A new study just came out talking about how different personalities may do better with different types of exercise and training, and while that seemed kind of ‘duh’ at the outset, it was actually interesting–figuring out what motivates different people is obviously a big part of how a coach can best work with an athlete, so it’s something we really try to understand. And this study was really cool: it broke down three types of people, competitive, collaborative and supportive, and explained that each type of person out of these three types will respond to training motivation in different ways. Because of this, the authors noted: “Clearly, one size does not fit all so constructing behavioral phenotypes is a promising approach to designing and targeting behavioral interventions based on meaningful individual differences.” But what does this mean for you? Here, we broke down the three types that the survey mentions.
So, if you are…
Competitive
Obviously, you’re going to have this whole endurance sport thing easy: Give yourself a goal race to train for, or add a weekly race series to your schedule to stay excited. At the moment, not much IRL racing is happening, but you can still sign up for virtual challenges, and consider looking for ones that will help you stick to training rather than make you redo your schedule (i.e a climbing challenge if you have a lot of hill workouts coming up).
Be careful that every ride isn’t a race, though—you’re probably the most likely of the personality types to drive your friends crazy on group rides or runs by always going that 2 percent harder or turning every single sign into a sprint.
Collaborative
You really rely on the accountability of a running or cycling group to keep you motivated to train. This can be awesome if you have a group that pushes you just enough… and it can be fun to do group challenges and virtual relay races (or in real life relay races!) to keep the stoke level high. The key here is having a group that makes you work hard, but not so hard that every single ride or run is a hammerfest.
Be careful that you’re not foisting your goals on a group that isn’t super into what you’re doing. Sometimes, you might have a fantastic group of friends who want to train with you and enjoy those moments, but aren’t as thrilled about the 24-hour relay that you’ve designed for this coming weekend.
Supportive
You love being the one showing the newbies the ropes, so you’re an awesome person to headman rides and runs for newer cyclists and runners. Your own training needs to be part of the equation, but you can consider doing things like riding to and from the beginner ride, running an extra few laps after the run, or conducting sessions on a track where you can push the pace while the other runners or riders stick to what feels right for them.
Be careful that you don’t end up only leading beginner rides or runs if you’re a seasoned cyclist or runner—you do need to do your focused training as well!
