The Buddy System

Sunday morning. Relaxed. Good sleep and an even better breakfast. I was up visiting a good friend of mine, Lindsay, back in Kingston. We used to workout together. In fact, back when I was first getiting into working out on a regular basis it was having friends like her that kept me coming back for more.

We had two options this morning. Sit and watch tv, drink tea and chat OR get up off our butts and head off to a 75-minute spin class. I was feeling pretty relaxed and if I had been on my own, could have easily talked ourselves into staying in our comfy clothes, but we had talked about spin the night before and so backing out on spin meant backing out of our plans. And so we went. And sweat. And made our legs feel quasi-jello-esque. Then we came home, had an awesome frozen protein peanut butter cup and went off to Costco to stock up on supplies before I trekked back to Toronto.

Now, you may be asking why I am telling you all of this. Well, it's to tell you to find a friend! Not just any friend. Find a friend with similar fitness goals to yours and use them as your support (and they can use you) to get your butt off the couch and get active. Studies have shown that people who have workout-buddies (and this can include your trainer if you have one) are much more likely to hit the gym on a regular basis. On one hand, you don't want to let down your friend by not showing up. It's also way more fun to have someone beside you, pushing you to your max. If you're lucky, you have specific activities like a running group or belong to a local studio where if you don't show up for a workout, people notice - or when you do appear, they know your name and are glad to see you. If you aren't quite so lucky to have that set-up, go and find someone to partner up with! Maybe you can meet a friend on Saturday mornings for spin and Starbucks afterwards. Or if you can't find anyone close by, find someone who will hold you accountable to your goals, that you have to report your workout to afterwards.

I found that my greatest supports have been face-to-face trainers, and working out at a small studio where a bunch of us would always meet and workout. At one point, I had an online trainer, where even though I didn't ever meet him, I had to report my workouts to him every couple of weeks. That was motivation enough for me! As long as it's someone that you are accountable to, you're all set - get out there and find a friend! The buddy system is yet another proven way to get you closer to your goals.