61: 5 Personality Types In Group X Classes - Can You Spot Them?

Every group fitness class has its unforgettable cast of characters—from the Front Row CEO who arrives early and commands their spot to the Late Bloomer sliding in mid-warm-up but still crushing the workout. 

In this entertaining and insightful episode of Group X Appeal, Kimberly and Terry break down the iconic personality types that show up in every class, how they shape the room's energy, and what instructors can learn from understanding these dynamics. 

Whether you're teaching or taking class, recognizing these personalities will help you appreciate the beautiful mix that makes Group X experiences so special.

Key Takeaways:

• The Power of Personality Mix - Understanding how different energies, backgrounds, and personalities combine to create the unique vibe that makes group fitness magical
• Read the Room Strategically - Learning to recognize and embrace personality variety so every participant feels valued and has space to shine
• Presence Over Performance - Why showing up matters more than perfect execution, and how each person shapes the community simply by being there
• Leadership That Lifts - How confident participants like the Front Row CEO can inspire others when their energy focuses on elevation rather than domination
• Celebrate Individuality Within Unity - The art of honoring unique expressions (like the Freestyle Maverick) while maintaining class flow and cohesion

Essential viewing for group exercise instructors and yoga teachers who want to create inclusive environments where every personality type feels welcome, valued, and part of something bigger than themselves.

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- @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 group exercise class has its cast of characters, part comedy, part inspiration, part reality TV. And no matter where you teach or take class, you'll find the same familiar faces from the front row CEO to the late bloomer who shows up fashionably late, but still gives it their all. Today, we're breaking down the personalities of the room, who shows up, how they shape the vibe and what we can learn from every one of them. So let's dive in.

Kimberly/terry (01:02)
Yay, welcome to episode 61 of Group X Appeal. How you feeling? We did it. I'm Terry Shorter. I'm Kimberly Spreen Glick And we're so excited about this episode, not only because it is. So you're going to have to listen closely to find out which kind of person you are. Maybe you're none of them. I have no idea, but we'll get to that in just a second. But every single group exercise class has its own rhythm, right? Not just the music, but the people.

right? That attend the classes, the energy, the laughter, the unpredictability that all come from the mix of personalities that make up the group exercise experience. Absolutely. Cause some bring the fire, some bring calm, some bring a little chaos, but each one contributes something special. And when we all recognize those dynamics, the whole room rises together. It's better to recognize, appreciate and respect each other. So we're going to talk about

five personality types. This is not an all-inclusive list. This is a list of commonly seen personalities that we have come across in our days of teaching. So I wonder, like Terry said, are one of them perhaps describing, I don't know, you or those you've seen in class? So the first one is the front row CEO. boy. This is the one who's there early, they're prepared, they're in charge. This is the...

The front row participant is kind of the one that could probably jump in and teach like if something happened to one of us at any time. we invite that by the way. Absolutely. Bring it. They set such a strong tone. They're there for business. They're there to get the job done. And we so appreciate you front row CEOs for showing up, being on time, being on task and helping us set a tone for the workout. Their confidence is, is,

apparent and it helps kind of lead the experience and it helps lift others up because that's what true leadership does. For sure. So that's the first type. And by the way, this could ⁓ also kind of represent these personality types. Don't just represent the participants in the class. They can also represent the instructors too, right? Most definitely. Especially when we're participating in classes as well. ⁓

but I think we should do an episode on specific instructor styles too. I think so. We're going to need that one for sure. So the second personality type in the room is the freestyle maverick, right? You cue, right? They go left. You drop the beat. They drop something else entirely, right? Right. Entirely. And it's not that they're off. They're just original. That's what we're going to call it. They're just original and

you know, these kinds of folks, we want to celebrate their individuality and you know, just kind of keep the flow from turning into a solo concert because that can happen too. We talked about those kinds of people. Yeah. When we did our disruptors episode, we talked about those that could kind of do their own thing and pull off the vibe. Right. But this is a little different. The freestyle Maverick, a little different. They're still in it to win it. Always in it to win it. Okay.

Have you ever had in your class a silent assassin? ⁓ yeah. This is going to be the participant that never says a word. They're, working hard. So their effort speaks volumes. Like they are there for a reason. Business. Yeah. They're, they're a steady heartbeat of the class. are consistent. They're focused. They're powerful. You know, strength doesn't have to shout. Sometimes it just shows up and puts in the work, but here's what's so funny.

about the silent assassin. And I don't know for those of you who are instructors out there or for you silent assassins, maybe this could be a tip to help us out, help a sister and a brother out when we're up there teaching. But have you ever had a silent assassin in your class and for maybe weeks or months, you think like they don't like you. Right. Like they never say hello. They never talk. They don't smile. They don't smile. They're just in there. They're focused. They're quiet. They just keep to themselves.

And I've had it happen before where I just was sure someone, because they didn't interact with me and they were kind of kept to themselves, I thought for sure they either didn't like me, they didn't like my class, and yet I couldn't figure out why do they keep coming back? And then I, at some point would spark up a conversation or I'd see them outside of the class and we make a connection. And then Nicest person in the world. Not only the nicest person, but I would find out they actually really do enjoy the class. Yeah, they just have a different way of expressing it.

Yeah. Have you ever had that? Absolutely. Yeah. And, and I can tell you when we're, we're talking about these personality types, yes, we immediately have certain people in mind. ⁓ it's not a, not a bad thing at all. Not a bad thing at all. It's a beautiful thing. Cause we appreciate all these personality types. Cause that's what makes the room dynamic. It makes it super fun. It's so true. Right. You like the dynamics. Yes, we do. And speaking of dynamic, the fourth kind of personality type is the cheer captain. my gosh. That's who he is when he takes class.

When I take class, yes. Dude is a cheer captain when he's taking class. We call them the woo warriors, right? So they're the energy spark plug, the one who high fives everyone, gives fist bumps, you know, in between every single set and, uh, and also to every high fives before the cool down happens as well. Chest bumps, booty bumps, all the bumps that you can possibly think of.

All of them, they give them all. You don't get booty. Well, you got to sometimes asking you shall receive. Yeah. Yeah. That's all you ever take my class. just want you to know, I wouldn't mind a booty. Yes. She, we will serve up a booty bump or two to Kimberly in the next class. So with these people, you know, the, the, the cheer captain, their positivity simply put is contagious. Right. And

this kind of person, they really fuel the group. But at the same time, they also make sure that it doesn't drown out others' rhythms. So they're pretty mindful of that too, which is great. Definitely, definitely. So keep coming, cheer captain. Yeah, keep coming, keep coming. Everyone keep coming, because like Terry said, this is how we create a dynamic experience, is having all these different kind of personality types and behavioral styles. So we'll.

love that you're all there. Absolutely. Okay. I to talk about one that I have a really strong perspective on this personality type and it is the late bloomer. What's a late bloomer? It's not someone who comes in late and is disruptive because then we'd be listing them on the disruptor episode, right? This is the late bloomer. Like they're still coming in because they just really want to be there. They still want to get a great workout. They want to be a part of the experience, but it might be that they kind of slide in during the warmup and

and kind of grab their equipment late or grab their spot late, but they're very respectful about it. They just come in for whatever reason, maybe they got stuck in traffic, maybe they overslept. Sometimes it just happens one off. But I think we all know probably a few people who are consistently late blooming in class. And here's what I want you to know. If you are a late bloomer in class, it's okay. And Terry and I were talking about this before we started to record. We actually are so thankful that you are there.

It does not offend us if you come in five minutes late or 30 minutes late or you leave five minutes early or 10 minutes, you made it. Exactly. And you made it safely. That's so important to us. For sure. So if you have a habit of hitting this news button a few times, we'd love for you to get in and get the whole experience, but we do understand that sometimes we can be habitually late for things. And at the end of the day, to get in for five minutes is better than to get in not at all.

And so we encourage you, will just say this for me personally, although I think I speak for both of us. When it comes to my class, I know there are some instructors, and so this is a note for you instructors out there too. If you're one of those instructors that shames someone or makes them uncomfortable if they come in late or have to leave early, then rethink that. Because whatever hoops they had to jump through, whatever they had to knock off their to-do list, whatever they had to deal with to get there matters.

And I think whatever time they can contribute to their personal fitness, health and wellbeing matters. It's important. And I think it's important that we as leaders support that. And recognize it. So I always tell people, and you guys, you can stop apologizing. You can stop saying, I'm sorry I was late or I'm sorry I have to early. I'll often make a joke of it. If someone says they have to leave early and they're all apologetic, I'm like, okay. I said, just so you know, when you start walking for the door, I might come running after you like crying and screaming, please don't leave me.

But it's just a thing I do, just ignore it. I say it all the time just because I want to make light of it. Like it's totally okay if you leave. It's totally okay. We love to keep you the whole time, but we understand when things come up and we respect that and we respect the fact that you still showed up. So remember progress beats perfection. And sometimes that showing up part, that's the hardest part and it's worth celebrating. Revel in that for sure. All day. All day. Every day.

Yes. We, yeah, we know it's hard. I have someone and she knows who she is. She listened to the podcast. You know who you is. Uh, but it's a 5 45 AM yoga class that I teach on Mondays and on Fridays as well. And starts at 5 45 AM AM. Yeah. And she rolls in. Yeah. She rolls in at six 15, like clockwork, like mind you, it's an hour class. So she rolls into six 15 that works for her. When she does show up, um, occasionally at five 45, I'm like,

give her the same high five that I would when she walks into 615. um, because there's people who literally move heaven and earth to get there. Yeah. But they do do it somehow in some way. So again, we celebrate that. Right. So, you know, the power of a class, it really comes from it's mix of those different energies, those different personalities, the different stories that we all have. And, uh, so for the instructors, please.

read the room, embrace the variety and make space for everybody to shine. All inclusive environment. not? And participants who are listening, your presence again, it really truly does matter ⁓ more than your performance. So you help shape the vibe just by like Kimberly said, just by being there. And the beauty of group exercise is not that, you know, not that no one energy is wrong, right? Together we create the

perfect playlist of personalities. I just want to say when he said the words beauty of group exercise, he pointed at me. I did. I was like, the beauty of group X is right here. If you haven't seen it, watch YouTube. It's right here. One of the other things I wanted to note, you we gave a shout out to instructors, you know, you want to embrace the variety in the room. Participants not only show up and know that we honor you for showing up, but also embrace the variety in the room.

Yeah. Like recognize that not everyone is going to approach the group X experience the way you do. And that's okay. That's okay with us being different and approaching it different and showing up with different energies. Like that is the beauty of coming together in the way that we do. So the next time you walk into a class, take a second to just notice the people around you, not as distractions, but as the heartbeat of your community. Yeah. Because every personality from the early birds again, to the late bloomers.

adds to the magic of the moment. If you recognize yourself or your class family in this episode, I double dog dare you to not only share it with them, but tag the people that you know, ⁓ fit into any of these personality types, but also let us know which personality type are you in the room or is it one that's not on the list? Let us know if there's something that, needs to be added to that list for sure.

Absolutely. And, you know, one of the things we didn't talk about was people can have multiple personalities. Is that a disorder? You know, I think in Grebex it's not a It's completely acceptable. is acceptable. I mean, I think I do. I'm pretty sure. So again, we're going to celebrate that. We're going to embrace that. good. Yes. Hashtag stronger together.

All day, every day. So thank you so much for joining us as always share tag, leave us some reviews, leave us some questions, comments, you know where to find us on Instagram and on YouTube at group X appeal. We cannot wait to hear from you. I'm Terry shorter. I'm Kimberly Spreen Glick And as always, we encourage you to make it a great day. And why? Cause it is a great day to have sure is peace out.