The best thing to add to your workout routine isn’t more mileage, heavier weights, or more time in the gym, but a workout buddy. A workout partner is one of the most effective ways to get healthier and have fun achieving your fitness goals. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t pursue a swolemate, Pilates partner, bosu bosom buddy, Tai Chi chum, Tabata teammate or Zumba socializer. A good partner can motivate you to get you going, push you harder, and be a cheerleader of your fitness goals.
Sometimes, we just lack the motivation to roll out of bed in the morning and hit the gym. It’s easy to bail out on solo exercise plans, but much harder when you make plans with a workout partner. A workout partner can help get you through the fitness club doors. But the motivation a partner brings doesn’t end once you enter the club. Whether you work out together or work out alone on opposite sides of the club, a workout buddy’s presence actually motivates you more than you know.
A study by Kansas State University revealed that a workout partner could actually help you work out harder and longer, especially if your buddy is slightly better at a given exercise than you. Participants in the study nearly doubled their work out time when paired with a slightly better workout buddy as opposed to when they worked out solo. If you happen to be the slightly better, or even much more fit, workout buddy, there are still benefits to working out with a less fit partner. They can still help you to focus on your goals, give you an outsider’s view on your technique, and keep you honest about your work out.
The motivating effect of a partner is also strong in a class. A partner can make a new class less intimidating, make you more accountable to attend, and motivate you to push yourself during the class. The Alaska Club instructors can help you find the right class for you and your partner.
Motivation doesn’t always have to be verbal. Just knowing that you’re in it together, can be just the extra push you need. Like any successful relationship, workout partners need to communicate to get the most out of the relationship. Personal trainers can help with this and serve as good models for encouragement, helpful for learning new techniques, and tailoring workouts to each partner.
Bottom line: It may take some effort, but the best way to improve your fitness is a challenging workout buddy.
If you don’t happen to have a workout partner, talk to a fitness consultant or an instructor at The Alaska Club and they can help you find one. A personal trainer can be a great workout buddy, especially when getting started.
Checkout the new fall lineup of classes starting September 6th at thealaskaclub.com.
