3 Reasons Why You Should Exercise with Your Partner
We’ve all heard about the many benefits that exercise can be for our health and wellbeing but exercising with your partner actually introduces a host of different benefits.
While many people claim working out with a partner is more of a distraction there’s actually an abundance of evidence that suggests the contrary!
Here’s three reasons why partners that sweat together, stay together!
Better performance
There’s countless evidence on how exercising with a partner can improve performance. Even just exercising in their presence can improve your own performance. A big challenge in achieving fitness goals is actually committing the time and sweat to exercising. Having a partner to share in that challenge can make those commitments easier, especially if you’re working towards similar goals.
You can even help each other exercise more with nothing more than just a few words of encouragement. A study showed that individuals engage in more physical activity after being given positive health-related comments from their partner.
Improved relationship satisfaction
Simply engaging in physical activity with your partner can actually increase relationship satisfaction. One study reported couples express feeling more satisfied and more in love with their partner after participating in a physical activity. Why is that? Well there’s actually a couple reasons why. The physiological arousal created when exercising, such as sweaty palms, increased heart rate and shortness of breath, are actually the same as those created from physical attraction. Because of this similarity, our brains can actually mistake physical arousal with romantic attraction!
Additionally, working out together can create a situation in which your movements are coordinated. This can be in the form of matching running pace, lifting weights in a rhythm together or even throwing medicine balls back and forth. This form of non-verbal mimicry creates higher levels of emotional engagement, those experiencing it reporting a greater sense of bonding with their partner.
Blowing off steam!
Misdirected anger is one of the top causes of problems in relationships. We all have plenty of things in our lives that make us angry, but unfortunately, we tend to take out that anger in all the wrong places. Exercising is actually a great way to make you an altogether less aggressive person, as it is a productive way to channel negative emotions into a positive outlet. Make sure you’re not letting out unnecessary vexation on your partner by exercising together. That way, you can both be happier, and healthier, together.
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Whether you have a significant other or not, just remember any form exercise is great for you and your health in the long run. If you have any injury concerns or are being held back by a chronic condition – our team of amazing exercise physiologists are here to support.
Book in with us today and let our experts support you to better movement.