Group Exercise Motivational Cues

The following is a section called "Watch Your Words" from an old Reebok Alliance catalog. It helps group exercise instructors select appropriate motivational phrases. The idea is to replace critical cues with body-positive cues:

Critical Cues

• I feel fat.
• Let's make your thighs lean.
• Were you "bad" at dinner last night?
• Burn those buns!
• Burn more calories like this.
• She has a flabby gut.
• This move zaps cellulite.
• You could lose fat from your arms.
• Watch your abs.
• You need to lose about 30 lbs.
• Let's target your trouble spots.

Body-Positive Cues

• I feel strong.
• Feel how strong your quads are.
• I hope you fueled up to work out.
• Feel the power in your glutes.
• Enjoy the challenge of this intensity.
• I love her charisma.
• It feels so good to dance.
• We can improve your strength over all.
• Notice how good this move feels.
• We're going to energize you.
• Think of your body as balanced.

Fellow Turbo Kick instructor Linda Ross provided helpful commentary to "Watch Your Words":

Vogel (2003) wrote a masters thesis investigating how participants respond to their instructors. She found that most women unfavorably compared their bodies to their instructors' and felt demotivated when they heard her make image-conscious comments like, "This workout will help you lose weight" or "This move will prep your butt for a bikini."

While instructors are powerful role models, they might also be the industry's most dangerous weapon for those struggling with poor self-image. And an instructor wrestling with body issues can be a double whammny. I wasn't aware of this, but according to one study, (Olson, 2002), many instructors have dramatically worse body images than non-instructors--despite the fact that the instructors in this study were much leaner than non-instructors (16 to 18% body fat vs. 22%). Heaner suggests that the fitness industry may actually be CAUSING some of these issues...it's very much a chicken-egg thing.

It IS the instructor's responsibility to promote positive body images. That's why we NEED instructors of all shapes and sizes to model fitness as a lifestyle, not a look.

According to Heaner, "Our main mission as fitness educators is to give others emotional strength--to make them feel loved. That way they don't feel like everything depends on how they look."