The 6 Best Tips For Working Out With a Partner
Working out by yourself is often the perfect remedy after a long day — you get to do exactly what you’d like, you choose when to do it, and it offers a quiet escape from daily life that boosts both your mental and physical health. So what’s better than working out alone? It could be working out with a partner.
Spice up your fitness routine by joining together with someone else, and you may just find your workout to be more enjoyable, easier to commit to, and more motivating. Read on for our best tips for working out with a partner. (And check out this free 10-minute partner workout.)
BENEFITS OF WORKING OUT WITH A PARTNER
Whether you’re working out with a significant other, family member, or friend, you’ll find that it’s a different, but equally rewarding experience as a solo session. Having someone who is involved in your fitness journey can be extremely rewarding. Here are some of the benefits:
It gives your a built-in accountability partner
When you work out with someone else, you have someone who can help you stay on track to reach your goals and be there for you on those days that you’d rather stay on the couch. Now you have to show up not only for yourself, but also for someone else, which can be highly motivating.
It makes it more fun with a bit of friendly competition
In psychology, it’s known as the Köhler effect, or the increased motivation we feel to work harder and perform better when we are part of a group. In a research study, participants exercised significantly longer on a stationary bike with a partner present than without.
It can help you stay motivated
In a study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology, researchers found that the received emotional support we get from exercising “promotes exercise by enabling better self-regulation, in particular self-efficacy.”
It could help you enjoy exercise more
While lots of people happily exercise alone and consider it their “me time,” in research studies, exercising with others has been found to make people feel happier and enjoy the exercise more.
It can keep you safer
Not only will you stay safer having someone to spot you if you’re lifting heavy weights, you’ll also be able to exercise in more places safely than you would alone, like at night or on a trail.
TIPS FOR WORKING OUT WITH A PARTNER
Agree beforehand what your time commitment will be.
Before you start working out with a partner, make sure you’re on the same page commitment-wise. If your partner has a busy schedule and yours is more flexible, you’ll have to work together to find a mutually agreed-upon time that you can both stick to. Also, be sure to discuss how often you’d like to work out together. Once or twice weekly? More? Finding a time and scheduling it out can help keep both of you on track.
Find someone who is close to being in the same physical shape as you.
When thinking of someone who would make the ideal workout partner for you, try to find someone who is more or less at the same spot in their physical fitness journey that you are. If you’re in great shape and your partner hasn’t worked out in a while, you may feel like you’re not getting the most out of each session, and vice-versa. Finding someone who is already at your level guarantees a more fulfilling experience — for both of you.
Find someone who has the same fitness interests as you.
If you enjoy yoga and your partner is more into weight-lifting, you may not be the most compatible for working out together. Finding someone who either shares your interests or is willing to try something new along with you would be an ideal pick for a partner so you can further your practice while both enjoying the ride.
Encourage each other, but don’t over-coach.
One of the best parts of having someone by your side while you sweat is the encouragement you can give each other. As nice as that boost of positivity can feel or as helpful as those corrections can be, make sure you resist crossing the line into over-coaching, which can feel distracting and stifling. You are teammates who are in it together.
Map out a program together.
Before you begin working out with an exercise buddy, and once you’ve agreed upon which days and how often you can commit to meeting up, map out what you’d like to do together. In the Alo Moves app, you can work through one of the playlists together, which are a curated selection of classes set to different themes or you can choose your classes together one-by-one and save them to your practice. You can also dive into a series to do from start to finish, or practice along with one of the Alo Moves guided tracks in the 30-Day Find What Moves You Challenge (complete with printable and downloadable calendar guides).
Try out new classes together.
Another plus of having a plus one while you work out is the fun you can have choosing new classes to try together. Each of you can pick out a new class to try on Alo Moves each week, allowing you to try out our extensive range of instructors, styles, intensity, and more.
Looking for a partner workout to jump-start your journey together? Try our 10-Minute Peak Partner Workout with Tawny Janae and Kupah James with a free 14-day trial to Alo Moves.
