Couples Who Sweat Together, Stay Together
Training with your partner provides great bonding time, boosts athletic performance and even improves your sex life. This Valentine’s Day ditch the solo session, grab your significant other and see why couples who sweat together, stay together
I’m guessing the majority of people reading this blog will complete most of their training alone. While solo training means you can focus on yourself, train your personal strengths / weaknesses and get it done when you want, training with someone - particularly your partner - can be revolutionary.
Shop our award winning sports nutrition
Quality time together
We’re busier than ever and live in a world where even quality time with the person you love most is a hard to come by. Why (and how) we’ve reached this point is a discussion for another day, but an immediate antidote to this is training together.
We often find we’re in our loved one’s presence but are not really present. We’re not really in the moment and focused on one another. The beauty of exercise – in whatever form - is that there’s little opportunity to be distracted by a laptop, vibrating phone or another person.
Training time can be great bonding time for couples
You’re likely to train harder
Get in the gym with your partner and you’re bound to puff out your chest, stand taller and work a little harder. Not only do we want to impress our mate, but it’s natural that in an environment where competition is everywhere, we want to portray the best version of ourselves.
This research examining the impact of training with a partner vs alone showed “RPE [rate of perceived exertion] was consistently higher in the alone condition [training solo] in comparison to the partner condition [training with someone].”
Couples exercises
If you really want to spice things up, see how long you can last couples exercises before getting distracted (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Whether there’s chemistry between you and your partner or not (if not, there soon will be soon), these exercises are not only good training but great fun!
- Wheelbarrow push up
- Wall sit with tricep dip
- Partner plank
- Leg toss and kiss
- Double trouble ab-burn
- Leg throw-downs
- Wheelbarrow squat
- Back to back over-under squats
Google any of the above for a demo.
Who is going to give this partner plank a go?
Sweat turns her on
Women are highly sensitive to the male pheromone androstenol (which is produced in fresh sweat) and men were rated more attractive when assessed by women who had been exposed to the pheromone.
The ins and outs of sex and athletic performance
The word ‘fresh’ is important because, once exposed to oxygen, androstenol begins to turn into unpleasant smelling androstenone.
Basically, get a good sweat on and make sure she’s close enough to savour the odour as you’re dripping. The smell she encounters a couple of hours later (if you haven’t showered) isn’t a turn on.
It’s great foreplay
Whose mind doesn’t run wild when their partner does a yoga pose?
Come on - be honest - who doesn’t get just a little bit turned on by their partner’s bulging muscles, sweaty torso or yoga posing skills? There’s nothing wrong with lusting after your partner as you train together.
Science agrees - it’s been shown that mimicking each other’s behaviour is great for connection. Couples “became more affectively attuned to each other” and “reported more feelings of having bonded with each other” when engaging in similar movement patterns.
Train guilt-free
It’s hard enough juggling work, family and social life and even more so once training is added into the mix. It’s easy to feel guilty on this solo pursuit when you feel you ‘should’ be doing other things.
Train with your partner and this guilt subsides. You’ll not be leaving bases for your partner to cover and the act of training becomes about something more than just your athletic pursuit.
Training with your partner provides great motivation
You’re more likely to succeed
Striving for success in any pursuit is harder when the journey is walked solo but if your partner joins you, success becomes much more likely. Training together will increase consistency, quality and enjoyment of training – all critical components on the path to achieving your potential.
Sign up to do an event together – share your hopes and fears and ride the highs and lows that come from chasing dreams.
A study concluded that “men engaged in more physical activity when positively influenced by their partners” and “Women who valued health less than their partners responded to partner influence by eating healthier."
Our award winning Eroica Protein Bars contain 20g protein per pack and contain nothing but 100% natrual, powerful ingredients
More performance boosting content
From the Vlog – Gut Health 101 with Ross Austen
From the podcast – Win at winter training with Taylor Thomas
From the Blog
The ins and outs of sex and sports performance
How to balance work, life and extreme training
Train like a pro AND keep your job
