing them to not devolve into behavior they would have subconsciously expressed, it doesn’t matter. 

We all toe the line of an elevated human experience. And, we like it that way!