We all know the benefits of staying in decent physical shape, whether that’s via making consistent visits to your local gym or signing up for regularly scheduled pick-up basketball games. Nonetheless, establishing physical activity as a constant habit in your life can become quite a challenge, not to mention the everyday responsibilities that could prevent you from maximizing your fitness potential.
This is where working out with a loved one, friend, or co-worker might come in handy – especially if you’ve ever been involved in a debate with them about who can squat or bench the most. Here are four great benefits of working out with a friend.
1. Increased Motivation to Stay Committed
Waking up early on Monday morning, eating a balanced breakfast, and heading off to the gym takes discipline.
Even when you’ve fully immersed yourself in the process, the hardest part about going to the gym is simply staying committed and establishing consistency. Working out with a friend will hold you accountable. It’ll push you to eat that healthy breakfast and motivate you to workout.
2. More Rewarding Experiences
For some, lifting heavy plates and dumbbells over and over again can be a boring, unfulfilling experience, especially when done alone. Going to the gym with a workout buddy is the perfect way to spice up the opportunity. Having fun, above all else, is the single biggest reason why new habits stick around.
Working out with a friend who is likely to have a similar mindset and ambition in regard to their fitness goals also makes the experience far more rewarding once both of you see how far you’ve come. You’re also bound to learn more about fitness, nutrition, and exercising methods by chatting with your friend and seeing what works best for both.
3. Cultivating a Competitive Environment
Drive and motivation are the two biggest repositories of fuel needed to be successful at the gym. While you can conjure enough motivation to go at it alone, imagine the effect of those two fuel sources multiplied by simply having a friend pushing you on to close that last rep instead of giving up.
Working out with someone – or in a group fitness environment – will increase the intensity of your exercise regime, and researchbacks this notion up as well.
4. Stronger Friendships
If you’re trying to get to know someone better – for instance, a coworker – the gym is an excellent medium to strengthen relations between the two of you and build natural chemistry that can translate to the workplace and other environments.
Starting with the common interest in trying to improve your fitness levels, the natural comradery that takes place at gyms makes it easy to chat about other subjects while you workout. Group fitness classes are excellent for this as well.
Refer a Friend to Fit Athletic Today!
If you want to start working out with a friend, you’re in luck! Be sure to refer a friend to Fit Athletic via our guest pass and start working together on achieving your fitness goals. Moreover, if group fitness classes are more of your thing, check out our class schedules and find a time that works best for you today.