Its more fun.
It’s taken me a long time to figure out what actually works for me. I’ve tried all sorts of diet and exercise programmes, the winning formula for me was when my husband John invited a personal trainer over and we started training together as a whole family with the kids and then my friends started to get involved.
Toni Terry
You can motivate one another.
Come rain or shine we get out, pushing ourselves, always laughing and encouraging each other. We all have different shapes and sizes and fitness abilities. It was great to hit on a workout I loved, see my body changing, and get to spend time with my buddies.
It’s harder to pull out if you’ve got people you’re meeting up with.
You don’t want to let people down so you’re less likely to cancel. On a daily basis, I have five-minute ‘burst’ workouts like running up and down the stairs, squats in the kitchen while waiting for the kettle to boil....in addition I’m always out and about with my family cycling, walking, trampolining in the garden or whatever takes our fancy.
You can assist one another with your training.
Lots of the exercises in The Buddy Workout need two people. From doing squat jumps over your partner while they’re doing the plank to assisting on leg raises, back to back wall sits, claps between crunches. And just generally egging each other on or to work a little harder.
Working out together builds confidence and you can inspire others.
One of my friends felt very self conscious about her shape and her body confidence was low, she didn’t want to go to the gym but she started coming to my house after the school run and slowly we built up our routines together. First of all she noticed she could run for the bus quicker and then her body shape slowly changed, she got more toned. Now she feels more confident and other friends of hers have joined us!
More people brings different variety.
You bring different ideas to the workouts and can try mixing up routines or the order you do them in. One day you might want to work on core more and another day focus more on the legs/bum or just stretching - which is so good for our bodies.
Competition.
You can have a healthy rivalry with friends i.e. who can do the longest plank. Our kids often want to see who can do the most stomach crunches while we’re watching the telly, and they love it when i beat John!
Safety.
If you go out running or do park exercises it’s safer to be with a buddy.
Social media.
You can post your results on your Facebook or Instagram. That’s how The Buddy Workout was inspired. Me and my friends started posting our workout pics on Instagram and slowly my following grew and people started to tell me they were going to try my exercises with their friends and then posting their own pics. It’s been really great!
Best of all, you can have a cup of tea and a gossip afterwards with your friends.
There’s nothing better than that.
Toni Terry is author of The Buddy Workout (Lagom Publishing), out now.