Last
week we stressed just how important INTENSITY is in your workouts. Of
course you don’t need to be going out there and killing yourself every
day, more in that 2-3 of your weekly workouts need to get you working
HARD. This is especially true if you only have limited time to get those
workouts in…you need to squeeze every second out of those precious
minutes.
Besides, upping the intensity in your workouts gets your body
burning more energy which translates into more calories burned.
Additionally, when you do workouts like intervals and plyometrics it’s
been shown that your metabolism is elevated much higher for the hours
even after you have finished…talk about a win-win! But motivating
yourself to push it can be difficult, especially if you’re just having
one of those ‘ugh’ days. That’s where having a workout partner can help.
Working
out with a buddy has many rewards: 1) If you set up your workout
appointments ahead of time you’re more likely to stick to them. It’s
harder to blow off another person than if you were just skipping a date
with the gym and only you. 2) A buddy can bring out that healthy
competitive drive that otherwise may be left hibernating if it were just
yourself on a rather ‘blah’ day. 3) You can get out there and meet new
people…you can choose to workout with friends you’ve already got, but
often times people end up branching out and forming new relationships
too! In fact, some find it better to have their ‘gym’ friends stay just
that…when you guys get together to workout you both know it’s time to
sweat, not social hour. Of course some talking can take place, but if
you’re going hard you should be tired and the talking should be more
along the lines of a few words of encouragement, not over the latest
office gossip.
How
do you find your perfect workout buddy? Well, you may feel a bit
uncomfortable approaching a stranger and saying, “Hey, how you doin’?
Wanna workout with me?” (Flashback to a similarly corny pick-up line at a
bar.) But just as making friends in the real world isn’t all that
forced, finding your gym soul mate doesn’t have to be either. If you’re
already taking a class, look for someone who shares your same focus and
determination and strike up a conversation afterwards. (Note: If you
really want to get fit, looking for someone in a little bit better shape
than you are can help; you’ll be encouraged to keep up with them and
soon you will be able to. You DON’T want to hook up with the person
always in the back of the class giving it half the effort…otherwise you
could be tempted to slack off with them.) If you need a spotter for a
particular exercise, go out on a limb and ask a friendly face; you could
then feel it out and see if after the ice breaker you two could be a
nice match.
Finally, it doesn’t mean that you can’t enlist already good
friends to workout with you…it’s just that you want to make sure you
both are on the same page as far as goals go. You don’t want to put a
strain on an existing relationship if it turns out the other person
isn’t all too serious about getting in their best shape.
So, while you
may or may not have already found your soul mate in love (if they
actually do exist…hehe) your gym mate may be just around the
treadmill!
Keep up the intensity,
Amanda and Caitlin
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