Two for Team: Couples Workout by Batista Gremaud

In a harmonious, balanced relationship, it’s important to remember that each person forms an individual circle of space to grow. The inner circle is where you come together as a ‘we’—a team. Staying in the same circle and stepping on each other’s toes all the time can lead to a co-dependent, dysfunctional relationship. This becomes very evident in the world of exercise.

Sharing goals towards health enhances your relationships. It demonstrates a mutual commitment to maintaining your physical appearance and health, and therefore longevity. It also increases the chances of reaching fitness objectives.

However, we all have individual needs, rhythms, and athletic performance abilities. Engaging in a fitness routine that addresses those needs specifically is most beneficial.

Take a moment to compare your body with your significant other’s or your workout/accountability partner’s body. Are your physical attributes equal? Is your posture aligned in the same way as theirs? Do you have matching physical strengths and weaknesses? What about your work schedules and daily routines? And, how do you compare in terms of your emotional attributes—introvert or extrovert? If you’re a female, is your partner a male? Do you have the same needs?

Working out on the same routine is one of the main mistakes couples and accountability partners make when working out together!

As experts in the field of male and female energies as it relates to working out, as well as the effects of hormonal changes that happen automatically as people age, Dr. Fitness USA and I often witness a partner, usually the alpha partner, forcing the other into uncomfortable, inappropriate routines. Although well-intentioned, this behavior often leads to unreasonable expectations that result in an unnecessary sense of failure and potential long-term injuries.

Your individual training routine is more effective when you take care of your individual needs in a nurturing space so that you show up in the world with strength, vitality, health, and emotional stability. This happens with the ability to say no to what you know intuitively is not in your best interest, without shame, guilt, or the necessity to justify or explain.

When done appropriately, working out together can reduce stress in the relationship, make you both happier, and simultaneously improve looks and stamina! Even if you both have your own routine, you will feel equally accomplished in spending valuable time together towards better health and an improved lifestyle. It gets your blood flowing, your muscles firing, and your heart pumping, releasing endorphins naturally (the feel-good hormone) in your brain. It can even add some zest to your sex life and help heat things up under the sheets with those beautifully toned muscles you’re both acquiring!

There are definite benefits for friends and couples who work out together. Having a workout partner is a great motivation to stay on track. However, learn to take your own space, follow your own rhythm, and work out on a program that addresses your own needs, not those imposed by anyone else. Hire a mentor to guide you into this journey of deep self-discovery.

The distance between dreams and reality is called discipline. How do you show up with your own exercise plan? Keeping physically fit and confident in stressful times is an essential trait of leadership. Become the master of your own body and you’ll be the partner anyone would want to have.

Batista Gremaud, CEO and president of Dr. Fitness International, is the author of bestseller Feminine Body Design: Empowering Fitness for Pain-free Life. For more information, call 424-245-6560, see www.DrFitnessInt.com, or email contactbatista@gmail.com.