55: 5 Strategies For Handling Common Disruptive Class Participants With Grace

In this eye-opening episode of Group X Appeal, Kimberly and Terry share their most memorable stories about challenging class participants and reveal proven strategies for maintaining control when things go sideways. 

From side-chatters to back-row rebels, equipment hoarders to phone phantoms, every instructor has encountered disruptive behaviors that can derail even the best-planned class. 

Learn how to transform these challenging moments into opportunities for stronger leadership and better class experiences for everyone.

Tune in to dive deep into these 5 strategies:

1. Set the Tone from the Start
2. Don’t Take It Personally
3. Redirect with Positivity
4. Engage the Outliers
5. Know When to Address It Privately

Essential listening for group exercise instructors and yoga teachers who want to handle any participant dynamic with confidence, grace, and professional authority while keeping their classes positive and productive.

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Stay Connected with Kimberly:
- @kimberlyspreenglick on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
- email: kimberly@theinspiredlifeuniversity.com
- website: www.theinspiredlifeuniversity.com

Stay Connected with Terry:
- @terryshorter on Instagram & Facebook
- email: terry@rippedplanet.com
- website: www.rippedplanet.com

Transcript

Every instructor has had that one person or more in class who tests their patience, throws off the vibe, or makes you wonder, how am I going to get through the next 45 minutes? It's so true. And participants, you might be surprised by some of the stories we've got today. Today, we're pulling back the curtain on disruptive class dynamics and sharing strategies that can help save your sanity.

Kimberly/terry (00:57)
Welcome back to Group X Appeal. I'm Terry Shorter. And I'm Kimberly Spreen Glick We have got a fun one for you today, don't we? Yeah, we do. So as you know, group fitness, it's really meant to be uplifting, Absolutely. Right? Empowering and fun. We want it to be fun. But let's be real, not every single class runs smoothly. Nope. Nope. But why? Well, well, well, I'm glad you asked.

So from the side conversationalist to the person that says, I'm teaching from the back row, that expert to the people who straight up refuse to follow along. These moments can throw an instructor completely off their game and disrupt the entire class experience, right? It's so true, but we've got good news. Yes. Every challenge is also an opportunity to step into leadership, refine your skills and create a better experience for everyone.

So today we'll share some of the wildest stories, break down some of the common types of disruptive participants. We'll just call them disruptive participants. And most importantly, give you some practical strategies to handle them with grace, humor, and authority. We're gonna handle something with humor? That's weird. That's really weird. But it's all about solutions, right? We're not gonna leave you in the mess. Most definitely. So how about we go through our top five disruptive.

participants. Let's do that. Yeah. So this some of these people they may be familiar to you. This may be you and you know what, that's okay if this is you by the way. ⁓ just know that we're going to end this with some solutions. We're not going to you in the mess, right? So the first one would be that side chatter or the interrupter. Have you ever had someone like that in your class? Almost on the daily.

And that's all right. This kind of person, they love to catch up mid-session, right in the middle of class. And they think they're at Starbucks. Not in squats, not doing squats, but they're at Starbucks. And their conversation, for some reason, it tends to get louder and louder. The more the music gets louder. Absolutely. So that kind of person, the side conversationalist, the side chatterer, talker, you've never had one of those, right? Never, never.

All the time. Absolutely all the time. we will let everyone remain nameless. Yeah, of course. But yeah, and it really cracks me up when it's someone kind of closer to the front. It's always someone that's closer to the front. Because those get more in the back. Sometimes they can get away with a bit of conversation and then we find out about it afterward because someone near them comes up and says, oh, you know, I was really distracted. So and so was talking. But sometimes they're bold enough to have full fledged.

out loud, strong voice conversations. And we're literally trying to teach the class and thinking to ourselves, you should be working at like, you should be so breathless right now that you couldn't have a conversation. It's like, what's going on here? Yeah, for sure. How about you? Yeah, it happens daily. Yeah. But again, we're not gonna leave you in the mess. We'll give you some solutions. We just want to call things as they are first. So we'll cut through five.

that we've noticed in our careers and then we'll give you some solutions for it. How about the one that, ⁓ the participant that talks to you while you're in the middle of queuing for class? Just either like ask you a question or makes a comment about the experience or? Yeah, like there's no one else in the room, just you and that participant. That's right. Yeah, and we want our participants as instructors to feel like, you know, we're approachable.

Absolutely. And that they can they can share anything that pertains to class. Yes. But sometimes perhaps not in the middle. Maybe not while we're on the microphone giving actual instruction for what to do. Right. Yeah, it can be definitely disruptive. So you do have to find that balance of being approachable, but not so approachable that they feel like they can just come up to you while you're teaching. It's crazy.

Oh my gosh. What's the second type of a profile? All right. Have you ever had the back row rebel? You know who I'm talking about here. This is a person that comes up, they claim their spot in the back and they just do their own workout the entire class. No matter what you're doing, it's as if they are in their own space, not in a room that is a community that is working out together, which is what group exercise is. We come together, we work out together. I'm not talking about the one that

you know, does variations or modifications. Like we absolutely encourage that. Yeah, not only acceptable or like, yes, do it if you need to take it to a different place. Talking about the one that just full out does something completely different with different pieces of equipment too. Absolutely. And then, you know, absolute bonus points if they then kind of glare at you as the, leader, the instructor, like as if you're doing something wrong.

and you should be turning to them for choreography. But yeah, they kind of end up being in their own little world a lot of the times, doing their own thing. And God bless them, but they probably shouldn't do that in a group X room. Right. In a group X. When others are trying to follow along. Right. Yeah, it's a little disruptive. Yeah. So ⁓ yeah, we see those people every once in a while. Back row rebels. Have you ever had someone who's singing in the back, in very back row?

As a matter of fact, I have at the top of their lungs, music that was unlike anything that was playing completely different, not just singing completely different, expressing themselves, absolutely expressing themselves in a very big way. That's awesome. Yes. That's It's disruptive. So, so the third kind of person would be that equipment hoarder. ⁓ yeah. That equipment hoarder. This person needs three, four or five sets of

dumbbells, you know, they need two extra mats, they have like five risers on each side. And they've got the last resistance band, right? Yeah, because they brought out five. They're gonna need that too. So meanwhile, everybody else is scrambling for equipment, they might have to go down the hall to a different studio, a different room happens or to the store to buy it, the equipment for themselves and just BYOD being bring your own dumbbells.

So yeah, those folks love equipment. ⁓ So it'd be awesome to see their house. my goodness, could you imagine? Yeah, I've definitely had those in class as well. most of us don't teach at BYOD studios and clubs. So the idea is that there is equipment for everyone to be able to have for the class. I think- ⁓ Community.

Yeah, I think it's important to remember the community and it can be disruptive if someone has kind of hoarded all the equipment just in case and others may need some of it. risers. Just seems ill advised. Okay, how about this one? Okay. The one upper. The one upper. Like no matter what it is you're cueing, what the move is, what the exercise is, they're going to level it up.

Now, if you're doing burpees before you even cue it, they're adding the pushup, they're adding the jump. You're doing squats, they make it plyometric. And maybe it's even something you were planning on introducing as an option to level up. But no, no, no. They're just in it right away. Yeah. ⁓ And so for this type of disruptor, it almost feels like it's a competition for them. And the competitor is you, the instructor. They're competing with you. It's weird, right?

It's really weird. And one thing I know, I think I can speak for Terry and I both when we teach and I'm sure when you teach, you want it to be this really incredible, inclusive experience and inclusive environment where everyone feels comfortable to kind of go at their pace and do what feels best in their body. And so you can't really hate on someone for taking it to the next level. But sometimes you can just tell when it's about

One-upping, yeah, one-upping, you know, others, one-upping the instructor and just trying to kind of outperform. And then it becomes something that doesn't feel like the healthiest mindset. Yeah, because people could get injured that way. Just trying to kind of go overboard from a place of a competitive mindset. So we do encourage you to take the classes at whatever level and encourage you to encourage your students, instructors out there. But yeah.

is the competitive spirit, you know, unless we're challenging each other in like a race of some kind. Right. built into the program. Yeah, exactly. So well, some people want to be on the podium. They want that that gold medal, the ceremony afterwards. It's true. It's true. I'll often tell people in class, I'm like, you know what? I'm like, there's no trophy at the end of this. There are no ribbons being placed on anyone's chest. I'm like, you're not even going to get a certificate of completion.

Okay, so you just got to enjoy the experience for what it is. For sure. For sure. Yeah, we encourage you to find your edge to work at that edge. But work at it where you can do it consistently and safely. Yeah, good form and technique. And I think another example of when this comes into play is when you're doing like an interval class. Now we know in high intensity interval training, the recovery period is as important as the active period.

And so it's going to be those that even when we're taking that minute or so to recover, because maybe we just did a Tabata or something like they're still going, going, going, going, going. And it's a mentality that can at some point be unhealthy or unsafe. definitely encourage you as leaders to own the space, because it can be difficult to deal with that kind of disruptor. Absolutely. And then the fifth and final.

disruptor is the phone phantom. gosh. phone phantom. our mobile phones, ⁓ you know, they can just in themselves, they can be disruptive, right? But you have these folks who are half in class, half on Instagram. They're scrolling, they're texting, or even taking calls mid workout. Doing like a conference call. Yes, it happens. I have literally had ⁓

participants who've been on Zoom. Zoom conference calls while they're in the middle of their workout. What? How does that happen? So, yeah, so nothing, you know, and mind you, and don't get us wrong, we understand perhaps you have your phone in class there because there's an emergency or something, a call that you're expecting because of an emergency. Maybe someone's in hospital, someone's injured, your kid's been sick and...

they're at school and you're waiting for the school to call back. Those things completely understandable. But we're talking full on conversations, full on conference Checking of social media or responding to text messages. The stuff that can truly wait. right, right. So nothing kills the flow like someone answering, hey, yeah, I'm in class right now.

So hopefully that's not you. No, that's not you. Absolutely not. Yeah. So what kind of classes have you had ⁓ that situation happen in? Like what kind of I've had. ⁓ Well, cycle tends to happen the most. It happens there the most, I think, because they forget that they're sitting on a bike. They think they're sitting at a desk. Right. So they'll take calls. They'll answer emails. And I have had the zoom situation. Yeah.

And it just kind of is mind boggling. And it's important that the focus is what the focus should be for that time, because nine times out of 10. Now to Terry's point, if there's an emergency or you're waiting on an important call, totally get it. And sometimes people will tell us before class. Which we totally appreciate. So we kind of have an awareness of what's going on. But it's the ones that kind of make it the norm to just bring the phone into class and bring.

what's happening outside of the class into the experience. like, you know what? Like I said, nine times out of 10, it's something that can wait. Like let the focus be on the workout, right? Yeah, absolutely. The phone phantom. The phone phantom. So here are five tips to handle those difficult participants, the interrupters and so on and so forth. So you want to this off?

Yeah, you know, think one of the biggest things we can do is set the tone from the start because typically when you're in the middle of class and you're teaching, you've got so many other, you know, plates spinning, you're queuing, you're looking for, you know, cues to give for form and technique. And depending on what you're teaching, you're kind of in the moment teaching. It's hard at that point to kind of course correct, but a clear, confident welcome.

in the beginning of class that also sets the expectations based on maybe some of the disruptions you've experienced in that class before, maybe we could kind of ward off those disruptions before they start. So set the tone as the leader. Because you gotta also think that the other participants, the ones who are also impacted, their experiences impacted when people are disrupting the class, they're gonna so appreciate you stepping into your role as a leader and setting the tone for the class.

The second tip would be don't take it personally. That's probably one of the toughest things as an instructor and as a participant too, don't take it personally. ⁓ What happens is their behavior usually says more about them than you. So really focus on keeping your composure, keeping your focus, keeping your intention ⁓ service focused on the people and stay in the role of the leader. I mean, that's all you can do. Yeah. Right. It's very true.

So another option when you are in the midst of class is try to redirect with positivity. keeping a lightness about you. ⁓ Like we said, don't take it personally. So don't get angry. Don't get frustrated. But if someone's chatting or maybe throwing shade or doing their own type of choreography, maybe acknowledge them lightly and then redirect their energy back to the group. It's not about shaming. So do so without shaming.

But try to redirect and kind of bring them back into the fold, into the community, to be a part of the experience with everyone else. Because that's really what group fitness, group exercise is designed to be, is a shared experience. So sometimes we need to pull people back in if they fall off to doing their own thing or become disruptive. I was sharing with Kimberly before we...

recorded this episode, one of the things that I'll do to redirect with some positivity when we have those, those side chatters. Right. A lot of times they're right in the front row. Like she'd mentioned, I like to like kind of walk up. I walk just like this. you watch me, is how I walk up and I walk in between those two people and I say, Hey, you ready for this? Hey, you ready for this? Let's go. Let's do this. And, know, get a giggle out of them and stuff. And they stopped talking. They start focusing on where

You know, they're focusing on you shimmying at that point shimming and showing a little bit of my cracks. So my imperfections. So now he's making fun of me from the last episode. If you didn't catch it, you need to probably need to get caught up on that one. Yeah. Then you'll understand what he just said.

So tip number four would be engage the outliers, right? Sometimes the difficult folks, they just need to feel seen, right? And a smile, a shimmy, a quick, you know, some quick eye contact or just calling them by name can shift their energy in a nice way, right? Calling their name in a nice way, not yelling at them, not scolding them.

Yeah, maybe it's something as simple as, you hey, Sally, how are you feeling over there? You know, that way they at least know you're you see them, right? Because they're on them. Yeah. Yeah. I can help. Sally. I don't know any Sally's. That's why I said Sally. OK, I know no Sally's. That's good. No, actually, no, we have actually a great instructor named Sally. Sorry, Sally at Irvine. I take it back, Sally. I meant Sandy.

All right, so here's something that's really important. You gotta know when to address it privately. Privarily? Privarily. Probably privately. Or privately. You could do that too. So privately or privately. Preferably privately. You know, we mentioned earlier, we don't wanna shame anyone, right? But if there's behavior in class that crosses a line, whether it causes an issue of safety or if it's a more constant disruption,

then it might be time to pull that person aside after class or maybe catch them before class one day. You don't want to do like public correction because public correction like over the microphone equals public shaming. That can escalate and create a worse experience for not just the person you're trying to bring back into the fold, but for everyone. So when you pull them aside and show respect with a private communication, a private conversation, that can really help build some trust.

if you're really struggling and it's someone that perhaps you've approached or you have a an intimidation when it comes to approaching them I would definitely suggest talking to whoever manages the program to see if you can get some support there I know it where we teach we have great support in that way and Hopefully you do as well. But if not, sometimes we just got a man up woman up and and and do what we need to do to preserve the experience because that is part of our role and what we do

that is it's everything and disrupt disruptive moments they can shake us they can rattle us but they're also powerful opportunities to practice your leadership practice some compassion and remember your presence really does set the tone for the entire room. Right? really does. So we would love to hear your stories. You heard a couple of our kind of hilarious moments and times we've dealt with disruptors and again, no name.

We don't need to hear names. We'd love to hear your stories. What's the craziest class drama you've experienced? Have you had the side chatter, the ⁓ disruptor from different aspects of how it can ⁓ create problems for the class experience? We just would love to hear about it as an instructor or as a participant. Drop it in the comments if you're on YouTube or share with us if you see a clip of this episode over on Instagram or Facebook. We would love to hear from you.

And then definitely share this episode with any members of your fit fam and let's just laugh and learn together. Absolutely. Absolutely. So we appreciate you as always joining us for another episode of Group X Appeal. And I'm Terry Shorter. I'm Kimberly Sprenglick. And as always, we recommend, we encourage you, we want you to make it a great day. And why? Because it's a great day to have. Yeah, it is. Take care. love.