This morning my training consisted of a good ride on the bike. The plan was to connect with a friend and get in a training session before work.As it turned out I did this one solo. It was a challenging ride up to the local ski hill. It would be a tough grind at the best of times but this one a little harder knowing that I would be going it alone.But I was up early. I had my fuel and bike ready to go. So I clipped in and headed out.It would have been easy to hit snooze and roll over. It would have been easy to cut the workout short. It would have been easy to ease up on effort.But taking the easy route doesn't help us get better.In a way I guess I feed off the opportunity to take on the extra challenge. I feed off the adversity of being in an uncomfortable situation.Because here's the cool thing...When you go when you don't have to...When you complete what you set out to do...When you give your best...You will never have regrets.That being said this doesn't mean all your training should be done independently. In fact there are a number of benefits of group training.And a couple of studies looked at why group training might be better for you.Medical school can be one of the most stressful times for students that choose this path. The researchers of the first study wanted to look at stress and quality of life on students who participated in two different fitness classes and those who didn't exercise at all (1).For 12 weeks, 69 medical students were assigned to one of three groups. The first group was a large fitness class, the second involved training alone or with one or two training partners. And the...

Last week while I was in California I had the chance to meet up some friends, colleagues and fitness celebrities. In particular I had the chance to meet Ronnie Coleman.Ronnie is a former 8-time Mr. Olympia. Here's a pic of meeting him.He had some pretty funny stories to share about how he started working at a pizza place after university then went on to become a cop. And eventually he became the best bodybuilder in the world.And this guy is pretty entertaining. When he trains he is famous for yelling out his catch phrase 'yeah buddy!' before a set in the gym.Now you have to imagine this massive black guy, at nearly 350 lbs in his prime, yelling 'yeah buddy!' in a rather unique and higher pitched voice. It's not Mike Tyson-high but it's definitely not to be confused with Barry White.So last Saturday at our Group Fitness trainin session we had everyone yell out 'yeah buddy!' as I panned the room with the camera.Here's the clip:Saturday Group Fitness TrainingSo what's the point of all this?Well for a number of reasons including:1. Strength in NumbersIt's much easier to doing conditioning sets with others. On this day there were about 20 people out all different ages and abilities. Because of this community everyone was able to push a little harder and do a little more. You may recall on Saturday morning it was snowing. How many from this group would have ventured out had they known they'd be the only one?2. There is No IntimidationOn this day we had NCAA Div 1 and world level podium athletes. Provincial champions. As well as people with Type II diabetes. And joint pain. And a few extra lbs. Some had years of training experience. For others this was their first Saturday workout.It didn't matter what your story was....