Our friends are always the ones we spend time with on weekends, in the evenings and even at the office, so why not bring that relationship into the gym and both benefit? Training with a friend always brings out a higher level of accountability as well as an added edge of competitiveness! This can serve as the perfect source of motivation to begin the fitness journey and have a lot of fun while you’re at it!
Who’s Your BFF?
Who’s your Best-Fitness-Friend? What about your best friend who’s been telling you he/she needs to get to the gym? A co-worker? A family member? Couples can have great success training together as well. Bear in mind, just because you’re friends doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll make great training partners. When choosing a training partner, it’s important to find a person who has similar fitness goals as yourself and is at a similar fitness level. This will allow the training sessions to flow better, making them more efficient, and you’ll get more from your one hour.
Sync Your Schedules and Goals
Making a plan of attack on times to meet, as well as coordinate your specific fitness goals is in my opinion, just as important as the work out itself. The work out schedule needs to be convenient for both parties so that there are no excuses. Sit down together and plan out a schedule; put it in your calendar just like any other appointment, and then stick to it. Make a pact to help each other stick to it.
Take some time to individually identify some SMART goals and then review them together to ensure they are in sync. And here’s the best part about training with a friend: use the buddy system to hold one another accountable and push each other to reach those goals. This is a proven recipe for success!
Dare To Suck!
What I mean by “dare to suck” is this: you will always be what you’ve always been if you always do what you’ve always done. Step out of your comfort zone and use each other to get fired up and complete your mission. Don’t be afraid to challenge each other and dare to suck while doing it! The important thing is that you’re daring to go beyond your limitations, and this is when the magic happens. In terms of fitness, this is how you get results!
Study after study show that support is the key to success in anything we do! Getting healthy is no different. Here are some of the many benefits of training with a friend…
- Extra motivation and accountability
- Fosters friendly competition – to make each other work harder!!!
- Fun and enjoyment
- Saves money OR allows them to train more regularly
- Encouragement and support
- Improves relationships
- Increases chances of success and gets results!
Happy. Healthy. Holistic! 