Training with a workout partner has a number of benefits that come close to those of the personal fitness trainer sessions you know. However, it isn't suitable for every fitness enthusiast. The best time to start training with a partner is after you've learned to perform the exercises correctly and moved beyond the beginner level. The goal of training with a workout partner is steady progress.
Benefits of training with a workout partner
Before you start training with a workout partner, keep in mind that you should find someone who is at nearly the same level as you and has nearly the same goals. Otherwise, you'll be disappointed and won't like the results at all. What does that mean? Imagine you're training to build muscle, while your partner is training to lose weight or gain strength. Also imagine that you weigh 100 kg and your partner weighs 50 kg. The main thing you’ll have in common during your workouts will be the basic exercises. But that’s not enough.
Differences in reps, working weights and rest periods between sets will certainly have more of a negative than a positive effect on the quality of both partners’ workouts. So finding a suitable workout partner is a much harder task than finding a personal fitness trainer.
Below, we’ll list three major benefits you can get from training with a workout partner:
1. Accountability
Going to the gym once a week is easy. Going twice is also within most people’s reach. But training 3–4–5–6–7 times a week requires organization, which isn’t easy. This is where making a commitment to train with a workout partner plays an important role. In other words, whether you want to or not, whether you’re feeling lazy or tired, you go to the gym because otherwise you’ll be letting your partner down—and that will affect both your progress and theirs.
Read more: How can you prevent overtraining?
2. Motivation
Motivation is what keeps you going before, during and after your workout. Workout partners should motivate each other to keep moving forward. In other words, your workout partner will help you through those last 3–4–5 reps of every working set and motivate you with words and gestures to take one more step, and then another.
3. Savings
Training with a workout partner can save you a considerable amount of money. Today, an average session with a personal fitness trainer costs between 10 and 30 leva. The money you save by training with a workout partner can go toward higher-quality food and supplements. This will further boost your progress, increasing your personal motivation and confidence, which you’ll build through proper training and nutrition.