Reasons to train with a workout partner
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Have you ever found yourself struggling to find the energy and motivation required to get up off your butt and head into the gym to train? If so then you can rest assured that you’re most definitely not alone, as there are thousands of people all over the globe in exactly the same position as you. How people handle these situations however, well, that all depends on them as a person and how strong willed they are. Some people choose to battle through and force themselves to train, whilst others simply throw in the towel and convince themselves that they’ll work twice as hard the next time they are due to train, which they rarely do. Some however, will find ways of motivating themselves and of making things easier in the gym, which is when they may recruit friends in the form of workout partners. A workout partner is not simply somebody to talk to in between sets, workout partners can prove incredibly effective and could be just what you need to motivate yourself and to really give yourself that much-needed push in the gym. Here are a few of the main reasons why you should seriously consider training with a workout partner.
Makes training fun
Whilst you don’t go to the gym to mess around and act childish, you should still be having fun and enjoying your training sessions, otherwise what is the point? Well, if you find that training alone is boring and uninspiring, why not recruit a partner and get them to train with you and become your workout partner? When you train with a partner, you obviously have somebody to talk to when you aren’t training, plus you can suggest methods of making your sessions more exciting and more enjoyable. Put very simply, you are going to have more fun when training with a friend, than if you had been training by yourself.
Holds you accountable
When you train alone, it’s easy to tell yourself that you’re too tired to exercise and that you’ll make up for it the next day, which becomes the next day, and so on. Before you know it, you’ve missed several important training sessions at the gym, and you’ve set yourself back a good several days in the process. When you train with a partner however, if you decide you can’t be bothered to exercise, you can’t just decide not to bother, because you would then be letting them down, and would have to explain yourself to them. Rather than facing the embarrassment of admitting that you can’t be bothered to exercise, and that you would much rather sit on the sofa watching junk on the TV, you will be far more likely to simply force yourself to meet your partner down at the gym and train. What’s more, you will probably find that you both have a great training session once you get started anyways. If you have somebody to answer to you will be less likely to skip your workouts in the first place, which obviously is a very good thing.
Adds a competitive element
Some workout partners will outright compete with one another when training, so if one person performs 10 reps on a certain weight, the next may perform 11 on the same weight, just so that they win. Others however, may find themselves competing indirectly with one another, perhaps whilst not even realising that they’re doing so. When you train with a partner, secretly you always want to outdo them, which means you will work even harder than usual, which is where the competitive element comes into play. When you feel like you are training with a purpose, I.E to beat your partner, you will work harder, and your workouts will become more productive as a result.
Keep each other safe
Gyms, whilst healthy and very beneficial, are also potentially very dangerous places, especially if you aren’t sure what you are doing, or if you happen to get careless. Some people whilst training for example, may feel strong and may choose to load up a barbell and go for a new personal best on flat bench barbell press. Without a spotter however, if the weight is too heavy, they may find themselves being crushed by the weight and actually being pinned to the bench. With a workout partner however, they will be there to give you a spot and to help keep an eye on you to make sure you are doing things safely, and vice versa for you with them. The bottom line is that you will be much safer when you train with a workout partner, than if you were training by yourself.
Get more out of your workouts
Another great benefit of training with a partner is the fact that you will get more out of your workouts. By training with somebody else, you open up all kinds of training possibilities that would otherwise not have been possible if you had been training alone. For instance, when you reach failure on a working set, you may then have them help you to squeeze out a couple more forced reps, to really exhaust the muscles and push them to failure. On top of that, they can spot you, as previously mentioned, plus they can help you with heavier weights, I.E by helping you get them in place to begin the exercise. Even by having them shout words of encouragement to you will motivate you and will help you dig a little deeper when training, which means that you will work slightly harder, and will see even more benefits as a result.
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