The Power of Two

This morning at 4:30 as my husband headed out the door on the way to the gym, he facetiously commented, “Oh this ought to be a great day to run!” In fact, it had been pouring all night, it was dark, nasty, and windy. A 5 AM run in such conditions is not usually considered to be ideal. But there was at least one other runner who was waiting for him, so he soldiered up and joined his running partner, and actually had a really good 5 mile run. The power of two.

One of my clients often has evening social engagements that preclude her from getting a really good night’s sleep. She meets with me two days a week at 6 AM. There are often days that she does not feel like getting up and coming to our workout, but she does it because she knows I’m waiting there for her. She usually feels better by the time she heads to work. The power of two.

As people trained for the Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk, they had training partners and groups. I often trained by myself, but I was amazed at how fast the time went by when I did an 8 or 9-mile walk with one or two others. The power of the group.
If you have difficulty getting motivate to exercise, whether it’s at 5 AM or 10 PM, you might want to consider finding a workout partner. One point of caution, however: try to find someone who is a little more committed than you are, otherwise it’s too easy for one person to “un-motivate” the other.

Here are some helpful tips:
• Set some goals. For example, if you want to run a 10K, walk 20 miles, or compete in a triathlon, challenge your workout partner so you can start working towards achieving your goal.
• If you want to get toned, or lose weight, you might want to engage the services of a personal trainer for awhile—they can help you get a workout set up that both people can do. The other benefit to that is that you share the cost of the trainer.
• Set a time, and specify the days of the week you want to work out. Don’t deviate from those times or days, unless someone is traveling or ill. This will help you to set up some consistency.
• Working out with a spouse or life partner can be fun, but it can also be intimidating if one person is making progress and the other person isn’t. You might want to evaluate your compatibility quotient as it applies to this endeavor. You want to make sure you don’t end up sabotaging one another.

How do you find a workout partner?

• There are several websites that can help you find a workout partner. Some of them are singles only websites. Be cautious as you share personal information. You can do a search for “workout partners,” and you will see several sites listed.
• Put a note up at your gym to see if someone wants to have a partner.
• Your office. You might be able to get someone to take a walk at lunchtime, instead of going out to Mickey D’s for lunch.
• Get a dog, or find a neighbor who needs to have their dog walked, but can’t get out to do it.
• Join a class, which is a whole lot of partners.
• Family members, including kids, can be good partners. When I took walks with my daughters, it was amazing to me how much talking they could do in an hour.

Do you have some suggestions to help motivate a friend? How do you stay motivated? Is it with a workout partner, alone, or in a group?