Researchers at the University of Aberdeen found from a recent study that enlisting a gym buddy will increase the amount of exercise you do.
The study, led by Pamela Rackow, reported that finding a new exercise companion increased the amount of exercise people took. The amount was increased even more when the partner was emotionally supportive.
Rackow, from the Institute of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, gathered the data at the University of Zurich. She and her team asked half of the participants to find a new “gym buddy” and the other half to continue with their normal fitness routine. The group who enlisted new exercise partners exercised more than those who followed their regular routine.
“The idea of this study was to test in a very natural setting what is happening when two people get together with the aim to exercise more. I had read motivation tips in a leaflet that suggested that having an exercise companion would help me to exercise more but I wanted to know if this was true,” said Rackow.
She continued, “This study is unique in that it reflects natural life relatively well because when you decide to exercise with a friend – you ask someone in your normal social network regardless of whether they fit certain criteria or not. “
Emotional social support from the new sports companion was the most effective. “Thus, it is more important to encourage each other than in doing the actual activity together,” Rackow concluded.
