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Get Them Psyched! Incite Motivation and Watch Your Team Soar to New Heights
03/17/2009 - By Diane Raymond
There she goes again. Your neighbor who sneezes out 10Ks in her sleep is training for her third marathon at 5am on a Sunday morning.
What drives her? And why can't you get your team members to embrace fitness with the same tenacity and focus? Possibly, what motivates your marathon-mom-next-door is quite different from what motivates your team members. That is normal. The key to keeping your troop on track is in helping them discover what intrinsically motivates them, then leveraging that to your advantage, and theirs.
Intrinsic Motivation in a Nutshell
What is intrinsic motivation? Psychologically speaking, “motivation” is something that happens within a person, not something done to a person. It refers to the internal dynamics of behavior – not the external stimuli. As fitness professionals/instructors, we can arouse motivation, but we can’t motivate – only the individual can motivate from within.
Intrinsic Motivation = Success
I’ll use fictional member Sally to explain. Sally decided to join a training club to train for a half-marathon. She has very little experience with exercise and admits to being an inconsistent exerciser. When asked what motivates her, she responds, “My husband said my jeans looked two sizes too small.” Ouch.
Sally is reacting from an external stimulus (her husband). Getting her to stick with the training program for 10 or 12 weeks is going to be challenging because she joined for reasons other than her own desire – a desire from within. As a result, her motivation will be difficult to sustain.
Imaginary member Tina, on the other hand, represents the reverse scenario. Tina was active before kids, but since having children she is less consistent and hopes joining a training team will get her back on track. When asked what motivated her to join, she says, “My father had a heart attack at age 45 and I’m afraid I will suffer the same fate unless I take action now.” She also wants to set a healthy example for her two small children. She knows regular exercise is the answer.
A-ha! Tina has chosen to participate for intrinsic (internal) reasons. Tina has a significant advantage over Sally because her internal belief system supports her goals and actions, constantly reinforcing her reasons for exercising (long-term health, to be a role-model)
IM or EM: Three Steps to Finding Out
1. At the beginning of the season, ask your members to write all of their reasons for joining your team. Whether you choose to do this the old fashioned way with paper, or via email, the point is to get them thinking about why they want to exercise. Some common examples include: wanting to lose weight, improve long-term health, the need for a challenge, to look better, increased energy, and to gain confidence in one’s own abilities. 2. Next, ask them to write any negative feelings they associate with exercising (anxiety, fear, guilt, frustration). 3. Finally, help them make associations between their motivation, feelings, and subsequent behavior. For example, Sally’s motivation is her husband’s comment (external motivation); her feeling will likely be anxiety and/or frustration, possibly even anger; her subsequent behavior may be to quit. Use the steps outlined below to help her find an alternate form of motivation that will lead to lasting changes.
7 Tips for Igniting Intrinsic Motivation
1. Set meaningful goals in the present, personal-tense that are time-sensitive and realistic. Provide feedback during the course of the season and/or offer small rewards, such as certificates of achievement or trophies.
2. Stimulate cognitive curiosity by relaying the benefits of physical activity. Tell them what happens to their bodies when they are training and provide informative materials about the many benefits of exercise.
3. Make clear cause-and-effect relationships between what they are doing and what happens in real life. For example: within weeks of beginning and maintaining an exercise program, physiological changes begin to take place, such as a decrease in resting heart rate, improvement in delivery of nutrients to working muscles, and reduced feelings of anxiety and stress.
4. Enable members to believe that their work will lead to profound changes. Success stories and testimonials can be powerful motivators.
5. Make learning a game. Send members on a scavenger-hunt for information about a particular topic, such as cardiovascular endurance, basal metabolic rate, or glycogen depletion.
6. Teach them how to imagine success. Visualization is a powerful tool for those with low self-efficacy. Repeatedly imagining crossing the finish line will go a long way toward building confidence.
7. Start the season with a simple and safe field test, such as the Cooper 12-minute walk/run test, then retest at the end of the season. Comparing results to prior performances and/or showing them how they compare to other women in their age group can motivate members who have a competitive spirit.
As a coach and a leader, you have a tremendous opportunity to help your team members remove limitations, learn, and achieve their goals. Uncovering what drives them (or doesn’t) will go a long way toward helping them make a life-long habit of physical activity.
