Healthline: Need Motivation to Exercise? Find an Active Friend

“Experts say there’s not only an increased level of enjoyment with group exercise, there’s also accountability, making it more likely people show up and get results. “Depending on the individual’s personality, expectations, experience, and motivation, everyone can respond differently and uniquely to a more social exercise environment,” said Ryan Glatt, a personal trainer and brain health coach for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in California. “Whereas some individuals may feel competitive, that sense of competition can be both friendly and playful or aggressive and serious,” Glatt told Healthline. “Conversely, others can compare themselves to others, which can either lower or increase confidence depending on the context.

“Some individuals are more internally accountable, where they will never miss a commitment they make to themselves, and others are more externally accountable, where they are more likely to exercise when they have an external accountability system,” he added.

Noah Neiman, the co-founder of Rumble Boxing in New York City, told Healthline that humans are a communal species, so getting better results by exercising with others just makes sense. He said communal exercise is a “breeding ground for the elevated effort that’s truly necessary to make a lasting positive impact on your mind and body.”

“We survive and thrive in packs,” Neiman said. “Numerous studies show that having a strong peer group has noticeable effects on our physical health and psychology. It’s important to exercise and it’s important to get your social time in. Those two don’t necessarily have to go hand in hand. I wanted to create Rumble (Boxing) because I wanted to combine those two very important elements.”``

Some Insights From This Article

• The best way to determine who a person is to look at their friends. Perhaps we may also flip this saying and help our friends determine who we become! This article shows that working out with a friend who is active may improve motivation and consistency with exercising and working out.

• The reasons for this are many, whether it be competition between your friends to see who is better (ie. sports) or just merely having fun while working out. Additionally, having someone exercise with you often provides that “invisible” push and motivation that you won’t get when exercising alone.

• So if you’re looking to exercise, perhaps hit up a friend who is particularly active and willing to exercise with you! Or if on the other hand if you are the friend who enjoys exercising, perhaps bring one of your friends out to your next session! Everything’s better when we do it together

Do you like exercising with friends?

Full article is here!

#Exercise #Friends #Health