How training partners influence our success and what makes exercise exciting
After the lavish feasts towards the end of the year, it’s hardly surprising that many New Year’s resolutions revolve around exercise. However, after just a few weeks, that motivation often fizzles out, and physical activity quickly declines again. If this sounds familiar, you’re certainly not alone. Nearly half of those who sign up for fitness classes drop out shortly after starting if they attend alone. That’s a significant percentage! When training with a partner, however, the dropout rate is merely 6%.1 Support from the right people is therefore crucial for staying motivated and sticking with it.
More fun = more success
Studies show that our enjoyment of sports determines how often we will engage in physical activity in the future.2 Exercising with good friends who share your sense of humor is simply more fun than trying to fit in with a new workout group. Furthermore, our athletic performance improves with the support and encouragement of friends.3 4 After all, what could be better than sharing your successes with friends?
It’s also important that all group members have a similar skill level. Obviously, no one wants to start their running training with the Kenyan marathon team or play American football against a rhinoceros. That’s just demotivating (and painful). Even though these examples are extreme, it can easily happen that you train with people who are at a different level of fitness. Despite the unequal starting point, those who can’t keep up often end up demotivated and frustrated. Only when we see ourselves on the same level as our training partners does friendly competition really spur us on. Only then can we celebrate motivating successes.
Shared sports goals and the burden of organizing
Although we’ve mostly experienced firsthand how fun, competition, and the recognition and support of friends can motivate us, many of our good intentions still start with us signing up for a workout on our own. The reason for this lies in a key drawback of working out with friends. You always need a dedicated organizer who can get the activity off the ground on a regular basis. The organizer not only has to motivate themselves to exercise every time, but also muster the energy to round up friends each time. While there is no shortage of communication tools these days, it is often the very abundance of communication and coordination that prevents efficient organization. Our event platform Let’s Meet is dedicated to addressing exactly this issue. “More sports. Less organizing.” is the motto. The free service is aimed at determined and busy people who want to make the most of their free time.
Regular exercise organized reliably
To make regular sports get-togethers a reality, all you have to do is set a date with your sports-loving friends, sign up on Let’s Meet, and create an “event series.” Our platform then handles the coordination for all participants, including the organizer. It automatically sends invitations, adds the event to calendars, collects RSVPs, and sends reminders. Unlike cluttered group chats, the event page keeps you organized and lets you see who’s attending at a glance.
You can also specify the desired number of players, for example, for a tennis doubles match. Friends are then automatically invited in order until all spots are filled. With these conveniences, the organizational hurdles of planning sports activities with friends become much less daunting. We’re also planning on a feature to automatically reserve courts.
Conclusion: Solo or teamwork?
While some have no trouble sticking to their fitness goals on their own, others realize they aren’t cut out to go it alone. Those who fall into the latter group can benefit from the motivational advantages of exercising with others.
Sources
- Wallace, J.P.J et al. (1995). Twelve month adherence of adults who joined a fitness program with a spouse vs without a spouse. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness Vol. 35 (3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8775648 ↩︎
- Stuntz, C. P., Weiss, M. R. (2010) Motivating Children and Adolescents to Sustain a Physically Active Lifestyle. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine Vol. 4 (5) http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1559827610368779 ↩︎
- Salvy, S.-J. et al. (2009) Effect of Peers and Friends on Youth Physical Activity and Motivation to be Physically Active. Journal of Pediatric Psychology Vol. 34 (2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202936/ ↩︎
- Duncan, S.C. (1993) The role of cognitive appraisal and friendship provisions in adolescents‘ affect and motivation toward activity in physical education. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Vol. 64 (3) https://shapeamerica.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02701367.1993.10608816 ↩︎