Gym Partners

There is a simple way to help your gym sessions become more enjoyable and more effective.

It’s not a supplement and it’s not a piece of equipment. It is a training partner.

Finding yourself a training partner is a really good way of getting the most out of your gym sessions, training consistently and making the experience far more enjoyable.

Having arranged to meet someone at the gym introduces a social dimension to your session. Gym training is a great way of forgetting your worries, distressing and getting yourself into a more relaxed state. Having a training partner multiplies all these benefits.

On those days you may be unsure of whether you want to go to the gym having someone to meet there can be useful. It can make you more relaxed about the prospect of going training and having the appointment makes you more committed to going. If you have a genuine reason to not go your training partner will of course understand, and their words will probably stop you having the irrational guilt trip that not going sometimes leads to.

Once at the gym your training partner fulfils a variety of roles. They will encourage you as you train. This may be verbal encouragement before, during and after the session. But just having someone else there can serve as an encouragement too – you see them putting the work in or may be struggling to get to a grips with a new class and it makes you happier about being there yourself.

One problem with training by yourself can be that you move on to the next activity or exercise without adequate rest or you may rush into the next set without enough of a breather. This reduces the amount of training you can get done and may see you struggling to complete sections of your session. After all, sometimes you can feel like a bit of a spare part just standing having a drink, or you may be at risk of losing the machine if you aren’t guarding it. A training partner reduces this problem. It is often recommended you take between 60sec and 3min between sets of exercises and the longer period allows you to get more work done in total. A quick chat to your training partner fills this time constructively and means you are fresh enough to give your next effort without feeling self conscious or even lazy.

Self-consciousness can be a potential hazard in a gym, particularly when you are new to it all. Is that guy looking at you as he is worried you have bad technique and are at risk of injury? Or is he just overly interested in the contents of your crop top? People often feel the need to lift more, run faster, or row longer than their instructor has recommended due to feeling eyes may be watching. Or despite the reassurances you may be reluctant to sign up for that class when your mobility level is at about the same level as a phone box. It is amazing how quickly all these concerns are forgotten, and avoided when you have a training partner.

Even for the most serious of gym users a training partner is highly beneficial. When lifting weights, particularly free weights, a partner can ‘spot’ for you. This can involve helping you move the weight from the rack to the start position, or back onto the rack at the end of the set. Or if you are struggling to squeeze out the last few lifts it can be amazing how much the slightest bit of assistance can help you to give that bar some momentum. On the treadmills or rowers it might not actually be a race but seeing how well you can keep up with someone else’s pace is a great way of staying focused. It is not even necessary to be of the same level as your partner to use them as a yardstick. If you are better than them try to maintain the gap (However large or small it may be). If they are better than you see if you can close it.

In a society where time is a precious commodity having a social dimension to your training can be a real positive. Why have to hit the gym, and then arrange to meet a friend? Train with a partner, do some socialising as you train and then head on for some food or a drink straight afterwards. No need to guess what time you will finish or waiting/rushing to meet someone. You’re both ready at the same time and have something to talk about. You will both have noticed the guy who grunts like a swamp-hog when he lifts weights, the girl with a top that seems to have shrunk far too much in the wash and the orange coloured human that gave a walking illustration of the perils of too much spray-on tan. It is easier to laugh about these things once you have finished training and no longer have to be discreet.

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