It’s time to lose weight. You begin hitting the gym and have your mind set on losing weight, working out daily and eating right, yet only weeks down the road, you find yourself sitting home watching TV rather than being at the gym where you are supposed to be. Sound all too familiar? You’re not alone!
People need people. We are not intended or designed to work alone. People are constantly looking for the “magic trick” to success and, well people, here is one of them. Are you ready for it? A secret to success is finding a workout partner or group! Accountability, support and encouragement from your training partner or group are crucial to success. You need someone, not simply to go to the gym with, but a friend or two who will challenge you and not let you slack off!
After watching and seeing some current clients’ experience with working out alone, with a partner, or in a group of three, I—as well as the clients themselves—have come to realize that the workout partners had a much higher success rate than those working out alone. And the group of three experienced even more success!
The group of three is ideal because with three people, you are less likely to slack off and cancel. If there are only two of you, if one of you is feeling sick or lazy, it’s way too easy to slack off and slip back. However, a group of 3 people tends to offer much higher success rates because the accountability level is higher and if the other two group members are going to a workout, you wouldn’t want to be the one slacking off!
Below are the top five reasons to have a workout partner or group:
1. Accountability: We are very good at letting ourselves off the hook and making excuses (yes, some of these excuses are legit, but they are still excuses!). We don’t often care if we let ourselves down, but we don’t like to let those around us down, so having a workout partner drastically increases the chances that you will make it to the gym!
2. Intensity: Again, we tend to let ourselves slack in the area of intensity too. However, if you have someone working out with you, the natural competitiveness is bound to come out and you will find yourself pushing harder than you would alone! Not only are you working harder, but you are also having fun trying to compete with you partner(s)!
3. Friendships: The majority of clients and people who have had workout partners say their friendships have a special, unique bond that isn’t there with non-workout friends. There’s something about sweating and struggling that just seems to bond us together.
4. Support/Encouragement: It’s tough trying to stay motivated, especially when you hit those plateaus and feel like you’re not achieving any success (which will happen sometimes), but you will always have the support and encouragement of your workout partner or group to push you through and help you along the way! Without that factor, I, for sure, would not have made it!
5. Alleviate insecurities: Oftentimes beginners, especially women (like myself, when I first started working out), are intimidated by the thought of walking into a gym. They are afraid that they will look silly being there alone, not knowing what to do, and feel as if everyone is watching them! Simply having someone with you to work out with makes it so much easier and more comfortable to exercise and get rid of some of those insecurities!
There you have it. Now it’s time for you to take initiative and find yourself a good, solid workout partner or group. Make a pact and a commitment to each other to stick with it, holding each other accountable and spurring each other on to success!
