Article by Valerie Latona, AARP
“When it comes to your workout, there are good reasons not to go it alone.
Exercising with a friend or acquaintance has long been recommended as a practical way to make sure you don’t skip something like your daily walk. For one thing, “It’s almost impossible to say you’re skipping your workout when you have someone waiting for you,” notes personal trainer Allison Earnst.
Jean Fifield, 74, agrees. If it’s 9 degrees with no wind and her rural Vermont roads are passable, most weekday mornings find Fifield heading out to walk a couple of miles with her neighbor Margaret Nocca, 86. As Fifield tells it, Margaret is the “real trouper” who doesn’t let her “wimp out.”
“She’s always the one who encourages me to get out and moving even if the weather isn’t great,” Fifield says.
Aside from reliably motivating you to show up to exercise, partnering up with a buddy increases the amount and intensity of physical activity you do, researchers have found.”