5 Reasons To Exercise With Friends!

For the whole of November, you can bring a friend with you to the gym on Saturdays & Sundays, so with that in mind…we thought we’d give you 5 reasons why exercising with friends is great. So here goes!

1) More confidence – let’s say you find the gym a slightly intimidating place, or better yet, a particular area of the gym intimidating, maybe it’s the free weights area. You might not want to go there alone but going with a friend and having a friendly face there might help! The gym can often seem like a slightly scary place for beginners (even if it’s not) and having a friend there can be the perfect way to give you that extra bit of confidence to come to the gym and develop that all-important exercise routine!

2) More fun – exercising doesn’t have to mean being by yourself, headphones on, staring aggressively into a mirror, especially if that makes you miserable and means you don’t enjoy exercise! For some, having a friend to train alongside them can add that all-important social element that means you actually enjoy the exercise you do! At the end of the day, If it means the work is more likely to get done, do what works for you!

3) More motivating – exercising with a friend can not only add that social element that we’ve just spoken about but can equally be an important motivational tool. Say for example, at the start of the session, you said to each other you’d do 30 minutes of cardio, but your 15 minutes in and want to quit, your definitely more likely to keep going if your friend is still going strong – they’ll keep you accountable! Similarly, training with a friend will make you push harder, you’d be surprised how the least competitive person can suddenly become competitive when training with friends! Say you’re both holding a plank for a maximum amount of time, I guarantee you hold it for longer compared to if you were by yourself. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter if you beat your friend in these exercises, what matters is you putting in that extra bit of effort and having a training partner can be a great way to untap this potential!

4) You’re less likely to miss a session – speaking of keeping you accountable, here’s a staggering stat for you: 40% of people stop a fitness routine if they perform it alone. In comparison, if they attend it with friends, only 6% break the routine! That’s a difference of 34% meaning you’re much more likely to keep turning up if you don’t go at it alone! So, for example, let’s say you want to start going to the Saturday morning Bootcamp in the park (9.15-10.15am). Bringing a friend along will positively influence the likelihood that you BOTH keep showing up week after week, not just your friend that is new to the gym but you as well. Sounds like a win-win!

5) You’ll learn more – another great benefit of exercising alongside a friend is your ability to bounce ideas off each other. Even if you’re the expert of the two, don’t underestimate your friend’s ability to see things from a different point of view and positively influence your training as well! Remember – there’s always more to learn when it comes to exercise and we should all, including trainers, continue to learn from others!

To take your training up a notch, get your friend to sign up to the free weekend pass here: https://www.workoutbristol.co.uk/join-now/bring-a-friend-at-the-weekend

Or become an Anytime Ashton Member here: https://www.workoutbristol.co.uk/join-now/anytime-ashton

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