Fitness/Workout Buddy. Helpful or?

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  • Ebznohere
    Ebznohere Posts: 9 Member
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    beccaod wrote: »
    Sounds to me like you are an Obliger (like me). You do great when you have someone to push you, but have a hard time holding yourself accountable. I found having someone who tracked my workouts was just as good as having an exercise partner going to the gym with me . I used something called stickk.com and actually put money on the line for tracking my exercises with my best friend who doesn't even live in town, but is serious about exercising.

    If you really think that that is how you operate, do whatever you can to make yourself feel "obligated" to exercise. When I run out of motivation, I feel like my obligation to exercise keeps me going!

    (Sorry for the links but both of these have been really helpful for me)

    Yessss! Oh my goodness. I'm definitely an obliger lol, what a term. Will check out the links, thank yo!!!
  • Ebznohere
    Ebznohere Posts: 9 Member
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    chadya07 wrote: »
    i like having a diet buddy a lot, or diet buddies plural. people i can talk about nutrition with and go to restaurants knowing we will both order light and maybe walk and such. fitness though... i like having people to talk to but when it comes to doing, unless it i fitness disguised as fun like biking hiking walking adventure tennis etc, i prefer solo. i personally work harder on my own, and tend to listen to my own body more. especially when it comes to running and gym stuff. if i am following a friend around i am listening to their body and vice versa.

    but then in all my life i tend to be more comfortable alone, or with casual online friends. so it could be that. also when i have counted on one diet buddy in the past i became a bit reliant on that and as soon as she stopped so did i. so strength in numbers works for me. a nice mfp friends list.

    Ohh i like the idea of this. Diet buddies would be helpful too.
  • Ebznohere
    Ebznohere Posts: 9 Member
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    ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »
    For weights, I like having a partner/built in spotter/someone to be lifting while I rest between sets. For cardio, I like being the master of my own pace, and I like the quiet reflection time without the expectation that I will be social with the other person. So... It really depends on the activity. I schedule multiple types of activity with a variety of people which I increase or decrease in frequency as my body allows. :)

    I have one friend who motivates me by always showing up and being super reliable. I have to hold my pace back a bit to accommodate her disability, but even held back, I'm getting more steps or laps in than I would be just sitting around if she didn't show up to walk or swim with me at lunch time. I am inspired by how consistently she pushes herself, despite her pain level and disadvantages. I have one friend who motivates me, because he lifts with me and can spot me, but wants me to plan our workouts, because he doesn't really understand how yet. I have to explain more exercises and work-out logic to him than my average lift partner, and that pushes me to increase my understanding of fitness. And after dealing with the two of them, I am motivated to spend time alone, pushing myself without holding back for anyone else.

    Hmm I agree. When I had my housemate as my fitness buddy, the help was really with weights/strength training. I didn't feel intimidated or helpless as it felt like it was 2 against everyone lool as opposed to my lone self.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
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    I had a great workout buddy at one time. It helped that we were on a similar level, and we had similar schedules.

    Unfortunately, after he changed jobs, we couldn't work out the schedule as easily. Without the obligation to meet up, I slacked off pretty bad. It was great while it lasted though.
  • amillenium
    amillenium Posts: 281 Member
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    VeryKatie wrote: »
    Last time I went to the gym with someone, she wanted to stay there for 2.5 hours! What am I made of, TIME!? 1:15 tops with changing for me please. And it wasn't even that good a workout because all she wanted to do was chat.


    OMG,, LOOOOLed at this--This is my exact problem. I dont want to be the scrooge but I have limited time and I want to get a good work out in. Last time my friend walked half of my shorter run and then asked if we could get an uber (no, we did not).
  • Ebznohere
    Ebznohere Posts: 9 Member
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    amillenium wrote: »
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    Last time I went to the gym with someone, she wanted to stay there for 2.5 hours! What am I made of, TIME!? 1:15 tops with changing for me please. And it wasn't even that good a workout because all she wanted to do was chat.


    OMG,, LOOOOLed at this--This is my exact problem. I dont want to be the scrooge but I have limited time and I want to get a good work out in. Last time my friend walked half of my shorter run and then asked if we could get an uber (no, we did not).

    Lool the 'uber' life = the good life
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    missiontofitness wrote: »
    amillenium wrote: »
    I dont like it--I want to work out at my pace not someone else's.

    Yep. I've found it difficult to go with a partner. In a group fitness class, I would be fine with it. But if I want to go for a walk, or do the elliptical, I don't want to do a slower pace if someone doesn't want to keep up, or a faster pace if I'm unable to do it.

    I used to just drive to the gym with my former housemate and we'd go our separate ways until we were done. We'd agree ahead of time about how long we wanted to spend there.

    I had a walking buddy at a previous job - she was great to keep me motivated. Always dragged me straight to the hills, ugh. I definitely walked more and harder because of her.

  • Originalgrung
    Originalgrung Posts: 10 Member
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    Having a fitness partner is great! but don't RELY on them, if you can't do it with out them, learn to do it solo before adding a buddy in.
  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
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    I'd prefer to be alone. I definitely don't want to rely on someone else to either motivate me, or to set a pace for the workout.
  • Justinelovezumba32
    Justinelovezumba32 Posts: 25 Member
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    I prefer to work out alone. I like to listen to my music and prefer not to have conversations the whole time. If im doing zumba or body class, it's cool to have a partner but not when im working out inside the gym
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I prefer to work on my own save for the occasional group ride or weekend ride with my wife. I personally have a crazy enough schedule as it is...I wouldn't want to work around my crazy schedule and someone else's. I've tried this in the past and every single time, workout buddy has gotten butt hurt because I end up going without them more than not...because I'm not going to sit around trying to work with their schedule.

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