Your instructor wants to be your bestie. It’s not just to motivate you

Humans are social creatures who place tremendous value on other humans. “The number one driver of a person’s wellbeing is social connection and relationships,” says Melbourne-based psychologist Aaron Jarden. He explains that whenever we encounter someone, our brains are busily “prospecting” — weighing up factors like their behaviour and looks — to determine whether we’ll benefit from a connection with them. Prospecting is so deeply hardwired we do it even with humans who aren’t really there.

These one-sided connections were dubbed “parasocial” relationships when they were first described in the 1950s, by social scientists who observed that Americans were forming “intimacy at a distance” with performers from TV, radio and movies (then relatively new forms of mass media). Nowadays we’re also likely to feel like we’re besties with our favourite podcast hosts and social media influencers.

But virtual trainers haven’t always felt like friends. To track the evolution of fitness at a distance, I trawled Youtube for vintage workout videos — think ’80s Jane Fonda and ’90s Aerobics Oz Style — and was struck by how un-intimate and utilitarian they can seem by modern standards. (Sidenote: Google these clips. The retro workout fashions are a treat.)

It’s rapid advances in fitness technology that now make it possible for virtual workouts to lean in hard to parasocial relationships. The instructors streamed onto your screen don’t merely instruct. If you own fancy enough hardware, your trainers can also highlight real-time metrics being recorded by your device, motivate you with commentary about where you rank in a global community of people doing the same workout, and maybe even give you a personalised shoutout. Happily exhausted by your online coach, you can later tag them on social media as a sort of virtual high-five — all without ever leaving your house.

Readers who’ve spent decades sweating in real-life Les Mills classes might not think this sounds like anything new. Which is exactly the point: virtual fitness workouts are leveraging technology to spark the same zealotry that people develop for their in-the-flesh trainers.

“People flock to a class of an instructor that may not be the fittest person in the world, but the one that actually makes you feel that sense of connection and support and tailored motivation,” says ​​Kate Kraschnefski, head of compliance and training at the Australian Institute of Fitness.

Fostering one-sided relationships with virtual trainers doesn’t just benefit users. It’s also savvy business. Take Peloton, the highly lucrative cycling workout that’s just launched in Australia: adherents are willing to fork out thousands for a bike for access to Peloton’s renowned coaches, who’ve become celebrities in their own right. Ask any Peloton devotee what they love about it and they’ll immediately name a favourite instructor, adoration that keeps users paying their subscription fees.