Inside The November Project’s “Free Fitness Movement”

Last year was Winnipeg’s coldest winter on record since 1898. On at least one day, the surface of Mars was warmer than a Winnipeg street. And instead of the usual 12 days per season when the temperature drops to -30 or below, there were 30. Not the kind of weather that inspires morning jogs along the Red River.

One fitness group in the city managed the unthinkable, however - they hosted en plein air workouts every Wednesday morning throughout the T-Rex of winters. In fact, this particular crew - the Winnipeg Chapter of what’s known as the November Project— has not missed a workout says its first meeting in the summer of 2014, says cofounder Thomas Hall, a medical school student. “We had three days last winter that broke -40 with the wind chill,” he recalls, “and a whole bunch of -30s.” Although the size of the group shrunk to fewer than 20 people on those most wintry of days, the gatherings averaged 60 bodies in warmer weather, and the attendance record has since climbed to a high of 150.

The November Project is a U.S.- and Canada-wide association of self-organized groups with “tribes” in several cities. It began in Boston in 2011 when Brogan Graham and Bojan Mandaric were sitting in a bar talking about how hard it can be to exercise through the cold months. They made a pact that they’d keep each other accountable for working out every day in the month of November. Friends heard about the workouts and joined in, then the founders started using Twitter and a blog to get the word out. “First we just wanted to work out and not pay for it. Next thing you know, we’re standing in front of 300 people,” says Mandaric.

Now Boston’s tribe includes 600 to 700 regulars per workout and has welcomed as many as 1,500 attendees. (Every Wednesday that original group runs the steps at Harvard Stadium.)

In all, there are tribes in 23 cities, and new pledges (groups who want to form a new tribe must fulfill certain requirements to prove their sincerity) keep rolling in. Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary have tribes. When he lived in Boston and played for the Bruins, Andrew Ference became a November Project regular. As captain of the Oilers, he’s now the head of the Edmonton project tribe.

The rules are the same for every chapter: People of all ages and from all walks of life are invited, the workout is free and held every Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. Certain rituals are considered mandatory, too. At the start of each workout, every member might be asked to find someone he or she didn’t know and give that person a hug. High-fives are also common, as is touching the nose of a stranger. The exercise part of the hour might involve running, box jumps, push-ups, squats, wheelbarrow races, or pushing cars and other crazy ideas. The tribes are often likened to flash mobs.

You get the picture; extreme camaraderie and a nothing-will-stop-us dedication to working out are the group’s trademarks. Mandaric says “it’s been cool” for him watch people find new friends, love interests, future husbands, wives, and business partners through the project. People keep coming back because they’re doing things they wouldn’t do on a treadmill with their ear buds plugged in, he says, “They’re interacting. They know they’re going to see friends.”

Expansion plans

To be sure, the free fitness “movement” is not yet a movement in the fullest sense. Yes, you’ll see all ages and abilities at most workouts, but the majority of November Project attendees are in their mid-20s to mid-30s and are probably not there because they can’t afford gym prices. Mandaric doesn’t believe the free part is the main draw, anyway, but rather “a nice break.”

He and Graham are aware that not all neighbourhoods and demographics of U.S. and Canadian cities are represented in the Project. For a lot of people who live in big cities, even getting to the weekly meeting spot would require access to a vehicle or a serious commitment to a long commute on public transit, which is not free. And the meeting time, while handy for nine-to-five professionals, assumes that a person isn’t in a service job that might start at 6 or 7 a.m.

All of these things are on the co-founders’ minds. “We’re excited about figuring out how to be everywhere, reaching everyone. We’re looking at strategies for the future. For now, we’ve just been managing the growth we have,” says Mandaric. Last spring, North Face partnered with The November Project to be its official sponsor. That investment has allowed the two co-founders to quit their day jobs and begin travelling to work hands on with new pledges and tribes.

Although not yet in “disruptor” territory, this free fitness trend has caught the attention of the fitness industry, says Mandaric. Could it ever be a legitimate threat to the gym business? “I don’t know,” Mandaric says thoughtfully. “If you were to ask a book publisher 20 years ago if the internet was going to a threat to their businesses, they’d have said, “The internet? Absolutely not. People will always like to open books.’”

Maybe there will always be gyms for those people who aren’t into working out outdoors with groups of people for whatever reason, he offers. “That’s cool if that’s your cup of tea. We’re just proving that you can do things differently.”

The rules for free fitness

Anyone who has tried to start something like a running group, even with a few friends, knows that the November Project’s ability to keep crowds returning week after week is astounding. For most of us, fitness plans whither, unable to withstand the too-human tendency to find an excuse — a cold sore, frizzy hair, in-laws in town—that act as obstacles to meeting the gang. Meanwhile, in Edmonton, Ference is attracting hundreds of people to run the steps at Commonwealth Stadium. Within six months, every new official tribe doubles in size, according to Mandaric. What’s going on?

Hall has a few tips for fledgling fitness groups:

First, change the way people perceive workouts. “What November Project does so well is the community-building; the fun is far more important than the workout,” says Hall. “We show up, we hug, we act weird, work out for an hour and do it again next week -- we don’t take it too seriously.”

Stick to one location...Don’t confuse people by meeting in different places, “There must be no barriers to showing up,” says Hall. Winnipeg’s tribe meets at The Forks.

...but vary the workout to keep things interesting.

You don’t have to check a website or call anyone. At the same time, don’t allow members to fall into a trap of a mindless routine, either. Hall and his co-founder never repeat the same workout twice.

Never cancel.

The Winnipeg tribe has moved the workout into a parking garage at The Forks on days when the weather was dangerously cold. But cancelling has never been an option. Mandaric says November Project groups are weatherproof. “The only reason we look at the forecast is so we know how many layers to put on.”

Choose a leader who feels comfortable being awkward in front of a crowd.

It takes a special personality to make sure all of the group’s goofy rituals are happening and producing the right effects, and that those hesitating or hanging out around the edges are spotted and brought into the circle, and made to feel welcome. And, as Mandaric adds, while the leader doesn’t have to have coaching experience, he or she should be in good shape, able to lead by example.

Make sure every exercise can be adapted to different levels of fitness.

If you’re doing box jumps, do them in a place where the lowest “box” might be a single stair step, Hall suggests. “We would never say to the whole group, “Get down a give me 10. We might say, ‘Do push-ups for one minute.’ Maybe you can do five and I do 10. That's okay as long as we both worked hard.”

As a leader, plan to spend 3 to 5 hours per week volunteering for the group

Between leading work outs, posting to social media, and weekly planning, running a group takes up a good chunk of free time, says Hall. That can be tough when you have day job, but for him, it has paid off many times: “People come to me and say, I haven’t felt this good in years. That’s when I think, ‘What we’re doing is so important.’”