Exercise with a friend, you won’t regret it!
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Are you exhausted from trying to motivate yourself for those solo strolls and lonely gym sessions? Well, to save yourself from procrastination and getting stuck at a standstill, why not grab a friend to join you on your exercise journey? The company of a close friend (or a few) during your exercise sessions will be your secret weapon to success! A buddy can help motivate you and they’ll push you towards achieving your fitness goals. Plus, exercising with your friend is not only an investment in your physical health but also an investment in your friendship. How good is that? Burning calories and building your connections can go hand in hand!
Let’s dive into this a little further. In this blog post we’re going to discuss how you can ask your friend to start exercising together, how you can keep each other motivated, why you should set goals with one another, and the reasons this habit will benefit you.
How to Start Exercising With a Friend
Starting a new exercise routine can be kind of daunting, but doing it with a bestie can make the process a lot more enjoyable. It is these early stages of your exercise journey that’ll test you the most. Whether it’s getting up a half an hour earlier or fitting 15 minute walks into your evenings, making it a habit is what’s difficult. So, let’s look at how you can convince your friend to start exercising with you.
How to Ask Your Friend to Exercise With You
Your first step in this journey is asking your friend to join you. It seems simple in concept, but you may be nervous about it (and that’s so fair). It’s a vulnerable situation, right? Your friend may be at a different fitness level to you, or they may already have a set routine for physical activity, and it can feel a little weird asking them to join you. The thing is, a friend is your key to seeing success, so it’s important you build the courage to ask them. Approach the conversation positivitely – explain that you’re looking for a workout partner to make the experience more fun. Let your friend know that them teaming up with you would mean a whole lot, and it’d help encourage you to stay active and fit. A good friend of yours will love to hear that and they will get excited about the idea!
Plan & Make a Routine
After they say “yeah! Let’s do it,” you need to follow up by making a rough plan. If you can propose some ideas and a potential routine for the two of you, it’ll show that you’re willing to put in plenty of effort! Choose a few activities that both of you enjoy or are excited to try out. They could be jogging in your local park, joining a fun fitness class, or trying out a new sport! There’s sooo many things you can try! It’s vital that you have a mix of non-negotiable and flexible activities in your weekly routine. Think of your non-noegtiable activities as your ‘must-do’s. They’ll be locked in for times that easily fit into your schedule, and you’ll be making zero excuses to miss them. On the other hand, your flexible activities can be thrown in as you and your friend see fit. One week you might go for a big run on a hill track, the next you might make use of some sunshine and hop in the kayak together! The point of these is that you get more creative with them and have a bit less pressure on yourself to ensure they get done. By teaming up, you’re gonna have a heap of fun and make core memories.
How You Can Help Keep Each Other Motivated
Staying motivated to exercise is extremely important. That’s what your new exercise buddy is going to be super helpful with! You two can keep each other accountable, encouraged and excited to keep going (particularly when you’re lacking that internal motivation). Let’s dive into some of the different methods you and your bestie can use to motivate each other.
Schedule Regular Check-Ins
Having your BFF check in on you often is a great way to keep yourself accountable and as a result, you’ll feel extra motivated! Schedule some frequent catch ups with your friend where you can discuss your progress in your fitness journey. The focus of these check-ins will always be the same – to update your bestie on your exercises and how you’re progressing! Knowing that you’ll be updating your friend will help keep you on track. This means, to not let yourself or your friend down, you will be motivated to stick to your routine and not skip on those non-negotiable exercises!
Give Positive Feedback
Another way your friend can motivate you is by encouraging you to be your best through giving plenty of positive feedback. During exercises, if your bestie can spare some of their energy to give you encouraging feedback, it’ll seriously help you reach your maximum output. Having someone in constantly in your ear, pushing you to be your best is your secret weapon! Comments like “your form is looking great! Keep going!” give you that confidence and motivation that you need to reach your goals!
Embrace the Flexibility in Your Plans & Keep Things Interesting
To keep you and your friend motivated, it’s important that things don’t become stale, stagnant, and boring! Those flexible activities that we touched on earlier in this post are what will keep your fitness journey fun and interesting. If you can throw new and exciting exercises into your routine, you’ll remain motivated. Be spontaneous, and be open to trying forms of exercise that you are skeptical of at first. If you’re finding yourself stuck for ideas, take a looksie at these 40 fun ways to exercise (NerdFitness).
Challenge Each Other & Celebrate Achievements
Find some fitness challenges that you and your bestie can attempt! Whether these are individual endeavours or pair challenges, they’ll go a long way in keeping you both motivated. It’s up to you whether you set quite serious challenges or have them be more silly and light-hearted. For the bigger goals that you challenge yourself with, make sure you celebrate the milestones. For example, your combined challenge might be to run a half-marathon. When you two achieve that, make a deal out of it! Go out for a drink or a fancy dinner (to gain those calories you used up). The main thing is that you use these challenges as tools to fuel your motivation and to encourage you to keep working out!
Why You Should Set Your Fitness Goals Together
Setting fitness goals with your exercise buddy is a very effective way for you to both stay motivated and committed to living a healthy lifestyle! Goal setting together will combine accountability and encouragement. Knowing that someone else is counting on you to show up for a workout or meet a goal can be that little extra push you need on days when you’re feeling less motivated.
Sharing the task of setting fitness goals with a friend can also turn your journey into a more enjoyable and social experience! If you are alone in setting your goals, it can be difficult assess what’s realistic and what’s not enough of a challenge. Your pal can offer another view which will help you set appropriate goals that are going to challenge you sufficiently. You guys are going to bond over these shared challenges and successes, making the process feel more like a team effort rather than a scary or stressful solo endeavour. There may even be some friendly competition that naturally arises and that’s a good thing! It’ll push both of you to perform better, setting higher standards and achieving results you might not have reached on your own. Enjoy the entire journey together – the goal setting, the exercises and celebrating the milestones!
These Are the 7 Benefits to Exercising With a Friend
1. You’ll Truly Reach Your Limits
Exercising with a friend will help you reach your limits. On your own, it can be difficult to find that extra grind that you need to reach your full ability. With a friend, those unknown limits can be discovered. Their company will give you added confidence because you will feel encouraged and supported. Reaching those true limits will be easier than you ever thought before, and it’ll benefit you in your journey!
2. Workouts Will Be More Safe
Working out on your own can feel a tad intimidating, especially if some of the exercises you want to add to your routine are less familiar. Having your fitness pal join you allows you to try out certain exercises you feel unsure of. For example, your gym buddy can help spot you during weight-lifting and ensure you maintain the correct form. Also, for outdoor activities like hiking, you can feel more safe with that added company. So, if you’re still uncertain about this whole exercise buddy idea, remember that workouts are not just more effective with a friend but also safer.
3. They Offer Emotional Support
Physical exercise is fun, it’s great for you, but boy can it be challenging! It is key that you push yourself during your exercises, however testing your physical limits can also challenge you emotionally. You may feel insecure about your image or your ability, and that certainly impacts your output. Don’t be afraid to get vulnerable and let your friend in – tell them what emotional struggles your fitness journey is causing you. Your friend is going to lend a helping hand in stopping those insecurities from getting in the way of you reaching your goals!
4. Paid Activities Become More Affordable
Money, money, money! There are bound to be some sports and activities that’ll be included in your exercise routine which involve a bit of finance. Another benefit to when you exercise with a friend is that you can share some of these costs. You can split the bill of some exercise equipment or hire a PT for some shared training sessions! This contribution from both of you shows your shared commitment to getting fit together. Save those extra dollars for a fun leisurely activity that you can with each other!
5. You May Be Exposed to New Exercises
In life, we all have different interests and this is no different when it comes to fitness. By sharing your fitness interests with a friend, you have the potential to be able to try exercises or sports that you may have never considered before. For example, your friend may be really interested in badminton, korfball or Pilates and you might be interested in Zumba and boxing. Through giving each other’s fitness interests a go, you and your friend have the potential to try (and maybe fall in love with) new sports and exercises that you otherwise wouldn’t have. Or maybe your friend wants to try a whole new sport or exercise that neither of you have done before. How cute of a bonding experience would it be to be able to try it out together?!
6. You Can Learn New Tips and Tricks From Them
Exercising with a friend that has more experience in that sport/exercise than you can open you to whole new range of personalised tips and tricks. I personally used to hate running (yep, I know it’s a strong word) and it was not until I went running with a friend that I began to fall in love with it. She was able to teach me how to run properly and give me tips on my technique so that I could actually cover some distance without burning myself out too fast or wanting to give up. I’ve also seen so many people take their friends to the gym with them. They give each other advice on how to use different machines, how to lift more effectively or even how to squat better. It’s almost like having your own personal trainer- but way less intimidating (and also way cheaper).
7. Exercising Can Be More Fun With a Friend
To put it simply, exercising with a friend is generally more motivating, more bearable and all in all, more fun. It’s the ability to have someone to laugh with rather than you feeling embarrassed if you trip while running, or (God forbid) accidentally fart while doing a downward dog in a yoga class! It’s also having someone to keep you company and chat to during your gym routines or your runs and it’s someone to debrief with after a sports game. Plus if the exercise is something you’re new to, having a friend there with you can make it seem less scary and may mean you enjoy it more.
Feeling motivated? Now is your time to start this new chapter of your exercise journey! Finding your fitness friend, developing a stronger bond with them and improving your physical health is going to be super exciting!
Share your funny and inspiring stories of exercising with a buddy below in the comments:
