The 7 Unexpected Benefits of Working Out With Friends
A lot of people use their workout sessions as a chance to get some much-needed alone time, but getting fit with a friend—even just once in awhile—might give you a quick boost to better your workouts.
Here’s why:
You Hold Each Other Accountable
Workouts with friends have to be scheduled in advance, so already you’re making your workout plans more concrete than when you fly solo. Also, it’s a lot more difficult, mentally, to cancel on a workout when it means flaking out on a friend.
You Motivate Each Other
Your workout buddy is also your cheerleader. They’ll be the one helping you push through and go—literally—the extra mile.
You Compete With Each Other
Working out with a buddy might also inspire some friendly competition that pushes you to go a little harder than when you’re by yourself. For instance, you might decide to take a bet on who can do the most pushups in a row. Even if you don’t turn the gym into a sportsbook, you might find that working out side-by-side with a partner privately inspires you to run a little faster to keep up their pace.
You Can Try Some Two-Person Moves
They Cut the Awkwardness of a New Class
We all know the self-conscious feeling of walking into a new group fitness class for the first time. Bringing a friend along will help cut through that awkward tension and make the whole experience more fun. (And while you’re there, if you see someone new flying solo, introduce yourselves! Boom—new workout buddy.)
They Suck as Much as You Do
When you inevitably discover that neither one of you is quite the Brukwine prodigy you thought you’d be, you can laugh it off. While this one might not always be true for every friend and every exercise, working out and trying new things together will always mean that there’s somebody there to brush off the fail moments with.
You Can Split Costs
Gym memberships are expensive. You’ll need to check with your local gym’s member agreement, but there might be a totally legal way for you and a friend to split the cost of membership through day passes and buddy clauses. But even if that plan doesn’t pan out, you can still look into splitting other costs, like splurging on a dual session with a personal trainer.
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