The Most Important Factor in Sticking with a Workout Program

There is an endless supply of different exercise programs, gyms, videos, etc that exist. Some are more effective than others but the truth is any exercise will get results if done consistently. It’s the consistency that is key. Most people want and fall victim to the quick, the fast, the overnight, the instant and the miracle. That never works long term and leads to a pattern of expensive trial and error.  [activecampaign form=82]

In my 20+ years of experience what I have found to be the most important factor in staying consistent with an exercise program is having a workout buddy. Without question the people who are the most successful have someone they do the program with. There are some who do great by themselves but the value to have a buddy, someone to hold you accountable is priceless.

There will be days, many of them, when you are just not feeling up to a workout but you don’t want to let your buddy down. There will be days when you feel great and motivate your buddy to show up.  You will talk about your workouts and make plans for workouts in the future. Even if you can’t workout at the same time it still helps when one partner calls the other to tell them about the workout that was done. You and your buddy hold each other accountable and work together. It’s your accountabilibuddy. If you are able to train at the same times it is even better. You can carpool and you can’t help compete a little bit when you are training with someone. Competition creates more effort and greater results.

In 20+ years of exercise I have tried many different styles of working out. The one thing that I have always had is a workout buddy. I have gone through many different partners over the years but as soon as one moved away, graduated, whatever the reason I found a new partner. I have literally just gone up to people that I have seen regularly at a gym and asked them if they wanted to train together. That has lead to new friendships as well as more enjoyable and more effective workouts.

I took the workout buddy philosophy to a whole new level and opened Eupraxia. I now have 100’s of workout partners. Obviously as the owner I can open the doors and train any time I want. Even if I have time to kill I will wait until a scheduled class time to get my workout in. I enjoy it more and always push harder when I’m around my partners.

If you enjoy and prefer training alone that is great. Keep doing that. If you are like me find a partner. Ask your spouse, co-worker, friend, person you see at the gym, somebody to train with you. If your partner fizzles out on you, go get a new partner. The only thing better than finding a partner is forming a small group. Then you are almost guaranteed to have someone to go with.