Change your relationship with exercise. You don’t need to do this alone. Whatever your fitness goal, consistency is the key to reaching it.
When you join forces with your friends, you’ll find benefits that go beyond your expectations. Anything you do consistently over time will yield results… good or bad.
So instead of meeting for happy hour or a food-fest, meet up for a workout and enjoy the results. The best groups stay relatively small with 3-4 members.
Here are some of the benefits to working out with your friends:
Motivation
This is the FUN factor. Let’s face it, when you are dreading stepping onto the treadmill or pondering if today is an upper or lower body day… Ask yourself: Am I having fun yet? When you team up with your friends, you can motivate each other. Most people find that they are less likely to quit if they have to do it publicly. Having friends counting on you at 6am will get you out of bed and into the gym… and on your way to success.
Competition
Any former kid (and yes you were one once!) will understand this concept. Friendly competition with friends is VERY motivating. Who doesn’t want bragging rights? We all need to measure our performance. Working out consistently with a group is one of the best indicators of whether or not you are improving. Finding the group’s common weaknesses and creating competitions to produce specific results will help everyone.
Accountability
One of the most powerful ways to stay on track with any goal is to tell people around you who will constantly remind you of your goal. No saboteurs allowed!! Friends will help you make better choices and will get you back on track when you have a setback. You will also get to celebrate in everyone’s success knowing you played a large part.
Economical
Hire a personal trainer to lead your group. It will be much more economical that going it alone. The trainer will design the program, watch your form and be the coach for your team. The trainer will also make sure you don’t fall into a routine, especially one that results in more socializing and less exercise.
Support
Every journey is better when you have good friends around. Imagine that years from now, after creating this group, you are still going strong. You will look back and realize that not only did you do something that has dramatically improved your life; you will have created the same for your friends. You probably won’t remember a specific workout or exercise, but you will most likely remember the good times you had and the sense of accomplishment you felt every time you finished a workout.
The next part is easy. Find some good friends who want to work out together and set a date for exercise. You all don’t have to be at the same level, any exercise can be modified for any fitness level. If you don’t have equipment, just start with body weight exercises or buy some inexpensive resistance bands. Each friend can pick some of their favorite exercises and you can build from there. Just remember to have fun and enjoy your results!
