Friends and Achieving Fitness Goals 101
Goals… we all have them (at least you SHOULD). But unfortunately, not everyone achieves their goals, and this is due to many reasons.
Achieving fitness goals shouldn’t be like finding the leprechaun guarding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Instead, it should be a process you go through by laying brick by brick until you reach your end goal and can stand there admiring it in all its glory.
There are no “quick results” when it comes to health and fitness. It’s a long process that takes time and dedication. The good news is, in the end, it will all be worth it when it comes to achieving fitness goals and experiencing success through your hard work and dedication.
Here’s some good news — you don’t have to do it alone. Friends and achieving fitness goals go hand-in-hand. In fact, having someone going through the process with you can make things easier as you can hold each other accountable. Having a support team can help improve adherence to your workout program and diet while being fun at the same time. Misery loves company, right? (Ok, that part is a joke)
But in all seriousness, this article is going to shed some light on how you can be leveraging friends and achieving fitness goals. Let’s dive in.
7 Ways Combining Friends and Achieving Fitness Goals Can Lead to Success
Below are some great ways that you can combine friends with achieving fitness goals to help both of you (or an entire workout crew) get the best results possible from your time in the gym and the kitchen.
1. A workout partner can push you
No matter what your individual goal or motivation is for working out, achieving fitness goals is much easier when you have a workout partner. Let’s be honest with ourselves. If you’re working out by yourself, can you truthfully say you push yourself and grind through grueling workouts every single time you step foot in the gym, or do you somewhat sandbag your workouts when you’re alone?
Having a workout partner can take your workouts to new heights and help with achieving fitness goals by encouraging you and your training partner to push past failure, help push out extra reps, to spot each other when you’re struggling, and to push each other harder than the previous training session.
You don’t need to do it alone. There are MANY benefits to working out with friends and having them join you in achieving fitness goals you’ve set out to hit.
2. Hold each other accountable for showing up
Life gets busy — I’m preaching to the choir here. You know there are days that you’ve found an excuse not to hit the gym. You had to work late, you weren’t energized, you lacked motivation, your kids needed running around, it’s cold outside (enter whatever excuse you wish here).
Achieving fitness goals comes down to accountability. If you’re not willing to hold yourself accountable, that’s where friends can come in. And let’s be real, good friends will tell you the cold-hard truth without sugar-coating it. So, if you want to lob a fluffy excuse their way, you’re bound to have it slammed back in your face.
You need to show up every day. Your friends or workout partner is counting on you to be at the gym to annihilate your workout together. Friends can help you stay accountable, remind you of the importance of showing up, and strive towards achieving fitness goals.
3. Have fun while destroying intense workouts
I like being around my friends — I’m sure you feel the same. Achieving fitness goals while having my buds in the trenches with me is a blast. As they say, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The truth to that as it relates to achieving fitness goals is that both are accurate and can be accomplished when you go down the journey with your friends.
You can achieve fitness goals much faster by having friends who are your workout partners and who can hold each other accountable than you can going at this alone. That’s just the way it is (unless you’re friends with a bunch of knuckleheads who aren’t serious about achieving fitness goals).
When at the gym, you’re there to put in work. I know that when I’m digging deep, I can count on my friends to have my back, and I think it’s safe to say that you’d feel the same way about your friends. Working out with your best buds is fun. So, why not gather a group who all have the same mindset and goals so that you can attack the hill together?
4. A healthy competitive nature can work wonders
Basketball in the driveway, 18 holes on the golf course, Madden on PlayStation, it doesn’t matter what you do with friends, you’re competitive. So, why not have that carry over to your workouts and achieving fitness goals?
If you and your friends are about the same weight and strength, you have the means to present a friendly competition between everyone. Who can get results the quickest? Who can increase their strength the fastest? Who can gain the most lean muscle or drop the most body fat in a certain timeframe? You get the idea. Make it a fun competition.
There’s nothing wrong with friendly competition among your friends when achieving fitness goals. Turning things into a competition may push you even harder in the gym and the kitchen to get the best results possible.
5. Going through the same process with others is comforting
Another famous quote that rings true here is, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Or, more appropriate, why not go through it with friends? Look, you’re only lying to yourself if you think pushing your body harder than last time in the gym is easy. It’s not. So, don’t kid yourself. Your muscles burn, you’re dripping sweat, you contemplate stopping early, and it literally feels like you’re going through hell.
Have you ever done something by yourself, and it was torture? But when you did the same thing with others, it wasn’t so bad? The same applies in this scenario when it comes to achieving fitness goals and going through the process.
If everyone is suffering through the same workouts, no one is going to be the first person to wave the white flag and quit, or they’ll never hear the end of it. So, what do they do? They dig deeper and push themselves because they don’t want to be “that guy” or “gal” who gave up in front of their friends.
Plain and simple, going through the same process with friends when achieving fitness goals is comforting. You have someone there who has your back and knows what you’re going through and feeling. Someone who is there to push you. Someone who you know wants to give up just like you but knows it’s a team effort and doesn’t want to be the person who bails.
6. Utilize technology and other apps to track your progress
With so much technology out there today, you can take advantage of amazing ways to track your progress and move closer to achieving fitness goals. If you’re into lifting, there are apps for that. If you’re into cycling, there are apps for that. There are apps for everything.
For instance, MyFitnessPal has been out for what seems like forever, and many people use it to track their nutrition. After all, achieving fitness goals comes down to putting in the time at the gym and being on point with your nutrition. Find an app that suits your needs and allows you to track your progress and whatever other metrics are important to your overall success.
7. Simplify the process with structured programs from Jimstoppani.com
Speaking of apps and programs, we’d be remised to mention the programs over at JimStoppani.com that can help you move closer to achieving fitness goals you’ve been striving to accomplish. Regardless of whether you need that extra push to get over the hump or have no clue where to start and need a program that lays it all out, you can find it at JimStoppani.com.
Every tool you could possibly need for achieving fitness goals is available — an industry-leading fitness mobile app, coaching and motivation by Dr. Jim Stoppani, access to the JYM Army, and customized programs tailored to your goals. It’s all there.
Best of all, you can start for only $1. Where else are you going to get all that value for only a dollar? Head over to JimStoppani.com, tell your friends, and let’s move forward on helping you and all your friends with achieving fitness goals you’ve set out to reach!
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