05 Jan Workout buddy could greatly help your workouts

One of the best ways to improve your physical fitness is to get a little help from a friend. I’m talking about finding a workout buddy.
There are some people who are just fine by themselves, and actually even better off. However, for a lot of people, finding a training partner can be one of the best things they’ll ever do.
Here are some advantages and things to consider when in comes to finding a workout buddy:

The spotter
If you like to lift heavy weights, and push yourself to the limit, then a partner who can act as a spotter is a must.
A good spotter is absolutely essential to protect their partner from injury.
I can tell you from experience that being confident in a spotter has allowed me to lift more than I thought I could in the past and make great strides. Even if I fail, I know the spotter will help rack the weights – and they can also offer lots of encouragement.

The mentor
Another type of workout buddy is the mentor. This isn’t for everyone, but if you’re not overly experienced when it comes to weightlifting and physical fitness then a mentor could be a great partner.
They can give you advice, help motivate you and serve as a role model of sorts.
Or, maybe you’ll be a mentor to someone yourself as you both try to get or stay fit in the gym.
Of course, you’ll need to make sure your personalities click as you don’t want someone who’s not a good teacher or receiver of tips.
I’ve worked out with people a lot stronger and smarter about it than me, and a lot weaker and less informed. Both kinds of set-ups can work as long as the workout partner is dedicated to putting time in the gym and being a good buddy.

Even Steven
One of the most common workout buddy systems is where both people are in similar physical shape and work toward similar goals. This could be a friend, relative, person from work or a sports teammate.
I’ve found these systems work great and can be a lot of fun. Some of my best workout partners have been friends who I also hung out with socially.

Opposite sex workout buddy
It can work out to pair up with someone of the opposite sex to work out with regularly – in the gym, I’m talking about here!!
If you’re married or have a boyfriend/girlfriend, working out together could be a great thing to do together.
It’s a lot better activity than sitting around on the couch together and watching the pounds add up.
Dedicating yourselves to a physical fitness routine together could strengthen your overall relationship.
Consider this one carefully, though, and a few test runs should be tried to make sure you both get along together in a gym setting.
You don’t want working out together to backfire and strain your relationship. Maybe some time away would be better.

The pro trainer
A final workout buddy to consider is a professional trainer. Obviously you need some money at your disposal to hire a trainer.
This has some obvious benefits, such as the trainer should know a lot more about working out than if you paired up with Bill from accounting at your office, or your brother-in-law Bill, who’s still following a workout plan he learned as a high school JV basketball player before getting cut.
Make sure any trainer you hire has a legitimate resume.
An added bonus in working with a trainer is that they could also likely offer good nutritional advice.

Final thoughts
As part of a workout buddy team, you’ll feel accountable to someone else and can let each other know about it if the other is too often slacking or trying to “call off” from lifting. You can actually even have friendly competitions with one another to spruce up the sessions, like who can make greater gains in their lifting or lose more weight, etc.
And you can actually have more than one workout buddy.
However, the real motivation always has to come from you, but a workout buddy can really help with that. If your workout buddy starts to slack, or worse yet quits on you, don’t use that as excuse to do the same. Stick with it and find a new workout partner.
Just like there are always new friends who come into your life at different stages, so to you can find new workout buddies.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com