If you’re a follower of MSN Health and Fitness, you may have recently stumbled upon “ten surprising fitness tips so crazy they just might work.” You can read all ten tips here, but the one I would like to address is the first one: don’t exercise with your BFF.
The author claims that, although it is often recommended by trainers and fitness enthusiasts, working out with a friend is counterproductive- and it does have the potential to be. You may do more talking than exercising. You might subconsciously slow down to keep pace with a less fit friend, thereby shortchanging yourself of a good, hard workout. You could even get hurt by attempting something your body isn’t ready for while trying to keep up with a more athletic partner.
However, what the author fails to mention is that there are some cases in which working out with a friend is actually quite beneficial.
Some people thrive on competition. For them, the workout is a game, their partner is the opposing team, and they’ll do whatever it takes to win. If this sounds like you, striving to “beat” your workout buddy might be just the incentive you need to take your fitness program to a whole new level.
Exercising with a friend can also provide motivation. Having someone challenge you to complete that final rep, push through those last grueling minutes of your run, or do one more set of crunches when your body’s screaming that it’s finished… all these things can help you tap into that last drop of strength that you didn’t think you had in you.
And let’s face it, we all have days when we’re on the fence about working out- a partner may guilt you into getting your butt to the gym when you would otherwise have talked yourself out of it. Forget what they told you in grade school- peer pressure isn’t always a bad thing!
Finally, some people simply will not work out alone. They may need social interaction to distract them from what they perceive as an unpleasant activity. They may not feel comfortable using exercise equipment unless someone is there to help them. Whatever the reason may be, there are people who consider a partner a nonnegotiable part of their workout. What’s worse: working out at a lower intensity and consequently burning a few less calories, or doing nothing at all?
With that in mind, there are a few bases to cover if you’re thinking about working out with another person.
- Choose someone with a fitness level that closely matches yours. If you’re a seasoned veteran and you’ve planned to work out with a friend who has never before set foot in any type of fitness establishment, odds are you’re going to be spending more time teaching than working out. If your pal is an experienced marathoner and you’re still working on making it a mile without stopping to walk, you’re going to end up frustrated, miserable, and possibly injured. Either way, two people on opposite ends of the fitness spectrum aren’t going to work well together. Exercising with someone on your level will provide you with challenging but doable workout, and you can also celebrate your shared progress.
- Set strict ground rules for socializing. Make sure you both understand that you’re at the gym to work out. Minimize talking between sets, don’t attempt deep conversation while you’re supposed to be at a level 9 RPE on the Stairmaster (a level of exertion at which you should not to be able to talk comfortably), and don’t let gossip take up the first 15 minutes of your workout if you’ve only got an hour. If the two of you enjoy conversing so much, be sure to spend some time together outside the gym so that you don’t use your workout time to catch up.
- Find someone with similar goals. Different goals often require a different approach to exercise. If your primary goal is to lose weight and your partner is focused on building strength and muscle mass, you need to spend more time doing fat-burning cardio and she needs to do a lot of heavy lifting. Try to combine your workouts, and no one’s results will be optimal. Sure, you’ll see some results, but if you’re putting time and energy into a fitness program, don’t you want to maximize the effectiveness? If you’re both working to accomplish the same thing, however, you can be sure that the exercise program will be equally beneficial to both parties.
- Check out her track record. We all have that friend. You know, the one who’s going finish remodeling the family room eventually (it’s been four months and the floorboards are still showing), has been meaning to start that novel (she borrowed it from you last Christmas and you’re starting to make this year’s list), and is going to start exercising every day starting Monday (well, the kids have a softball game that day, and Tuesday is bad because of a big meeting at work… might as well just make it the following Monday...). Probably not the best choice if you want a consistent, reliable workout partner. Pick someone who does what she says she’s going to do, shows up where and when she says she will, and follows through on her commitments.
- Remember that no one is perfect. Just like any other relationship, there are going to be little things about your gym buddy that bother you. She may take a little too long to get changed in the locker room or you might think she breathes too loudly while she’s doing cardio. But if she’s generally a good workout partner and you both seem to be benefiting from the relationship, overlook the little things. After all, she might hate the way you can never seem to remember a ponytail holder and always have to borrow one of hers…
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