Working Out Together Boosts Emotional Wellness and Keeps You Motivated

Finding a workout buddy to regularly workout with is important to maintain consistency, and it also boosts emotional wellness.  Sherry and I have been workout buddies for almost 15 years, and I can personally vouch for the fact that having a workout buddy has made working out fun, which has led me to continue.  Laughing while we workout creates positive emotions around exercise, and I look forward to my workouts with Sherry (while I tend to feel less excited and sometimes even dread my solo workouts).

Have Fun While Working Out

We started going to Body Pump together, which we both really enjoyed. We were both intimidated to try bootcamp (cuz the name even sounds hard), and finally decided to be brave and try it together.  It was hard, and a little bit scary the first few times.  Laughter is what got us through the first month or two.  We were doing the “superman move”, where you lay on your stomach and wave your arms and legs to work/strengthen your low back.  I recall Sherry looked more like she was “swimming” than “flying” like Superman, and we laughed until we cried over it.  Later, our bootcamp instructor used to mix-up our names, and many classmates couldn’t tell us apart.

Workout Buddy’s Keep You Motivated

Having a workout partner definitely keeps me motivated and has created consistency in my workout schedule.  Knowing I was going to meet Sherry at the gym made me go on days I simply didn’t feel like exercising.  When the Wisconsin roads were icy or snowy, I often wanted to stay home; however, I would make myself go because I had made a commitment.  It has also motivated or challenged me to workout harder, because we tend to push or challenge each other, especially now that we have the “Challenge Cards” in our bootcamp edition.

Sherry and I jog together, and now workout together at home.  We try to run one race/year to keep us motivated to run/train.  Our  Fit N Fun Bootcamp edition was actually created when we were grew tired of the same workouts after the gyms closed.  And now, we simply don’t want to go back to the gym. We like working out on our own time schedule.  We try to get a group together for our bootcamp boardgame, because it really motivates/challenges us when we have more people, and we miss the social aspect of the gym.

If you want to create consistency in your workouts, I highly encourage you to enlist a workout buddy.  Sherry and I have motivated each other for years by working out together regularly, and have also become great friends as a result.

Hugs & Health – Michelle

**Disclaimer:  Please always consult your physician before beginning this or any exercise program.