Active in NWI: For the Lovers

Active in NWI: For the Lovers

In honor of Valentine’s Day, this segment of Active in NWI will be dedicated to the lovers… of fitness.

There are times when it’s tough to work out alone. There is no one to talk to and no one to motivate you to keep going. Having someone there to give you a little push and hold you accountable is really beneficial. Couples who work out together know each other’s goals and how important achieving those goals are so when person starts to slack the other can come in and drop a reminder of those goals.

A superficial reason that it’s great to work out as a couple is that buying gifts for each other is easy. Athletic gear, protein shakes, special socks, Fitbit and Garmins – anything to make our workouts more interesting and bring us closer to our goals.

If you are in a relationship, you will eventually mirror the habits of your SO. This can be good or bad. If you are both on the same page when it comes to a healthy diet, taking care of your body and eating nutritious food is easy. If not, there is nothing worse than trying to be healthy when your partner isn’t into it. You want to eat a salad or cut back on sweets and then he or she brings home a pizza or makes brownies. This is where good communication comes in. If you let your partner know that you are serious about cutting back on sweets and kindly ask that they not make them or only make enough for themselves, then he or she will understand. On your end, respect the different mindset of your partner and use your will power to stay away from those sweets. Love is a two-way street, people.

Your progress is more likely to get noticed by your SO if you exercise together. If you run together he or she will see that you’ve increased your speed or mileage over time, if you do yoga he or she will appreciate and acknowledge how you nailed the scorpion pose (because that one is hard), or if you do a lot of squats he or she will notice your defined quads and breathtaking hiney.

Some couples don’t get much time together, and when that happens a trip to the gym gets skipped so they can spend time together. If you and your partner workout together, you are getting time with one another and getting healthy. It’s multitasking at its best.

You can also hit big milestones together. Training for a marathon or similarly large race takes a LOT of time. If you do it together, you can cross the finish line together and have that proud moment that not many people can say they’ve achieved.

Please note that not everyone who works out together is a couple. Some are friends or have been “friend zoned”, some are co-workers, or some are “just a couple of bros hanging out”. And not everyone is into Valentine’s Day, and if you’re one of those people then just think of this as suggestions and benefits of working out with another person with whom you have a completely platonic relationship.