Fitness Buddy

When I first started I was a fitness buddy addict I needed company to enter the gym or go jogging around university, mostly I needed company because of the fear of being made fun off. A lot of fitness magazines and articles suggest having a fitness buddy is a great way of sticking to your workout plan somehow that’s not how I felt, most of the times because I was depending on somebody else for going to the gym I was letting somebody else control my workout plan.

The main reason for me to overcome my fear of going alone to the gym was because I wanted to be able to control my workouts, I wanted to decide when I wanted to go, what exercise I wanted to do and for how long, I did not want to feel rushed because my friend had to leave early or skip a workout because my fitness buddy is sick.Don't get me wrong I think it’s nice to have a fitness buddy but it’s better when you can motivate yourself rather than depend on somebody else to motivate you to get to the gym.

These days T is my fitness buddy but we have our own plans, there are days when I go on my own, I do my own routine, sometimes I have longer workouts planned so he joins me later, he prefers weights to jogging outside so I usually jog on my own and he does his own stuff but at the same time if one of us is not in the mood to workout we manage to make sure to drag the other along (only excuse that is allowed is falling sick) but it is never the other way.

Things to keep in mind when you plan your workouts with a friend

1. Make individual plans: make your own plan, decide your workout time depending on what best suits you,depening on your fitness goals and other priorities. if you are a morning person and prefer finishing your workouts in the mornings don’t agree to working out after work, because most of the times you will not be motivated enough. Sometimes it’s ok to adjust but your entire plan should not be a compromise.
2. Set your own fitness goals: don’t set common fitness goals, because everybody has a different fitness levels and different motivation to get into their fitness journey, you might want to run a marathon where as your fitness buddy might want to get into body building .
3. Exercise when you are supposed to: I have noticed this in the gym when people walk in with friends they spend a lot of their time talking, laughing and just hanging around the gym...sometimes you get carried away while talking and don’t realise that you have worked out only 30 minutes in your 1 hour workout plan. Even if you have a fitness buddy working out with you make sure you are serious and don’t waste even a minute from your workout time, you can always hangout after your workout but not during,
4. Push each other ahead don’t pull each other down: If your friend is bored to go to the gym...does not mean you are bored too..it means you have to drag your friend out or go on your own. Or just because you run at a slower speed does not mean your friend has to join you at your speed it means you have to increase your speed to catch up...

I prefer planning my own workouts, sometimes I do workout with a friend but that is always in addition to my usual workout plan, I love working out with friends who push me, we do plank competitions or just see who can run longer, I enjoy the healthy competition sometimes but at the end of the day my workout plans depend only on me, my schedule, my goals and my fitness levels.

What you think? Do you workout with a friend or do you prefer working out on your own?

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Tanvee