Editing
The present study's aim is to observe Zumba participants and their relationship with their instructors,' as well as their behaviors in their Zumba class. This was done with the goal of investigating the participants' motivation for joining the exercise program and their adherence to the exercises.
Based on over six hours of observation in two different Zumba classrooms, four themes were evident in the results: the behaviors and interactions of the instructor and participants, positive teaching styles, ignoring challenging students, and the relative unimportance of the instructor. Both instructors engaged with the participants in an upbeat attitude through verbal and non-verbal behaviors. The students tended to mirror the instructors' dance routines, as well as enthusiasm and energy. It seemed like this positive attitude encouraged the participants to keep up with the trainer's enthusiasm and concentration. In contrast to previous research by Smith, Zane, Smoll, and Coppel (1983), stressing the importance of instructor attitudes in determining group exercise adherence, the results from the interviews indicate participant adherence is not the instructor's behavior or attitude, rather interviewees listed friends, time, and health as the critical factors in choosing to adhere to an exercise program.
Previous studies reported a positive relationship between the instructor and the participant, and how the instructor plays an important role in the development of participants' motivation towards a sport activity (Smith et al. 1983). The present study found some support for the relationship between instructors' behavior and participants' behavior. Zumba participants mirrored instructor's actions such as maintaining energetic attitudes and displaying enthusiasm for the exercise. Furthermore, findings are consistent with those of Smith et al. (1983). Coaches who frequently engaged in encouragement and reinforcement highly influenced players' attitude toward the sport, affecting children's enjoyment and participation.
The results of the present study reveal some similarities with the previous literature that states cohesiveness in the group leads to group task satisfaction, which has an effect on physical activity adherence (Bruner & Spink 2011). Although not the focus of the present study, cohesiveness did appear to be related to physical activity adherence. The LA Fitness Zumba class participants engaged with each other and were seen actively having conversations with each other. There were similar...
(2003), is that many findings put an emphasis on the instructors' behaviors, which is a crucial factor in keeping participants in exercise programs motivated and to adhere to the program. However, from the interviews, this was not mentioned. The frequently mentioned reasons to why people participate in the exercise program are related to their friends' encouragement, for health benefits, or because it suites their schedule.
Strength and Limitations
The limitation for the presented study was the participants at the ARC were mostly college students while the participants at the LA Fitness were older, working professionals, which made comparisons between the two groups difficult. For instance, during the interview, students said that they do not go to the gym or exercise classes during midterms or finals. LA Fitness participants were adults so they would probably not have the same situation. Also, the instructors at the Zumba class were energetic so it is hard to tell whether the instructors' behaviors and attitudes affect participant motivation and adherence. Having more instructors to observe might be beneficial. Another major limitation was that interview was only done to university students who are Asian or Asian-Americans. This means the study concentrated on one cultural group whereas diversity would have been important. This is important because interview responses might differ depending on culture. The fact that the interviewees are from interdependent cultures in the present study highlighted the importance of a friend's encouragement to participate in an exercise program. Perhaps participants from independent cultures might have a different response as to why they adhere to the program.
Obesity is a major concern for the citizens of America. Physical activity is the one of the crucial elements in reducing obesity rates. It is important to understand the reasons why people adhere to a program and to understand why people become motivated to do physical exercise. It is important to continue research on what motivates people to exercise in order to prepare us to be in the best health condition as possible. Since studies have not been yet conducted on Zumba, future research can explore Zumba and the different behaviors in different locations and different instructors. Current study was not able to capture details of the instructors having an effect…
