Husband, wife, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other. No matter what you call them, they’re your person.
But relationships are hard, and you have to work at them to make them work, to keep the bond strong year after year. Did you know that exercising together with your partner can be a great way to strengthen that bond?
The couple that sweats together stays together! Exercising together as a couple can provide huge benefits to your relationship and bring you closer than you already are. Here are 7 ways that exercising together will strengthen your relationship with your significant other.
1. Trying Something New
Trying something new together for the first time together is an amazing way to bond with your partner. New experiences flood your brain with dopamine, a feel-good chemical.
Exercise increases endorphins, also known as the happy chemical.
When you experience those things with your partner, your brain links that positive feeling with that person!
2. Quality Time
When life, jobs, and kids or fur babies get in the way, it can be hard to find alone time for you and your partner. Date nights can get scheduled and then rescheduled when something pops up and we can’t make it happen.
It’s easy to dismiss ourselves and put ourselves last. But if you consider your workout a date with yourself that you wouldn’t miss, why not include your partner in that?
This not only gets your workout in, but also gets quality time for the two of you to spend together. My husband and I call these “fitness dates.” Call it whatever you like, but sweating together is definitely quality time!
3. Shared & Common Goals
Goal setting is hard, and working towards those goals alone is even harder.
There’s a quote from The Little Prince author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that says “Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”
We don’t want our partners to be exactly like us, and every couple has differences. We change and grow, but changing and growing together strengthens that bond.
By working out by yourself, you’re working on “you.” By exercising with your partner, you’re sharing a common goal of prioritizing health, fitness, and self-care – you’re working on “us.”
4. Accountability Partners
Nothing is more helpful to keeping someone on track with their goals than accountability. And who better to hold you accountable than the person who knows you best?
People who are held accountable for their workout routine are more likely to be successful. When you only have to answer to yourself, you’re more likely to skip your workout – you reason with yourself and say you’ll “do it tomorrow.”
Motivate each other and encourage each other and you’ll feel not only more positive about your workouts but also your partner.
5. A Better Sex Life
When we exercise we release endorphins. Endorphins make us feel happy, which is why after a workout you feel accomplished and exhilarated. But did you know the release of endorphins also ramps up your physical desire?
So, not only will exercising together with your partner make you happier, but it will boost your sex drive.
Working out also boosts your self-confidence, and can help you get in touch with your body, both of which can translate to increased arousal and better sex!
6. Healthy Competition
It’s in our human nature to feel a little competitive, to want to be first. If we feed this desire in a healthy way, it can add a bit of playfulness into your relationship.
When bills, responsibilities, and life get in the way, we forget the playful, flirty behavior that helps us bond with our partner. Working out together can bring that back withsome friendly competition!
Who did it faster? Who got more repetitions in? Who got a new movement for the first time? It not only keeps your workout interesting, but your relationship interesting, too!
7. Nonverbal Bonds
Think of this as coordinating your physical movements with another person, without using words.
It can be as simple as walking together at the same pace, or things like lifting weights or completing air squats or burpees together.
Exercising together provides tons of opportunities for nonverbal mimicry, which brings with it an emotional bond that can’t be found with words. If you work out in a group class like CrossFit, so there’s nonverbal bonds being created every single day!
The Story on Sugar